Engine Steam Clean! Should I Do It?

July 24, 2006

I have been fitting a K&N induction kit to my N/A today and a new top strut brace cos the old one had rotted through, I polished the replacement up and it looks great,, but now I notice how dirty the engine bay is and everything in it, I was going to get it steam cleaned today but thought I would first tap some wisdom off here.

has anyone had theres done,, is there any thing i really should cover to prevent water getting in,, and has there been any problems encountered afterwards???

thanks, and i will post the outcome of it too to let others know

July 24, 2006

Hi mate.

just be weary because water will more than likely get into your dizzy cap, all the plugs and you will face an embarassing breakdown to the humor of others.

If you go to a decent valeters they may refuse to do it or tell you they are not responsible if it breaks down.

On the othe hand if it does stop you will need to blow, wipe away any electrical ignition component that would be affected by water. as soon as it starts up again it should be ok.

Hope this helps. :thumbsup:

July 25, 2006

I have been fitting a K&N induction kit to my N/A today and a new top strut brace cos the old one had rotted through, I polished the replacement up and it looks great,, but now I notice how dirty the engine bay is and everything in it, I was going to get it steam cleaned today but thought I would first tap some wisdom off here.
has anyone had theres done,, is there any thing i really should cover to prevent water getting in,, and has there been any problems encountered afterwards???
thanks, and i will post the outcome of it too to let others know

To be honest, unless the engine is really coted in cr@p I wouldnt bother. If water gets in any of the electrical components it can be quite tricky to find where the problem is - worst case, it might actually cause damage to something expensive like the ECU.

You might be better off cleaning the engine by hand using a bit of degreaser and a brush or something.

July 25, 2006

New cars dont mind having the engine bays pressure washed... Well at least New BMW's and Mini's dont mind it... We do it at work (BMW Dealership).

I wouldnt recommend it on older cars unless you cover electrical things up as I did my 1991 Merc 190E and it got water in the distributer and it spluttered all the way home :)... Took 30 mins to solve it but still, wasnt very nice, thought I killed my car :P.. Oh yea, Plus side was my engine looked brand new :D

July 26, 2006

I thought about this then decided to use degreaser instead (which Ive done with the yaris to good effect in the past). Got the CO2 stuff from halfrauds - two stage thingy.

Got the engine warm - sprayed the degreaser (having polly bagged anything electrical and apexi). Left it, then cleaned it off and dried as best as I could...

... three days later I was still getting a misfire - sounded like a scooby. Eventually tracked it down to being a drop of water had gotten into one of the plug sleaves. What Id suggest is that you use some pvc tape and make a rim of it round the plug sleave before you start.

Havent done it since - have decided to bite the bullet and send the car off to be pro polished instead - more long lasting.

July 26, 2006

Had mine done tuesday before JAE... and she didnt seem to care at all.. the valeter who did it told me he wasnt happy going near my alarm (good for him) and bagged it all off... and she started up no probs etc.. and it got rid of all the gunk in there.. I just need to polish :P lol

July 26, 2006

hhhmmmmm... got some water on the engine on a brand new mini today... It didnt seem to like it very much as when I pressed the accelerator it wouldnt rev or anything, just sat ticking over (Like the accelerator was disconnected from the engine)... After 5 mins or ticking over it was ok. I think the mini was <I thought I could get past the swearing filter - what a sad muppet I am eh?>ed anyway as even the mechanic said it shouldnt have done that... It was just going in the showroom anyway so it would be fine ;)

July 26, 2006

I had the engine bay in my 2 steam cleaned about 3 years ago. Caused no problems at all, and engine looked wicked.... was a bit of a risk i suppose :lol:

July 26, 2006

THANKS FOR THE INFO GUYS,,, I WILL BE GOING AHEAD WITH IT EVEN THOUGH ITS NOT A REAL MESS UNDER THERE,, I SHOULD TELL YOU ALL I HAVE OCD AND CANT COPE WITH THINGS BEEN DIRTY OR OUT OF PLACE,, I CANT SLEEP IF THINGS ARE!!!! DOES NOT RULE MY LIFE BUT I WILL BE STEAM CLEANING IT.

TO MAKE ME FEEL BETTER,, I POLISH THE CAR ABOUT 3TIMES A WEEK AT THE MOMENT AS I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO GET THE PAINT BACK FROM PINK TO RED AND ITS LOOKING AWESOME NOW!!! SO THE ENGINE HAS TO MATCH,,, WILL TAKE MY TIME AND CHECK ALL THE PLUG SOCKETS AND STUFF ARE WELL DRY AFTER AS THAT SEEMS TO BE THE ISSUE.

LET YOU KNOW HOW IT GOES

September 6, 2007

Had mind pressure washed no issues to report just put a bag over dizzy cap and she started up first time, always good to warm her up first helps in the drying out later and keep jet away from the spark plugs!

;)

September 6, 2007

Mine needs doing but I'm not that proud of my engine bay as some of it is still red!

September 7, 2007

... a couple of things to add....

If you are using any degreaser, (which you will be..) read the instructions re if it expects the engine to be cold or hot - they do differ.

Bag up anything such as dizzy... and wd40 any really exposed electrical/loom connectors.

I usually use a cold degreaser, then start the engine and with it running, wash it down.

For a top finish - big tip here - spray Autoglym rubber/trim treatment over all the hoses and plastics... then close the hood, and let the car idle for 10-15 mins.

When you open the hood you will be very pleased....

DJ

March 29, 2011

New here, great post! I was thinking of having my car's engine bay cleaned. Thank you for the tips on Steam Cleaning. By-the-way will there be any problem with the engine if I get it cleaned just after shutting the engine off? or do I have to wait for a while?

April 5, 2011

On the Mr2 watch out for water getting in the spark plug recesses, Most Mr2 engines get rained on anyway :D

For doing it properly though I'd spend a load of time with various rags, and degreasant, and bring back the black/rubber/plastic bits with something like back to back.

It's a shame the garage feature is down, I could have shown pics of my supra engine bay for proper automotive OCD. -Mirror polished metal bits! :toast: