Clean Engine help

[Yodadex]

Help:
Does anyone have a DIY link on how to safely clean the engine without damaging any external electrical, bearing, or belt components? I remember a long time ago I cleaned an engine with a chemical and I started to get an awful bearing noise coming from the engine after I rinsed the motor with water. This was on an 1994 Acura Integra. I don't want to get myself into more problems than I need to.

Reasons:
I just bought this used 1996 1.8 L Corolla with 146K Miles and the engine is filthy! Tomorrow I want to change the timing belt, drive belt, and clean the grease and dirt build off the motor. The engine has no leaks, runs excellent, and my a/c blows super cold. I am happy with the little car and I would like to do preventative maintenance. This is a car for daily regular use. Everything in the car is stock and original.

Thanks
Stephen

[Kiwi-Corolla]

Have a search on Google, there are many guides/DIYs available. YouTube is full of useful videos too. The best thing to do is get the engine warm, take the negative terminal off the battery (or remove the battery completely), cover any electrical parts with plastic bags or aluminium foil (fuse box, distributor, spark plug boots, alternator, sensors etc), scrub any light dirt off the engine block etc with a wire brush, mix up some cleaning solution (Simple Green works quite well), scrub the hell out of all the dirty parts and then rinse it off with the garden hose on a low pressure setting. Wait for everything to dry thoroughly and you'll be good to go. I got mine steam cleaned when I put the new engine in, which was a lot easier, but as long as you cover all of the electrical parts in your engine bay then you'll be able to get similar results with the engine still in place

[Yodadex]

awesome thank you. It's sounds like I need to cover the basics. I'll give that a try tomorrow before I change my belts.

[Bitter]

really just need to cover the distributor and alternator. everything else SHOULD be water proofed under there as far as spraying and splashing. good idea to not go spraying water HARD at the plug wires or where they go into the head, but any moisture in there should evaporate away.

I've just used engine degreaser and scrub brush with some time and a good hose nozzle to clean mine down from time to time when I needed to. Helps you keep track of seeping gaskets and watch if leaks get worse.

[Rip The E Brake]

Steam cleaning is the way to go.

Cover all electrical connectors, distributors, plugs and wires.

[Yodadex]

all clean. I covered the alternator, distributor, and removed the battery degrease this engine. Hey RIP do you have your own steamer?

[speedy25]

All the components under the hood should survive a spraying with a garden hose easily. High pressure at the car wash, thats another story!

While everyone has their own favorites, I like the spray on-rinse off motorcycle cleaners. They do a very good job on removing grease as well as making the aluminum look nice and clean, better than the usual degreasers.

-SP

[Rip The E Brake]

Originally Posted by Yodadex

all clean. I covered the alternator, distributor, and removed the battery degrease this engine. Hey RIP do you have your own steamer?

No but my friends detail shop does. I am working on their new site now. www.856media.com/shinebright

[GTChink]

just get a scunci steamer..that's what I use. They sell them anywhere.

[topnotch]

with mine i just cover the distributor, alternator and battery stray down with purple blaster dilluted with some water and wash down with a hose after wards i then use eather an air gun or some paper towel to dry off excess water and spray with WD40 to get that shine and also protection lol. and 15 min later start the engine and let the engine dry everything else i couldnt get to. smells nice too when its all done.