What's your favorite method for degreasing an IDI?

DrCharles

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It'll be easier to identify the source of many small leaks if I could clean off my 7.3... there is a LOT of grease/oil from the IP gear cover right down to the pan. And a small drip of antifreeze on the left front which the shop who replaced the heads and oil cooler o-rings/gaskets thinks is from that freeze plug. I would not be surprised if they pinched an o-ring when pressing the ends back on, myself...

So what do you recommend for getting 25 years of built-up crud off the engine? I have a pressure washer but not sure how effective it would be with only cold water available. Plus I'm concerned about driving water past seals into places it should not be. Spraying canned degreaser (which I think is basically kerosene?) will make a big mess on the ground, although I could lay down some newspaper. Other ideas? thanks.
 

Thewespaul

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Take it to the coin wash and go to town with a case of degreaser and pressure washer. Wrap the alt with tin foil and disconnect batteries and you will be good, make sure intake is well covered.
 

DrCharles

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Cleans everything......

Yeah yeah... nuke the site from orbit, it's the only way to be sure ;Poke

Many car washes have signs specifically forbidding engine cleaning, because of the mess left behind (which the next customer will not appreciate, either).

I wonder if a car detailing place would do it... maybe not and for the same reason. :dunno
 

nostrokes

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Short of setting up a full hazmat decon containment site it's going to be impossible to contain all the mess. You could get a kiddie pool and cram it under your truck I suppose but it's only going to catch so much.

Most detailing places don't touch engines because of the liability.
 

79jasper

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Yeah yeah... nuke the site from orbit, it's the only way to be sure ;Poke

Many car washes have signs specifically forbidding engine cleaning, because of the mess left behind (which the next customer will not appreciate, either).

I wonder if a car detailing place would do it... maybe not and for the same reason. :dunno
Nope. It's because of the oil and degreaser chemicals.
Would you dump engine oil down your sink? That's why they have signs for it.
Some are actually set up for it.
Use some like simple green and call it a day at the car wash.

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DrCharles

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I think that a sewage treatment plant may be better set up to recover hydrocarbons from the incoming waste than at my house... I have a well and septic system :D

But no, I would not dump oil down the drain! I live in a rural area and there are only four car washes in town. I will check with them.

Really the front cover needs the most cleaning and I may be able to do that with Simple Green and a garden hose. There are places on the crossmember where the accumulated grease is nearly 1/4" thick...
 

genscripter

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When I recently rebuilt my engine, I used a scraper to clean off the thick gunk, then used a combination of mineral spirits, brake cleaner, and acetone to strip it down with paper towels. With the big gunk removed with the scraper, it didn't take much wiping to clean off the head and block. Also, I put down a basin to collect the scrapings. Since I wiped it with paper towels, I didn't have a huge wet oily mess under the block.

Pic of the block once it was cleaned and painted:

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Macrobb

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My local car wash has "tire and engine cleaner" available at the nozzle. Cover the engine with that first, give it a few minutes(while washing the rest of the truck), then high pressure soap, then rinse.

I'd try to do it with the engine warm but not hot; you don't want cold water on extremely hot manifolds. Also, be careful about the air inlet, but that's all that really matters. Never had issues cleaning alternators and such - remember, it's only 12v.
 

ReticulateSplines

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By far the best method I have found is a dollar store product called LA's Totally Awesome Degreaser.

Best in terms of cost - $1 And it is made in the USA!

It is super easy to use - douse the area, let sit, rinse away with a hose pistol.

I dont have before/after pics but just recently had a Jeep Wrangler I needed to do a water pump on. About 205k miles of never been cleaned under the hood and I didnt have but maybe 1/4 of the bottle left but it still cleaned it up nice and made the job so much easier.

I havent had to clean my IDI engine with anything more than a rag because a "mechanic" put a shoddy "fuel system upgrade" in place - long story short it has been removed and diesel was *everywhere* so I used that opportunity to wipe it all down before installing a functioning system.

I do not dump the cleaner on the alternator, it is not the area covered in grease and grime, but if the alternator couldnt handle some water they would be getting fried all the time! Especially on that Jeep where the alternator is lower than all of the breather tubes..
 

Thewespaul

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You do NOT want water on the alternator, it should be covered if you are spraying the engine bay down, usually no reason to need to clean that area anyways. Water in the alt will shorten the life of that component if not instantly kill it.

To the op, I would double check the local car washes, as rob said if they have an engine degreasing spray option you should be good. If the amount of grease is severe you can always bring a flat shovel and a bucket to clean up after you’re done.
 

Dieselpowerking

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You do NOT want water on the alternator, it should be covered if you are spraying the engine bay down, usually no reason to need to clean that area anyways. Water in the alt will shorten the life of that component if not instantly kill it.

To the op, I would double check the local car washes, as rob said if they have an engine degreasing spray option you should be good. If the amount of grease is severe you can always bring a flat shovel and a bucket to clean up after you’re done.

Weird I've watched are detailer never cover up an alternator and it was just fine....... same pickups have been coming back for over 1 and half years with no problems..........
 

SirRea63l

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I used Fast 505 and and a garden hose pinhole nozzle the first time, it got a lot off. The second time I used the Fast 505 and my pressure washer and did the undercarriage as well. The Fast 505 is caustic but works better than anything else I have used in my short life. I had some spots under the engine that were over a half an inch thick and the Fast 505/Pressure washer took it right off.
 

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