The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay Electrical and cleaning

Im not sure if this would fall under this category but im working on my engine and the truck came off of a farm, its completely covered in mud, close to half and inch thick in most places... what would be the best way to clean it? ive just been using WD-40 and scraping but its just not working. i was thinking maybe pressure washing but im not sure if ill mess any electrical ect.... any tips i can use?

plastic bag over the carb and another over the distributor and blast away - didn't it get wet when the mud got flung all over it?

Bill

should i worry about my generator or any exposed wires? headlights ect?
also, my truck has a block heater... should i worry about where that goes into the block?

avoid blasting against the cover plates over the openings around the back of the gen and starter - and let them dry well before starting the truck, but otherwise the actual wires or terminals getting wet isn't a problem, imagine what happens under there at 50mph in the pouring rain

I use a pressure washer [1200psi, not 3000] under the hood occasionally just covering the dist and carb without any problems - helps to spray it with a cleaner before hand to cut the grease, I use Simple Green de-greaser

Bill

Your right, i completely forgot about rain.... haha

Rain may be one thing
BUT a high pressure washer and spraying mud around the engine house is not going to do electrical any good. IF I were to to this I would remove distributor and bolt a plate over the hole, remove the generator and starter and anything solid state. This is the only real way to ensure no water gets into anything - besides you will get a better cleaning job with that stuff out of the way.

After submarine and industrial experience I theorize water will go where it wants to go and there is no stopping it.

Dan Bentler

Give everything under the hood a good soaking with water from a a low-pressure hose, while trying to avoid drowning stuff like the distributor, generator and starter, then let it sit for several minutes so the water can soften the mud. Then hit it with a high-pressure stream of water from the hose to blast the loose stuff away. After two or three of these procedures, then use a spray-on cleaner like Gunk Degreaser, soak awhile, and then use the high pressure stream again. Be patient- - - - -it's going to take several tries to get it all. Let everything dry thoroughly before running the engine.
Jerry

So i took the main electrical parts off, generator, starter, distributor ect. soaked the engine with a hose, waited a bit, then spray Gunk degreaser and waited 20 mins before pressure washing and it barely cleaned anything.......

Well I guess we did kinda forget the rub a dub part.

Dan Bentler

Maybe we are talking about grease and dirt. In that case you need more than water. They are selling alot of industrial degreaser solutions these days to try and get us off solvent use. What I use is paint brush cleaner, applied with a brush, wire brushes and scrapers.

alright, ill try that truckernix.

It isnt grease that im trying to get off, it literally solid mud. like ive taken a drywall scraper to it and its coming off like clay.... just really dense

well then degreaser isn't going to do anything, you need to start by chipping as much off as you can dry, then use the pressure washer on it until it's gone

Bill

I parked my truck on the lawn and hooked the garden hose up to the hot side of the washing machine hose bib. Used a brass pressure nozzle and hosed her off. The dirt went into the lawn. Did alot of soaking and scraping with different products too. It's alot of work and not much fun at all.

I thinok it will better if you get good servicing and cleaning from any company.

i think i found the easyer way, ive been taking part by part of and scrubbing like crazy haha

I use 2750 PSI pressure washer on my vehicles all the time. I don't use any cleaners. I shy away from wires and belts and rubber hoses. I try not to get water down the carb. I blow dry with compressed air and pull the plugs and spray down the cylinders with some WD-40 and turn it over. I usually do my tuneup after wards and dry my distributor after wards too.

isnt it bad to get the distributor wet??

I don't try to spray the distibutor, but if the cap is on, I don't woirry about it too much. Like I said, I do my tuneup after I pressure wash, so generally I replace the distributor cap and rotor, etc.

If I have sprayed with a good cap and rotor, I have take the cap off and use air pressure to dry the inside of the cap and then spray the inside of the cap with WD-40 real good and then use air pressure again to remove any moisture/excess WD-40. The same with the spark plug wires.