The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Cleaning a 235 W/out a pressure washer/blaster

OK, I've got my engine and I've got a stretch of time to work on it while I earn enough money to finish putting my truck back together.

How can I clean it without a pressure washer or media blaster? It's on a stand in the little garage I am working out of. It's freezing cold in MN.

I was thinking of using some sort of cleaner on it (oven cleaner I've heard works) and then just using a brush and wire wheel. Any other advice?

SimpleGreen, seems to be a good cleaner/degreaser

USE HOT WATER!

I use Purple Power in hot water. Cold water does nothing to grease... get that water steaming hot!!

I also go to the dollar store and get toilet scrubbing and dish scrubbing brushes. They are cheap enough to throw away when done and the bristles are firm enough to get into crevasses.

Did I mention HOT WATER!!!! Really.

Good luck getting a bucket of hot water to stay hot very long on an ice cold block. I would rent a portable hot pressure washer with a turbo tip. They aren't too expensive. You will be pleased with the results.

I would hook up a small home owner type pressure washer to the hot water tank drain. Dawn and something green or purple. Easy off. they all work better hot.

I use the stuff that is made to clean paint brushes. It is quite powerful and it will soften all the grease and grime. I use a scraper and wire brush and a foil pan to catch the liquid as I reuse it. Eventually the block gets so clean that it will flash rust. If you do use a brush on a drill you need to wear protection for your face eyes and skin in general.

....and back in the day I cleaned many engines with a pan of gasoline and a brush, then rinse good with Dawn detergent. Oh, the boogie man will get us for using g a s o l i n e. Be sure to wear goggles.

About 5 aerosol cans of Carb Cleaner and the small wire brushes. Wont take more than a few hours. After that, Dawn dishsoap with another few hours of brushing with new wire brushes. Once you are done, before you paint it, get some PPG DX330 metal prep cleaner or lacquer thinner and apply with terry cloth or cotton. Done AND Done. So, pretty much agree with Alvin! Other than if you forget the goggles, don't forget to blink a lot.

A quick warning if you should choose to use Simple Green or any of the purple (lye based) degreasers; The WILL attack any aluminum that it gets on. In the case of Simple Green, is may only discolor it a bit, if you wash if off fairly quick, no problems should occur. With the purple cleaners, unless you dilute them first, they will eat into aluminum in very little time. If you use it full strength, apply, scrub, then rinse off at least twice as quickly as possible, especially on aluminum. I have personally witnessed aluminum parts get completely dissolved in purple degreaser, sometimes in as little as 15 minutes. In addition, rubber gloves are mandatory when using any of the purple cleaners, it will eat your skin, even if it's diluted.

I made my own hot tank cleaner by cutting a 55 gallon oil drum in half lengthwise, adding a set of angle iron legs, and building a fire under it. The cleaning solution was water, half a box of Tide, and 3 cans of lye. After several hours of boiling and a thorough rinse with a garden hose, that block was CLEAN! Just don't put anything aluminum in there- - - -you won't get it back!
Jerry

No water heater, no place to build a fire, no hot water or running water at all for that matter!

Heat is your friend. Even if you use a solvent if the metal is that cold it will only congeal again as you smear it all over the place.

When I start with REALLY greasy parts I hit them with the MAPP gas. Burning/melting off grease is easier than cleaning it. It turns into a black powder than can easily be brushed off.

You need certain tools to do certain jobs. You can't heat up a bucket of water in the house and carry it out?

Most environmentally friendly things are not that great as cleaners. Some ARE very good...but not all.

If there were a house near the garage I could.

I used E-Z-off oven cleaner. Takes a few cans and a water hose...it worked great

I purchased a steam cleaner that works far better than I expected for lots of purposes. I used it around the home on window sills, screens and a few areas on my truck. I would think if one pre-sprayed some areas with Simple Green and then blasted it with one of these steam cleaners, it would be very effective. I think I got mine off Amazon for about $80. It says it is a fabric steamer but I have not found any limitations for other uses.

Not too late to ask for one for Christmas....

Wagner 915 Steamer

These are all techniques that will work, but since you are in a place where water will freeze almost immediately and all the work will take many hours, why don't you see if somebody will just dunk it in a tank and clean it for you. Compare the cost of doing it to what you will pay yourself at minimum wage and the cost of materials to get it done and the pain of getting rid of the waste water. I just went through this before it got really cold and wish I had taken it in. I used a 5 gallon bucket with some biodegradable cleaner to soak clean the smaller stuff.

Being wet in below zero temps is not a good idea. Trust me on that.

Alternative suggestion- - - -wait for summer, all two weeks of it up there!
Jerry

Hope you have some heat in that little garage. My fingers become useless once the cold sets in to the bone.
Is your engine all together and running?
Or are you going to clean it before you put it back together?

If it's together and running, a scraper, wire brush, lots of rags and simple Green will clean it up, but not as good as a pressure wash and that isn't as good as a bath in solvent. You'll need to transport some water. Several 5 gal buckets full.
YOu could boil some water in pots on a kerosene heater, i do it all the time in my shop. Hot water has many uses, as well as putting alittle more heat in the air.

If it's apart I'd take it to a car wash (if they work in the cold up there) or find a machine shop that will dunk it. Do it right if it's apart.
Good luck.

A small torch will work pretty good and keep you warm at the same time. It was already mentioned once, burn it to ashes then brush off and wipe clean. If it does nothing but warm the metal, then the cleans mentioned above will work better, so a win win.

Joe

Thanks everyone for the advice.

I'm renting a garage that has no running water in the winter and isn't attached to a house. The garage is heated, though. And it's only available til April so the truck has to be at least running by then! So no waiting til summer to work on the engine.

If I can find a crane to borrow I'll see about getting it dunked. Right now it's together and running but I'll be taking it apart to clean and paint.

While blasting/washing are faster methods, I have also scraped and wire-brush cleaned engines covered with rust and/or baked-on heavy layers of oil/grease, and then successfully painted them. Various wire-brush drill attachments help a lot. Patience and determination help in this manual undertaking.

If it's running, why bother with anything more than a cosmetic cleanup that can be accomplished with spray cans of degreaser? You're not going to get anything resembling a show-quality paint job on it without a complete disassembly and a rebuild, so scrape the top layer of crud off and drive! A spit-shine and paint isn't going to accomplish much other than eye candy- - - -just wasted effort in the middle of winter! Concentrate on something more useful than cosmetics, like making sure it starts reliably, runs well, stops, steers, and has a safe lighting system.
Jerry

Well you may be right. I just want it to look...'nice.'