Underbody/engine cleaning - Steam?

[GarageWarrior]

Need to clean up underside of the engine/transmission on my car prior to repair. There is a lot of baked on grease/grime and dirt. In about 3 hours I was able to clean all of the easy to reach areas with a steam cleaner and rag, but there is a lot of more grease and grime in harder to reach areas and all the nooks and carnies. My steam cleaner is a cheap McCulloh unit that does not really have the power to move dirt on it's own without help of a scrub brush and in many places scrub brush does not reach or fit. I tried Kerosene from a spray bottle and it's been very very messy and not very effective.

I was thinking to find a more powerfull steam cleaner if I can find a place that will rent one. Any other suggestions?

 

[MFolks]

Maybe a pressure washer shooting soap first & then just water. Be careful around electrical connectors, as the soap may be corrosive to the male and female pins.

 

[dkroth]

Pressure washer.

A high powered de-greaser may speed the process along a bit.

Prepare to get dirty from the blow-back.

 

[GarageWarrior]

I have a power washer, but don't want to use it because the car is on a lift in my workshop and it's not setup as a washing bay. Also to make power washing effective I'd need to pre-treat with a strong caustic degreaser and worried that it might cause problems with electrical connections/paint/aluminum. Another option is to rent a hot power washer, but I don't have experience with them and it seems like a big production.

I've been looking in to something like this steam washer - specs look good and it has hot water injection in addition to steam ...can't find a place to rent one, and it's a bit spendy for a one-off project

http://www.cleantile.com/steamvapor/commercial_5000ci_steam_vapor_cleaner.htm#.UqQD8fRZcck

 

[DIC]

Go to the coin carwash .. Bring some drive on ramps and don't forget your speedos

 

[Aquaticbob]

Go to the coin carwash .. Bring some drive on ramps and don't forget your speedos

Was literally about to mention this exactly. My mechanic neighbor has taken a customer car down to the local brown bear and sprayed it off when it was so extremely dirty under the car.

Usually they use A LOT of brake cleaner, CRC to be specific. Seems to do well for them. I usually just use B-12 chemtool, it manhandles grease however use in a very well ventilated area.

 

[TAMPAGT07]

Go to the coin carwash .. Bring some drive on ramps and don't forget your speedos

Good idea...I'd also wear a scuba mask, snorkle and some swim fins.....Maybe add some inflateable arm floaties, for effect only....

 

[allinon72]

Was literally about to mention this exactly. My mechanic neighbor has taken a customer car down to the local brown bear and sprayed it off when it was so extremely dirty under the car.

Usually they use A LOT of brake cleaner, CRC to be specific. Seems to do well for them. I usually just use B-12 chemtool, it manhandles grease however use in a very well ventilated area.

I would be very careful using brake cleaner, especially with all the plastic under the hood these days.

 

[skulldrinker]

I went to the coin wash yesterday to wash down my tires before getting new ones put on. The wash cost 9 quarters for 4 minutes. That's $2.25 for 4 minutes. You will go broke doing a big job like an undercarriage. I would look into bringing it somewhere to have it done.

 

[rambo19]

In the UK, I take my land rover to a commercial steam cleaner, they put it on a ramp and get it spotless.
£60.

 

[Falcon67]

I jacked up one side of the race car about 16" while on the trailer then sprayed the underside with Gunk. Let it soak for awhile then hit it with the hose. Worked well. I had to wash the engine bay of the broke race car in the shop. I just built a series of dams with bath towels and went after it with a hose. You do what you gotta.

 

[HotrodHR]

Wow... 3 hours to clean the easy to reach stuff. What type and age of vehicle are you working on?

 

[dellwas]

You say you have a lift in your gararge, do you have air? If so try one of the solvent guns that connect to an airline along with whatever solvent you feel comfortable in using.

 

[GarageWarrior]

Wow... 3 hours to clean the easy to reach stuff. What type and age of vehicle are you working on?

Ferrari F355

 

[GarageWarrior]

In the UK, I take my land rover to a commercial steam cleaner, they put it on a ramp and get it spotless.
£60.

Wish I could find something like that around here. Ended up using power-washer in my shop but it sucked big time, everything got #$%@ up

 

[nicksnothereman]

Ferrari F355

You must actually drive it!

 

[sberry]

Fight thru it if you are going to take it out, then clean.

 

[theoldwizard1]

Get a couple f cans of Gunk Foamy Engine Cleaner. Spray it on the worst areas and let sit. A warmed up engine will help, but don't spray it on the exhaust system. Any pressure washer will work, if you can get the spray into the area.

You may have to do it twice, but drive the car around to let it dry out after the first time.

 

[Lippyp]

Wish I could find something like that around here. Ended up using power-washer in my shop but it sucked big time, everything got #$%@ up

Where I used to live the local bus garage had drive on ramps outside (basically a hole cut into the side of a retaining wall) and would steam clean normal vehicles for cash. Might be worth looking at bus/and big rig places. Hot water pressure washers are great, my late mother-in-law had a big commercial Karcher, used kerosene or diesel to heat the water and the pressure was pretty high too. We only rerally used to usde it once a year to clean out her Koi carp pond so it was always a sod to get lit but cut through grime like a knife through butter. If you can get it on an outside ramp then a hot pressure washer will work wonders especially if you pre-treat with something like Gunk.

 

[N0tt0N]

Ferrari F355

Um.... Drive slowly past a nearby college. Sort through the babes trying to get into the car. Ask them if they'd like to help 'wash' the car. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

 

[TAMPAGT07]

Um.... Drive slowly past a nearby college. Sort through the babes trying to get into the car. Ask them if they'd like to help 'wash' the car. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

I think he stole this one from the T-man's play book.......