i need to know the best way the clean the engine compartment and the transsmision. most of the engine compartment just has a florida sand/mud film on it. i don't know how to explain what it is but on the paint (when i had paint,lol) you had to buff really hard. the truck almost looked orange, but when you got the stuff off it looked like the factory red. the tranny mostly had oil and stuff on it. if hit it with engine degreaser a few times and then try to spray it off is the the best way to go about it? any thoughts would be appreciated, i want to clean it up so that i can find any leaks that i may have. and having it look clean wouldn't be such a bad thing.

 

Sounds good to me. I'd add, get the engine hot/up to operating temp, couple cans of degreaser, then rinse off at the car wash. In the past, the drive to the car wash was my warm up time, then spray, follow instructions on can, then spray off. Avoid spraying electrical areas along the driverside fender. Not gonna hurt if it gets wet, just no direct blasts.

 

what he said

 

Hold up! Dont wash a diesel engine when it is hot, unless you steer clear of the injection pump. The cold water shrinks the pump housing down on the internals which are only "lapped to fit clearance". This interference can damage the high pressure piston assembly in our rotary pumps.

See if a local mechanic or friend will let you use his hotsy pressure washer and leave the truck there so it is cold the next day when you come back. Then wash away and when your done let everything cool back down just to be sure.

 

in the past i've used Simple Green and a solvent gun. foam underside, let soak, then spray off with high pressure nozzle on garden hose. wash, rinse, repeat.

 

The simple green works wonders. I used it on an ice cold engine and just a garden hose with as much oil my truck leaks it cleaned up real nice ...

Untill I started it again

 

I use Waxie Green Cleaner/Degreaser or Simple Green in a pump spray bottle undiluted, I always wash the engine compartment before I wash the truck, it just runs better...
I also use my 3000psi steam cleaner when I do any major work on the truck, but you have to make sure you repaint any bare metal or you can watch it rust in front of your eyes.
I then dry it off afterwards with compressed air and maintain the connectors with dielectric grease.

NEVER use any OVEN cleaner to clean your engine, it is very caustic and will destroy the aluminum on your engine along with the paint and wiring.
I have seen the carnage.
Jim

 

I'm down with the simple green solution... but, hot or cold engine? I'm seeing different answers here.

Tell me if this is an ok procedure:

walk up to cold truck
spray simple green on all the ugly bits under the hood
start up and drive to the do-it-yourself car wash
keep it running, and hose off the simple green/crud
(avoiding spraying the turbo)
laugh at the gunk on the ground
drive home

I can't believe how clean some of the pictures on here look. I gotta clean this thing.
Tys

 

Ty..... Different answer...
My engine was buried in mud and dirt/oil mix whenI bought it. I hooked the gardem hose up to the drain fitting on my hot water heater, turned it up to max and le tit heat up , the nused a high pressure nozzle and the hot water to clean the engine. No solvents, no chemicals and it broke down the old oil and greases perfectly. I have done this a few times now and do the same thing to clean my tractor engine when it gets too nasty. This has the added advantage of flushing the hot water tank clean....
Oh, after the first time I didn it , I put a tarp down on the driveway first to collect all the crud that came off so it wasnt laying in my gravel.

 

The castrol superclean in the purple jugs works well to.

I was lucky the PO of my truck kept the engine washed so it was nice and clean when I bought it. I wash it twice a year to keep all the oil film and dirt down.

 

Gunk foamy engine bright is my favorite with castrol superclean a close second.

 

Be careful using the aerosol engine brite type products, they are really rough on bare aluminum.