how to clean engine room

[Freebee]

I have had a really close look at my engine room, Ive got twin volvos and what looks like 15 years of accumulated oil, dirt and carbon belt dust over the engines and sorrounding compartment that is also chock full of batteries and all the usual parafinalia that you find in there.

My inclination is to pressure wash or steam clean but I am concerned that this will affect the electrics.

Anybody got any wonder cleaners or processes they can recommend.

Also after Ive cleaned the engines up how can I stop them going more rusty than they already are?

 

[nedmin]

if youve got belt dust suggest you check that you have the right belts fitted,looks like they could be the wrong contour for the pulleys.

 

[Freebee]

it was when I was fitting new right belts that I realised from close up how dirty everything was looking down from above you don't tend to notice!!

 

[jfm]

Not sure there's any alternative to wire brushing the engines, spray painting them, bilge cleaner in the bilge, then bilge paint.

If respraying the engines I'd always do them white, not green. And the bilges too. Can't beat an everything-white engine room. This time around our Volvos were painted white from new, much nicer, and much safer becuase you spot tiny oil leaks instantly.

 

[narooma]

Try Jezer for cleaning

 

[ccscott49]

You can use a good detergent based de-greaser, get in there with a coarse sponge and get after it!! Old clothes!!! Washing everything down, leave it for a while, any tight little nooks, use a small paintbrush. Haydns "boat removing elixir" would be ideal for this job, once you've got stuff clean, wash it all down into the bilges pump out, into a container for removal!! Then after that, it's time for the bilges, do the same there. Rust on the engines, treat with a proprietary rust killer, water based, then clean off and paint, it might be better to paint them with the original colour, unless you intend to paint the whole engine! Once all the gunge is off, you can assess what elkse needs cleaning/painting. It's a wonderful character building job!!

 

[nictbrown]

I agree with above. Protect electrical bits like starter, alternator, regulators with doubleTesco bags taped around. I use a garden sprayer with Gunk or equivalent. Leave for 30 mins, another spray then work all over with a brush - say a 50mm and small one for crevises. I then garden hose off/wash off with sponge as above - lots of dirty water so you may wish to collect this in a container and dispose of environmentally. Follow up with car shampoo wash.

I prefer to avoid jet washes or steam on engines as they are too powerful and will penetrate electrical joints, and above method seems to clean ok.

Antifouling will seem so much more fun after this!!

 

[angelsson]

I picked up a good tip on here some time ago on removing surplus water or oil that had gathered in the pan under my engine.
Dispoable babies nappies are great, they soak up much more than you may expect! great if you want to get your bilge realy dry.

 

[Gordonmc]

Gunk or Jizer will certainly take off the grime, but in an enclosed space the stink is pretty vile and will linger for days.
An alternative is bilgex... it does work on engines bushed on and washed off with a garden sprayer.
Before starting buy a pack of disposable nappies and lay them in the bilges to soak up the worst.
Others have already covered painting the engine. Its laborious and knuckle-skinning work with the emery cloth, so allocate an afternoon per engine for prep and masking up. Don't make my mistake... I took my compressor to the boat to spray the paint. The overspray went everywhere. The touch-up cans are ok, just use a good solvent mask.

 

[robind]

Truckwash in a garden spray and a paintbrush to remove the difficult bits, then using the same spray and brush, using water this time, to clean it off. Then three cans of VW lovat green (if I remember correctly) from a motor factor and spray the engines!
Incontinence pants are bigger and cheaper than disposable nappies to soak up the gunge. I did hear that woollen jumpers from the charity shop take the oil out, leaving the water so that you can pump out whats left.
Regards
Rob