Engine steam clean - yes or no and why?

[Black_mamba]

Should I or shouldn't I? Car is a 993 targa 80k on the clock and the engine is...filthy.

What are the benefits and what are the risks.

Cheers

BM

[TOENHEEL]

You might find this interesting:

http://www.pedrosgarage.com/Site_5/Freeze_your_Roa...

[drpep]

That is bizarre. Do you know anywhere in the UK offering this service?

[MogulBoy]

Interesting indeed! There are plenty of examples of CO2 blasting on youTube and some show it removing paint so they would have to know what they were doing to fine-tune it as a detailing tool.

[Pugley]

I have just been through the experience of a complete steam clean of the entire car prior to wax treatment of the underside, suspension and box sections.

Unless you are confident about identifying all electrical components and know how to seal the inlet manifold and breathers, I would say proceed with extreme caution. With an air cooled engine you may also need to remove some of the duct work for access if the oil contamination is bad.

On the other hand, if you are confident you can isolate the appropriate parts there is nothing to lose.

[steve singh]

^^^

I was going to take my car to a garage which charges £20 for an engine steam clean...now starting to have second thoughts afer reading your post!!!

[disco1]

I cant see the point of steam cleaning a 911 engine, it's not like there is much to see and it could potentially damage electrics..etc. If it bothers you that much I'd rather get a cloth, some cleaner and the elbow grease going.

[monthefish]

TOENHEEL said:

You might find this interesting:

http://www.pedrosgarage.com/Site_5/Freeze_your_Roa...

That looks too good to be true.

(Looks like the kind of thing BMW would have on their website on 1st April...)

[MogulBoy]

Paul Dalton at Miracle Detail appears to offer this.. £180+ for 1-2hrs of engine bay cleaning/detailing.

http://www.miracledetail.co.uk/treatments-and-appl...

Another US site...

http://cryodetail.tunersmall.com/photo-gallery.php...

[Prof Beard]

There's a video of the Miracle Detail offering:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQ5Rsz4oveE

[nickfrog]

Couple of hours with a detailing brush, a nail brush, a dozen throw away MFs and a strong APC dilution. like 1:5. £90+ an hour ?? Nice job if you can get it.

[allatsea]

I know we've had the video on other posts, but for £20 you're probably going to get this chap doing your steam clean......


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMVSXi2JgpY


AaS

[Rockster]

Black_mamba said:

Should I or shouldn't I? Car is a 993 targa 80k on the clock and the engine is...filthy.

What are the benefits and what are the risks.

Cheers

BM

There can be a benefit to having the engine cleaned in your car's case since it is a 993 and is air cooled. If the engine is very dirty (from a heavy build up of dust perhaps helped by a layer of oil from one or more leaks) this can interfere with the cooling of the engine. The engine can emit a very hot oily engine smell too that some find offensive.

Or if the engine is going to be worked on. Doing any work on a dirty engine is always more risky that working on a clean engine.

However, there can be a risk involved from cleaning an engine. First while steam is used, it condenses and of course turns to hot water. This can and will get into electrical connectors where this can lead to corrosion (of the surface kind) that can produce electrical gremlins. (Example? Well, I 'cleaned' my Boxster's engine and even though I ran the engine a long time after to thoroughly dry the engine, a few weeks later the spoiler acted up. It fixed itself after a while and has never acted up again. However, I have never cleaned the engine again either.)

Also, water can be forced into seals/gasket areas which can compromise these. Someone who is real knowledgeable about these engines and has steam cleaned many before with good results is the person you want to use.

Or you can simply use some appropriate engine degreaser, let the engine soak a while, then rinse off the engine with hot water. Little water force is necessary so the odds of forcing water into where it shouldn't be is reduced. But this is the technique I used when I washed my Boxster engine (covered above) and well, still the spoiler acted up.

Generally though you and the car and the engine are better off if it remains dirty.

Sincerely,

Rockster.

[TOENHEEL]

Never had a chance to reply, I haven't used the product on the link I posted but it looks bloody great. maybe more for cars that aren't going to be used a great deal in a collection but could also be used as an annual clean up to keep your car looking fresh! I guess

[iwanna]

Cling film connectors, alternator etc

Do the engine 1/4 at a time rather than trying to do the whole engine in one go.

Work from bottom, up.

So with a hose (not PW) rinse a quarter (once all bits you want to cover from water are covered), spray chosen chemical on (Bilt-Hamber Surfex is good for engine bays) work in with brush, rinse with hose.

Then do next 1/4, carry on till all cleaned.

You may need various brushes, cotton buds etc, depends how far you want to go.

I follow with Aerospace 303 to finish.