engine washing?

[nate]

need a hand.
can anybody give me a quick explanation on the best way to clean my ls1?
what is a good chemical to use and what should be covered from the water spray.
i just don't want to wreck anaything.

thanx
nate

[camaroZ28lt1at]

I use Simple Green. Just make sure if its the concentrated bottle, dilute it (70%water 30%simple green) or you will eat threw your plastics.

[93azzkickinZ]

when i spray water on mine it runs bad till it dries out. LT1 though.

[camaroZ28lt1at]

I have a Lt1 also and if you just cover the optispark then you should be ok. Sorry guys, I know these are the LS1 forms, do yall have optisparks??

[Ryatt-Motion]

No, LS-1 don't have opti's. as camaroZ28lt1at said, do the mix of 70/30 simple green, and gently pressure wash the engine. just go long enough to get the dirt off, then dry the engine off as soon as possible, eith er with an old Absorber or compressed air. Then you can dress the hoses and the plastic stuff with some Zaino tire shine, or Meguiars rubber protectant. I try to keep things like Armr-All off the engine because it will crack all your plastic stuff, and attract dirt and dust.

[chevbuickfan]

to degrease it, use oven cleaner and just let the degreaser do the job

[Louvit]

Originally posted by chevbuickfan
to degrease it, use oven cleaner and just let the degreaser do the job

that's new!!! does the engine have to be hot for the oven cleaner to work?

[Ryatt-Motion]

Originally posted by chevbuickfan
to degrease it, use oven cleaner and just let the degreaser do the job

Don'tever use oven cleaner on an engine that has it's accesories on it!!! It will melt right through the wires and anything that is plastic!

Easy off is awsome for an engine that is out of the car and is bare with no accesories. Believe me I know and I have tried this and I have watchd liquify plastic before.

[Jon657]

Oven cleaner sounds like a bad idea to me too. Last time I cleaned my engine, I just bought some engine degreaser from the parts store and followed the directions. My car smelled like petroleum for a week on the inside but it did finally stop smelling. I would use caution around your open wires. I did notice some discoloration in the upper left plastic area in the engine bay so try not to spray in that area. Other than that, looked fine and did the job nicely.

[MoffZ28]

Whenever you pull the intake manifold to repair the dreaded lt1 oil leak......you can use oven cleaner to remove the built up oil gunk off of the inside.

I would not use it to clean engine however.

[Ryatt-Motion]

The oven cleaner is sort of a poormans hot tanking. It eats off all the grease and grime and ion a lot of cases the paint and your skin LOL! It leaves the engine with that etched look. It is effective when using it on strictly metal parts, but as I stated earlier, it will liquifiy plastic parts. Believe it or not, another thing that works awsome on degreasing metal parts only is Coca-Cola. It will eat the grease right off of the engine. Again, don't use it on plastics or electronics.

[93azzkickinZ]

My uncle uses oven cleaner to strip paint on houses. Doesn't sound like a good idea.

[Ryatt-Motion]

Heed the words of the azzkicker!