Cleaning and Washing the engine

[Samer Al Abed]

Good day all
I'm thinking of cleaning up the engine 230SL, M127 by washing it with high pressure water pump and some detergents to remove all the grease around the head and the engine block and then to apply the M3 Aluminum cleaners to make the engine looks good...of course it should be cold
Is there any particular areas that the water should not reach.....?!!, is there any harm on the engine or the electrical parts..?!!
There is a Fuel Injector air filter...i guess this should be covered before i start the process...?!!
Your kind advice will really help me allot
Cheers
Samer

[J. Huber]

Hey Samer. I have done this a few times with much trepidation. I always feared disrupting something electrical and being stranded at the car wash! But, I never have been. What I do is cover the distributor with a plastic bag. I also put one over the coil. I have used both Simple Green and the GUNK remover. The latter really stinks and I hate it. But it works. I sprayed cleaner in the heaviest areas, let it set up for a while, then carefully and strategically fired the water at the engine in the various spots. Then I start the car and start drying by hand as much as possible. The heat from engine eventually dries things too. Blood pressure eventually goes back down.

Bottom line for me -- I much prefer to scrub things by hand.

But every once in a while, a spray of the lower engine and trans. area is needed (since mine seems to perspire a bit...  )

[Andres G]

This things seem to be seasonal... I was planning on doing this exact same thing later this week. Good advise, I will get the GUNK grease remover today.

Thanks,
Andres G

[ejboyd5]

Avoid the GUNK unless you relish its odor for six months or so after the wash.  Likewise, no need for the high pressure unless you are just too lazy to use a little "elbow grease."  My recommendation is for a product known as "Greased Lightning," which is available at most supermarkets in quart spray bottles and at the discounters (K-Mart, BJ's, etc.) in gallon jugs.
Very little residual odor and it does a very good job on dissolving old petroleum products.  Spray on, let sit and rinse off.  Stubborn spots may take a little scrubbing with a small brush.

[abe280SL]

I usually use the GUNK stuff and spray everywhere except I avoid the sides (top of fender) where all the electrical stuff really lies and concentrate on the engine itself.  So far I have not had any problems.  Then I get a hose and rinse everything off....again concentrating on the engine block away from the fenders.  I tend to do that while the engine is running....don't know if this is the right way or not,,,,but thats why I do.
abe

[J. Huber]

I tend to agree that GUNK is stinky. If there is a better, less stanky spray-on solvent, by all means use it. What I did was, after rinsing the GUNK off as best as possible, I repeated the process with Simple Green and a less powerful rinse. Odor went completely away after some driving -- a day or two for me. I was conservative in my approach so maybe not much to deal with. And totally agreed that "elbow grease" is best. I still like the pressure wash for the underbelly shots of oil pan and trans, since I don't have access to a lift.

[dseretakis]

In my experience Gunk is the most effective.  It does stink but I don't think that the smell lingers for very long.  Yes greased lightning works very well too.  Place the hose as close to the areas to be washed and cautiously give a few spurts of water squirts.

[Martijn]

Hello Samer,

You could take a look at this website: http://thedetailinghandbook.com/Engine_Detailing.aspx

Perhaps this is helpful for you. There are also a lot of other nice tips about cleaning your car.

Martijn