Cleaning engine... Inside and out.

Topic: Cleaning engine... Inside and out. (Read 2972 times) previous topic - next topic

Cleaning engine... Inside and out.

January 07, 2005, 08:04:44 PM

I'm getting some carb cleaner and simple green and w/e else I can grab to clean my engine.

I'm hesitant on the carb cleaner though. Do I just spray it down into the carb or remove the carb and clean that way?

What other stuff should I use to help clean my engine inside and out? Next week is going to be really nice so I'm taking advantge of this and doing everything I can with my car before it gets cold again. Like painting it.

Re: Cleaning engine... Inside and out.

Reply #1 – January 07, 2005, 11:10:15 PM

read the directions on the carb cleaner

Re: Cleaning engine... Inside and out.

Reply #2 – January 07, 2005, 11:29:02 PM

what year car do you have, you have a Carb?

careful with the simple green, might take some paint off if you leave it on too long.

define too long you say?
well,, get use to seeing it work on something else besides a painted surface. Once you think you got it timed, go for it. simple green did wonders on my wifes old chevy citation engine bay :wtf: :shoothead wonders i say :brick:

you cant clean the inside of your engine. But,if you want to try then add a quart of that engine flush stuff and change your oil,,,,,,,,,,,,,again :flip: and filter ,,,again,,,,, :giggle: just kidding.

as for the carb cleaner,, im not really that experienced behind the bottle of a drippy substance of that caliber but shawns technical write up should sufice for an educated evaluation on the proper way to approach this stunning challenge.

Re: Cleaning engine... Inside and out.

Reply #3 – January 08, 2005, 09:14:22 AM

I looked on the internet for instructions on valvolines carb cleaner and it says does not harm cats or other engine parts. Then it says something about spraying it and letting it drip dry or something.... So I'm really confused.
It's the same as yours Jcassity... It is a carb right...

Re: Cleaning engine... Inside and out.

Reply #4 – January 08, 2005, 10:06:19 AM

Unless it's a Canadian 86-or-older V6 model it should be fuel injected. If it's a US 87-or-older V6 or 85-or-older 5.0 it would have CFI (Fordspeak for throttle-body fuel injection).

Did you get the carb cleaner intended to clean the carb parts during a rebuild, or did you get the stuff that's supposed to be sprayed directly into the engine? It's important that you figure this out first, else you could do some serious damage.
Carb cleaner should be sprayed into the throttle body while the engine is running, making sure to spray the throtte plates and the port for the IAC motor. Most carb cleaners will require that you spray half the can in being careful not to stall the engine, then spray the other half in fast enough to stall it. You then let it sit for a while so the carb cleaner can disolve the carbon in the combustion chambers, then start it up and burn it away. Beware: Your car will smoke like a son of a w for several minutes after doing this as the carb cleaner burns out of the engine and exhaust system. You'll think you broke something if you've never done this before. Don't do it in a garage.

You may consider running a bottle of injector cleaner through as well - the stuff you put in the tank. This cleans the fuel system up a bit.

Re: Cleaning engine... Inside and out.

Reply #5 – January 08, 2005, 10:23:10 AM

I kind of have a carb,, 2barrel cfi.
i think i know where your coming from so ill rewind a little., we've all been there ourselves at one time.

id suggest you take it to a presure wash/car cleaning stall. If you have the time,, let the engine cool down for a half hour or so. Find something to do like clean the wheels or maybe detail the inside.

supplies,, id not waist to much money on carb cleaner. Use the foam cycle or something at first. some wash stations even have degreaser option. let that sit for a couple minutes then flip over to water. dont blast at parts like the distributor or cfi directly. Leave your air cleaner on.

now, break out your ***cheapest you could find carb cleaner*** and spray at the heavy areas that did not come off. represure wash and you should be done.,,,, done that is until you decide to look under the car and see all the on the tranny pan and oil pan.

this stuff aint hard, just do it.

Re: Cleaning engine... Inside and out.

Reply #6 – January 08, 2005, 11:52:01 AM

i used stuff called Purple Power, its more harsh than Simple Green, and it too works wonders, ive used it on a few engine bays, including my friends 88 Toyota 4runner which never had the engine compartment cleaned since 1988, and he frequently off roaded it, and other than a few spots, the engine compartment was clean

i sprayed it, let it sit for a bit, sprayed it again, got out an array of rags, sponges, scouring pads and brushes and had at it, making sure there was plenty of cleaner in the engine bay, and making sure the cleaner never dried

Re: Cleaning engine... Inside and out.

Reply #7 – January 08, 2005, 02:10:27 PM

I haven't bought any cleaners yet. I just wanted to know how carb cleaners work and if they do work and how to use it properly.

So according to ThunderCHicken I just spray it in a running engine....and let it do it's thing, then spray more and stall the engine and then start it up again...

Re: Cleaning engine... Inside and out.

Reply #8 – January 08, 2005, 09:32:31 PM

Be careful just spraying it into the intake, you might end up taking your plugs out. That can flood a car and foul plugs in no time.

Re: Cleaning engine... Inside and out.

Reply #9 – January 08, 2005, 11:26:10 PM

You're supposed to flood the car to the point that it stalls, Brian. The thing is you're supposed to do it with a hot engine so it doesn't stay flooded for long (the heat will evapourate the cleaner). I've never yet had a car not restart after running carb cleaner thorugh it.

Toxic: don't follow my instructions, follow whatever is printed on the can. Different brand names may have different procedures

Re: Cleaning engine... Inside and out.

Reply #10 – January 09, 2005, 01:34:01 AM

Quote from: Tbird232ci

read the directions on the carb cleaner

*sigh*

Re: Cleaning engine... Inside and out.

Reply #11 – January 13, 2005, 02:56:37 AM

they do sell intake and throttle cleaners they are a little less potent than the Carb cleaners. but if you got it from pepboys or a place like that then you should be ok. but if you have 2+2 beware that stuff is strong.

Re: Cleaning engine... Inside and out.

Reply #12 – January 15, 2005, 11:26:49 PM

i ran "Gunk" oil cleaner in when i changed my oil you run the car for 5 min with the stuff in let it cool drain (ALL of it, if not it will thin the next 5 quarts) and i put "Sea Foam" in the gas tank and down the main intake vacspooge line (like it says on the bottle) never run better until winter

:2gunsfiri