The engine compartment of my 1983 MB 300D (~364,000 miles) is nasty. Thick grease nasty.

Is it adviseable to wash the engine compartment at the local DIY car wash?

JWJ

Yes, you should be fine with a couple rules of guidance. Let the car cool down a little before blasting with water. Good time maybe to do some vacum and cabin cleaning. Spray the warm engine down with some degreaser and let set up - per insturctions of chemical. Take a long handled brush with you to work in some of the more contaminated areas. And some touch up while cleaning. Stay away from electrical boxes (and hood pad ) with pressure wand. Go early before the crowd gets to the car wash, take you time. Maybe a couple sessions of degreaser, scrubbing and powerwashing. Don't forget underneath

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00 E420
98 E300 DT
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97 S500
97 E300D
86 Holden Jackaroo Turbo D
86 300SDL
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I recently performed an extensive engine de-greasing that went very well. First, get a putty knife and remove all the thick black crud that you possibly can. Second, coat the entire engine with an engine de-greaser. Make sure the engine is cool to the touch.Never do this to a warm or hot engine,very bad for the IP and that stuff can bake onto parts! I used Gunk Gel that is desinged to cling to parts instead of running off and it worked very well.Wait for 15-20 minutes then rinse with a strong stream of water.Your garden hose will work just fine.I personally don't recomend using a pressure washer for this application. It tends to inject water into places it should never go. For a very dirty engine, you may have to repeat a few times.

I've tried the gunk gel, works okay. I have also used Simple Green, a good all-purpose cleaner, and feel that it works as well.

- Jeff Miller
190DT

I work about a hundred yards from a carwash so when I got off I bought a couple of bottles of Simple Green and drove very slowly to the car wash. The engine was barely warm to the touch and had been ran for less than a minute after sitting for eight hours so it was fine. I sprayed the heck out of it with the Simple Green then let it set while I washed the car. I came back every few minutes and sprayed some more. After I was done washing the rest of the car I sprayed the engine down and a lot of stuff came right off. I'm glad I'm pulling the engine out of my '85 because its going to take a lot more than that. I mean the crud is seriously baked on.

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Seth

1984 300D 225K
1985 300D Donor body
1985 300D Turbo 165K. Totaled. Donor Engine. It runs!!!
1980 300SD 311K My New Baby.
1979 BMW 633csi 62K+++? Dead odo

The best degreaser you can get for nasty grease in the engine compartment is made by Zep, Orange Degreaser. Get it at Home Depot. Wont harm the plastic and smells good. Also never ever spray cold water on a hot IP, or you will be buying a new one. It wlll sieze up.

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1981 300D 147k
1998 VW Jetta Tdi 320k
2001 Dodge Ram 2500 141k
1979 300D 234k (sold)
1984 300D "Astor" 262k(sold)
Mercedes How-To and Repair Pictorials
I love the smell of diesel smoke in my hair

i just degreased my engine today i used discount auto's brand degreaser.. heavy duty stuff used two cans and also this degreaser that came in a black jug.. soaked the entire engine in one can of the foamy crap let sit for 20 mins rinsed then i used the liquid kind in the black jug.. let sit for 20 mins.. rinsed it.. then used another can of foamy stuff.. 20 more mins ... this time with high pressure setting on the hose then the black jug. now my engine is clean to see where oil is leaking from and i found the temp sensor for the thermo is pinched on the front valve cover .. making a nasty oil leak.. ill fix it this weakend


also like russel said dont spray water directly onto a hot IP i let my car sit for an hour and was gentle around the IP... also when the jobis done all the grease is gone spray the engine down with a mist so to rid of any degreaser fumes.. for safety sake. dont need a run away after cleaning her up

Try the Zep stuff you only need to use it one time.

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1981 300D 147k
1998 VW Jetta Tdi 320k
2001 Dodge Ram 2500 141k
1979 300D 234k (sold)
1984 300D "Astor" 262k(sold)
Mercedes How-To and Repair Pictorials
I love the smell of diesel smoke in my hair

For 100K plus mile gunk...don't do it on your driveway....says the wife

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82 300D....went to MB heaven
90 350 SDL....excercising con rods

after she saw what it looks like, right?

PS. I use WD-40, lots of it! Use an old toothbrush with it to clean engine crud build up. It works very well and smells pleasant, at least sweeter than some of the Gunk stuff I've tried.
Follow this by a squirt of simple green (or the purple stuff that is out now) and a little water and wipe it dry and you'll have a clean engine with no after smell.

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'95 E320 Wagon my favorite road car. '99 E300D wolf in sheeps body, '87 300D Sportline suspension, '79 300TD w/ 617.952 engine at 367,750 and counting!

Don't do over tarmac as many of these preparations will degrade the surface.

A.