Well, I disagree with these procedures. I only use the pressure washer to flush the air conditioning system when I have it broken apart.

Good luck,

I find it best if you take the whole engine apart and clean all the parts with paint thinner, followed by an alcohol rinse to remove any residue from the mineral spirits, then buff the parts to a nice polish.

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95 E320 Cabriolet, 159K

No matter how long you let your oil drain overnight or otherwise, if you do not jack up one side of the car you will probably have some residual oil left in the pan. I've left my oil to drain overnight and still get a bit of dirty oil out in the morning if I jack up the side of the car opposite the drain hole.

Like Larry, I like to change my oil hot and change it often and I prefer that it drain overnight. I used to worry a great deal about residual oil in the pan until I discovered the same thing that jkmmrs found. I started propping my car up higher on one side. much like a lean-to. The oil seemed to drain much better.

I've had to cease using this method of oil draining, however. After an oil change in the BMW this past winter (the Benz had the garage space that night), I was cited by a City housing inspector for operating a homeless shelter without the proper social worker's license and certificates of occupancy. In addition, I guess the used oil from my cars is clean enough to fool some people. The reason I suspect this is that someone from Cal-EPA called to tell me that the oil that I was draining was apparently collected by the transient residents the City was concerned about and sold to our esteemed local MB dealer.

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David

His:
2003 Dodge Durango SLT
2002 BMW E39 530i Sport
1988 Mercedes 300TE
Hers:
2003 Chevrolet Suburban
1999 E430

YEAH dtanesq, I heard you guys had some good weed up there in Northern California!

Glad to see oil changes getting a lot of attention. Probably, particularly with engines with overhead cams, and high stressed timing chains one of the most important preventative maintenance procedures you can perform.

PS> I find using the preasure washer to clean the exhaust by blasting directly into the tail-pipe very effective.

1992300E,

Yes, this one is very effective. If you can catch an exhaust valve open, and can manage to fill a cylinder with soap, then after the engine tries to compress the soap and bends a rod, or breaks a piston, you get the opportunity to REALLY clean everything while you have it apart.

Have a great day,