W124 Engine Cleaning question.... - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

sjsfiji · #1 06-09-2003, 04:12 PM

Hi All,

What do I need to cover in the engine bay for me to degrease the engine. Any other instruction?

thanks,

mike690003 · #2 06-09-2003, 04:23 PM

cover(with plastic,grocery or trash bags) the:

fusebox
relays behind battery
battery
distributor cap
ignition coil
electrical connections on inner drivers fender

start the engine and idle it for 5 minutes in order for the grease and grime to warm up and be easier to remove. spray the engine with degreaser and clean away. when rinsing, keep the water away from electrical connections an best as you can. Your engine will be clean and shiny.

sjsfiji · #3 06-09-2003, 05:47 PM

Mike,

Thanks for the reply...

MTI · #4 06-09-2003, 07:13 PM

If this is the first cleaning since '87 . . . it's not going to be clean or shiny, but you will have gotten about 50% of the built on crud off the engine. Repeat treatments will get off another 15-20%, but to get it really nice, you should get in there with some carb cleaner and a nice assortment of different sized wire brushes.

Also, do not, big red circle with a line through it, use a pressure washer or even a high powered hose head, just rinse without trying to blast stuff off. Finally, do the cleaning over blacktop, since all that nice brown, grey, black crud is going to follow the laws of gravity and end up staining any light colored concrete driveway under the car.

placo1 · #5 06-09-2003, 08:54 PM

Mike pretty much covered all the areas that need to be covered.

Agree with MTI DO NOT USE PRESSURIZED WATER, a very small amount pouring out of the nozzle is more than adequate. Try and keep the following in mind when cleaning your engine. Imagine your driving your car in heavy rain, look at all the areas that water can get into when it's raining. Areas that should not get wet usually have a method of channeling water away, keep water away from these areas.

When cleaning instead of using a wire brush use a Nylon Brush, you can scrub without marring the surface. A boars hair brush should be used on all painted surfaces to prevent any paint scratches.

Dress all rubber and plastic after cleaning to bring them back to life and prevent cracking. If you're really anal like me you can wax all painted surfaces to prevent dirt from sticking to it in the future.

BAd124 · #6 06-11-2003, 01:47 PM

If you are really worried about getting certain things wet, you could always leave the engine at idle and if the water hits something and the engine sputters then you know its sensitive. Just be aware that cleaner on hot exhaust is not going to promote healthy living at any point in time..just dont reach in with a brush with the engine on obviously

BAd124 · #7 06-11-2003, 01:48 PM

Also I forgot to mention that the air filter housing reponds well to a little cleaner wax every so often...