Engine cleaning/degreasing

[rump]

Hello all!

I'm looking for tips on the best way to clean my M110 engine in my '75 280. Not looking to make it perfect, just remove the years of oily, greasy grime all over everything. I've tried using some degreaser spray with limited success. Brake cleaner has been working much better, but the fumes are awful.

What do you recommend? I need something that will work well without a lot of rinsing. The car is in my relatively clean garage, and there is no drain in the floor. I do have some drip pans. I also can't drive the car at the moment as I have a bunch of parts off for repair.

I've considered using Gunk Foaming Engine cleaner, but I think that takes a lot of rinsing. I have one of those engine cleaning air wands from Harbor Freight - is there a cleaner I can use with that?

I want to get everything clean so I can try to figure out where all of the oil came from to begin with. I'm guessing that the seal on the cam box is bad. I haven't opened it, but I do plan to do so to adjust the valves so the seals will be replaced at that time.

Thanks!

[cth350]

If you're going to be hunting the oil leak, you'd be doing that with a running engine, right? So wait a bit.

I am fond of simple green when I'm soaking things. Spraying it liberally full strength with some level of agitation (wand, brass bristle brush, etc) should work.

-CTH

[Tony H]

Oven cleaner will work wonders on crud and caked grease but wear gloves.

[ejboyd5]

Place lots of newspaper underneath the engine before doing anything else.

[Mike D]

Buy a couple of cheap plastic tarps, roll them up and dispose of them when finished.

https://www.harborfreight.com/5-ft-6-inch-x-7-ft-6-inch-all-purpose-weather-resistant-tarpaulin-953.html

https://www.amazon.com/GUARD-SHIELD-Green-Purpose-Waterproof/dp/B08RSP8Q7Q/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=tarp&psr=EVGR%7CPBPE%7CPSEL&qid=1631654877&s=prime-exclusive&sr=1-2

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-6-ft-x-8-ft-Blue-Medium-Duty-Tarp-KSGP0608/204612093

https://www.acehardware.com/departments/building-supplies/tarps-and-grommets/tarps/73190

[rump]

Thanks for the ideas! I think no matter how I do it, it's going to be tedious and messy.

[Mike D]

Yup.

[greazzer]

What I do is remove all easily removed components and place underneath the car the giant dog pads with a plastic liner underneath that. I use gel Gunk and spray that and scrub. I’ll do that a few times. Then I blast it with brake cleaner. Obviously do all of this outside. Then you can wrap up that ecological mess and off to the recycling center. At this point it is pretty clean and you can purple power it or citrus cleaner it and pressure wash it. Purple power and citrus cleaner are supposed to be environmentally safe but the crap they clean off isn’t. My taking the two step approach does mitigate the risks of a lot of this mess going into the sewer

I would invest $5 bucks and get the cheap tyvek suit or you may tossing some clothes away. I’m a big fan of budgeting time and money. It’s around a $50 job and a solid day of messing around.

[Idle]

I use Easy Off oven cleaner but the type for BBQ grills. Spray it on and let it soak for about twenty minutes. Then hose it off with a high pressure spray washer.

I realize this is not the best thing for your garage because the high pressure washer combined with the angles on the engine will creat a lot of blow back that will just go everywhere. But if you have parts you can drag to a car wash this works great. Just don't wear your best suit when doing this as whatever you are wearing will be covered in grease spots that will never come out.

I have done this will a lot of alloy parts and never had a problem. There may be some baked on grease that will require some scrubbing later, but the oven spray will take off about 98% of the oil and grease.

[rump]

Thanks for all of the ideas! I've been using some generic engine cleaner, brake cleaner for flushing, a toothbrush, a cut-short paint brush and a ton of paper towels. It's slow going, but it's been working well. I think I'm going to get as much as I can this way, put the new parts on the engine, then drive it to the car wash to do a more thorough (and messier) engine cleaning.