Engine cleaner degreaser etc

[93YJ]

Any ideas for a good engine cleaner? I am doing engine transplant on a xj and I am wondering if there is any good engine cleaner degreasers. When I find the donor motor and the engine bay in the current jeep I would like to clean it up a bit so I can see any problems that I might not see due to dirt grim oil sludge etc.

 

[Jay5.9L]

I used some heavy duty yellow degreaser from Home Depot that did a great job of removing years of crap from the under body of my CJ. It came in a spray bottle and was cheap. Wear gloves! I was spraying up at the under body so I got a lot of it on my hands. It dried out my skin so bad my hands felt like sandpaper for about a week.

 

[93YJ]

I used some heavy duty yellow degreaser from Home Depot that did a great job of removing years of crap from the under body of my CJ. It came in a spray bottle and was cheap. Wear gloves! I was spraying up at the under body so I got a lot of it on my hands. It dried out my skin so bad my hands felt like sandpaper for about a week.

Spray it let it site then hose off? Did you have to scrub anything? Or is it strong enough to just break up and spray off with the garden hose?

 

[Jay5.9L]

I took it to a car wash, sprayed it on, let sit for 5-10 min, hit it again, let sit for 5-10 min again, then hit it with the high pressure spray. You could do the same thing with a pressure washer but with an engine I'd be very careful around the electrical stuff.

 

[UNSTUCK]

I've always used oven cleaner. I'm sure Jay is talking about BBQ cleaner from HD. You're best off wire brushing anything you can reach, then you can use a garden hose. If you have a pressure washer blast away after letting it soak just a few minutes. Any longer and that stuff will start eating wires and making hoses soft.
On a side note, a car wash pressure washer has pretty low pressure for a pressure washer. Unless your wires and connectors are in very bad shape, you won't hurt them even if you directly hit them with the spray. The connectors on my truck are in good shape and I hit them pretty hard last week with my shop pressure washer = 3000psi with no problems.

 

[Jay5.9L]

I think it was this stuff:

 

[sixstringsteve]

I've had great luck with foamy engine brite. Spray it, let it sit, then hose off. Cover your distributor and alternator though, you don't want those to get wet.

I prefer the foamy stuff over the regular "engine brite", and over the "gel".

 

[MikeGyver]

Tow/drive the jeep to a carwash bay, use the degreaser and let it soak a bit, then rinse with the hot high pressure spray, then repeat with Simple Green. The hot pressure washer is what does the work by melting and blasting off the grease and sludge.

I did this with my Camaro when I swapped motors and it blasted off the thick sludge and left everything clean with no oily film and restored all the plastic and rubber to new looking.

 

[phatfoto]

Run to Walmart and get Purple Power Cleaner in the automotive section... Mix it 1:1 with water, spray it on and let it sit, spray it on again, go to the carwash. Spray it on again and use the carwash degreaser too... Repeat as needed.

 

[4x4_Welder]

Simple Green and a hot water pressure washer/steam cleaner. You can rent one if you don't have access to one.
For the nightmare of maintenance that my old Jenny steam cleaner is, it's one of my most used tools.

 

[Panos]

purple power is amazing!! when I am cleaning up stuff I hate to put it back together with dirty bolts and nuts. so I get a water bottle and mix some Purplr power and water in it. Then put the bolts and nuts in, screw the cap on and shack it for about 5 min. drain and rinse. they come out looking new