How To Clean Your Engine Without Risk/Damage | McKee`s 37 Engine Degreaser + Trim Detailer

[Joe Metlow]

As a professional detailer, My biggest concern is when the customer wants a engine cleaning. When you think about the risk and cost of replacing engine parts compared to the compensation you are getting for cleaning the engine the risk to reward is heavily out of balance.


I have had many "wild" claims after my shop detailed the customers vehicles. Including "My car is not driving right after you washed my engine" Soon after getting a few of these claims, I put up a sign in my shop stating that WE DO NOT hose/power wash any engine.


Awhile ago I have read that one of our very own forum members had to spend $3,000 to replace engine parts on a $60 engine cleaning. Do you understand why I do not care about cleaning engines? The risk is far to high for the reward. However as a professional we still have to satisfy customer`s and provide results.


So here is a method that anyone can do to clean up/dress engines without the risk of damaging anything.


Note: As a professional, I have seen some of the dirtiest cars one can imagine (we all have) I totally understand that sometimes a pressure washer/hose will be needed to clean a engine if it is really bad. However if you can avoid using the hose to eliminate that risk of any potential damage, This method is great to clean up engine covers for daily drivers to get your customer satisfied and keep coming back.






Before


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Application


The products we are going to be using to clean the engine are McKee`s 37 Engine Degreaser and Trim Detailer to dress the plastics afterwards. Engine Degreaser is a strong but safe degreasertherefore we do not have to rinse it off, We can simply wipe off with a towel. Or use a spray bottle to help aid with the grease removal process Engine Degreaser is biodegradable VOC compliant, Non toxic, safe on rubber wiring, painted surfaces, and plastic.
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After spraying the area, I got a agitation brush. (you will notice it turning brown/gold right away)
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To help aid with the grease removal, I use a spray bottle with water to wipe.
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After wipeoff.
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Here is a 50/50 (Trim Detailer Not applied yet)
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Applied a thin coat of Trim Detailer to restore and protect the plastic.
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50/50
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Lets clean the other side.
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When using Trim Detailer for more shine you can let it dry on the surface, Or if you want a more mild sheen you can buff off the excess.
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After




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The engine is now clean and you can now present these results to your paying customer without risking thousands of dollars in potential damage.


To all my forum buddies, Please be careful cleaning any engine, Take extra pre-caution certain parts are really sensitive. I did a shampoo on a Nissan and the spray from my extractor got in the accelerator pedal sensor, Causing the car not to accelerate and the check engine light to come on. Thankfully it was only around $170 and I fixed it my self. The detail was for $250 so all the chemicals and my labor was basically lost. So take that as a example how sensitive these parts can be, That was from a small stream of water from a extractor, Imagine gallons and gallons of water going in your engine. Be careful.

[512detail]

the first engine I cleaned for $ was luckily a friend`s truck but it was a disaster and I was as careful as I could be

thanks for the share. I`ve been using PA engine but I`m sure this is a much cheaper alternative

[SGM2008]

Nice work .... how long did it take you from start to finish?

[dennis hiip]

Thanks, this is helpful to me.

[PRND[S]]

I would take the engine cover off. That further reduces the chance of messing up something in the engine bay, lets you work more easily, and lets you clean under the cover as well if you want to.

[dcjredline]

Looks nice and in that case I would probably go at it with a WW product. That is all just dusty plastics, there was no grease on that at all. How old of a vehicle?

[MattPersman]

+1 Looks like under the hood of a normal dusty couple year old car. Oh wait it is. Waterless wash would have done the same. Only grease or oil that could be up there was from messy oil changes.

Let`s see this process on a real turd.


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[Joe Metlow]

+1 Looks like under the hood of a normal dusty couple year old car. Oh wait it is. Waterless wash would have done the same. Only grease or oil that could be up there was from messy oil changes.

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So are you saying that the engine degreaser is not capable of removing grime that can be found on a engine? That`s what it was designed to do.

Even if the engine was on the dirtier side. It is a Engine Degreaser thats what it was made to remove. Using a hose/pressure washer would just help flush/remove the residue that is left behind once you started agitation.

A hose and pressure washer would help in this scenario, However that is not needed to remove the dirt. The Engine Degreaser does that.

Using a waterless wash would have not removed the grime and prep the surface for Trim Detailer to properly bond to the plastics.

[JSFM35X]

I think your results are awesome, and I was too lazy to tally up the cost of the products, but for my time, the Polish Angel Engine cleans, degreases, wipes clean and leave behind some protection that gives black plastic a nice new looking matte shine, with so little time and effort.

[MattPersman]

Ok here is a 2014 same amount of dirt wet red rag nothing fancy. Wiped down. Then hit with some silicon spray treatment product

I`m not saying your product that you sell doesn`t work it just isn`t that dirty of a test vehicle. I`m not the only one thinking that.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170331/c664cde1d15bd822b49d7f5229498e86.jpg

Took 60 seconds tops to do that spot. It`s just dust and dirt from daily driving no hard core engine oils or grease.

Not trying to flame your product. As you do great reviews and I know it`s to sell product. But the test subject isn`t exactly some 10 year old diesel truck with grime and grease everywhere


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[Joe Metlow]

Ok here is a 2014 same amount of dirt wet red rag nothing fancy. Wiped down. Then hit with some silicon spray treatment product

I`m not saying your product that you sell doesn`t work it just isn`t that dirty of a test vehicle. I`m not the only one thinking that.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170331/c664cde1d15bd822b49d7f5229498e86.jpg

Took 60 seconds tops to do that spot. It`s just dust and dirt from daily driving no hard core engine oils or grease.

Not trying to flame your product. As you do great reviews and I know it`s to sell product. But the test subject isn`t exactly some 10 year old diesel truck with grime and grease everywhere


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Not selling anything, Sharing information. I do write up reviews on autogeek, here and detailed image

I was sharing the method, and products I used to clean up the engine. The point of the thread was to raise awareness to fellow detailers about the potential of damaging engines by using excess water.

The point of using the degreaser is so that whatever dressing your using has the best bond to the plastic. especially on the engine covers where excess oil can linger. You can wax your car over bonded surface contaminants however the wax is going to perform and last longer if you clay it.

If I had to clean up some dust, no issues using a waterless wash. But for a paying customer, No i am going to properly prep the surface and give them what I am charging them for.

Even using something like hi-intensity apc would be a better option especially if you are applying a dressing.

and even if the engine I was working on did have excess oil, grease and was older. Of course the Engine Degreaser would remove it, That`s what it was designed and formulated to do.

[Bunky]

Nice write up ! I wonder if there are other degreasers that do not need to be rinsed off.

[Ronkh]

Ok here is a 2014 same amount of dirt wet red rag nothing fancy. Wiped down. Then hit with some silicon spray treatment product

I`m not saying your product that you sell doesn`t work it just isn`t that dirty of a test vehicle. I`m not the only one thinking that.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170331/c664cde1d15bd822b49d7f5229498e86.jpg

Took 60 seconds tops to do that spot. It`s just dust and dirt from daily driving no hard core engine oils or grease.

Not trying to flame your product. As you do great reviews and I know it`s to sell product. But the test subject isn`t exactly some 10 year old diesel truck with grime and grease everywhere


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Sorry Matt. Your results are nowhere near what Joe showed.....

[Accumulator]

Nice write up ! I wonder if there are other degreasers that do not need to be rinsed off.

I use solvents for degreasing when I don`t want to rinse.

[MattPersman]

Sorry Matt. Your results are nowhere near what Joe showed.....

I wasn`t doing the whole thing just a 1/4 of it in like 10 seconds with water to show not a big deal

I could have put the cover on the floor and had it spotless in mins


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