engine detailing, lubrication lube oil electronics electrical

[yas]

Hi,



Sorry if this is answered somewhere else, but there are hundreds of engine detailing posts and I couldn't find the answer after a search. I added a few keywords in the title so hopefully it can be found by others if need be.



To the quesiton, can any oils or lubrication within the engine get affected by an engine detail? What about electrical parts? If I do an engine detail myself, I may just stick to using cheap MF and/or small brushes sprayed with degreaser and directly wipe/scrub the engine parts then wipe up to dry. I just don't know enough about the engine/electronics to just spray water/degreaser down there. Even so, I'm not sure if I'd inadvertently affect something, like lubrications/oil on some part.



Is there any in-depth guide to detailing the engine, or am I just worrying to much?

 

[White95Max]

I may just stick to using cheap MF and/or small brushes sprayed with degreaser and directly wipe/scrub the engine parts then wipe up to dry.

That's exactly what I do, almost 100% of the time.

 

[Accumulator]

ybajwa- Unless you have a weird situation (e.g., exposed timing belt and imperfect seals) you don't have to worry about degreasers getting in the engine. Consider that the engine oil/etc. doesn't come *out* so stuff shouldn't be able to get *in*. I've never had problems (and I've had the weird example I mentioned). A little common sense goes a very long way and since you sound pretty cautious I wouldn't expect any problems.



You probably wouldn't blast the distributor cap with a pressure washer, right And even if you did things'd be OK once it dried out.



The main reason I'll use the more conservative approach is to avoid having to do a huge/"everything all at once" job. Using brushes and swabs I can, for instance, work on the Jag's engine for an hour or two and then quit/resume at my leisure. When I do a big degreasing job it's a pretty involved, messy process and I don't always want to open that can of worms (at least not all at once).



I just did a so-so job degreasing the engine compartment of a 231K mile '89 Benz, obviously never been cleaned before. With degreasers and the steamer and the hose, I did kinda wonder if I was gonna have problems since the electricals and engine seals were in pretty bad shape with regard to looking sensitive. I just went ahead and did the job. It did start up kinda rough and I had to play with the gas pedal for a few minutes, but then everything was fine (I let it run for 15 minutes or so to heat up and dry out).