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What is the best way to clean up the oil crud on the engine in my 92 Legacy NA? I'm trying to find a moderate oil leak. I lose about half a quart every 200 miles, and it's clearly destined for my driveway.

I've replaced the timing belt and water pump, and while all the front was off, I inspected the cam and crank seals and they all look fine. The oil doesn't seem to be coming from the front of the engine.

I would like to be able to clean it up and see where the fresh oil shows up.

degreaser & a pressure washer.

is there anything i should avoid getting wet?

rrhartjr wrote:What is the best way to clean up the oil crud on the engine in my 92 Legacy NA? I'm trying to find a moderate oil leak. I lose about half a quart every 200 miles, and it's clearly destined for my driveway.

I've replaced the timing belt and water pump, and while all the front was off, I inspected the cam and crank seals and they all look fine. The oil doesn't seem to be coming from the front of the engine.

I would like to be able to clean it up and see where the fresh oil shows up.

I find that the pressure-washer alone does the majority of the work so try that first. You can always add the usually nasty chemical degreasers afterwards. And the oil and gunk is going to hit a bunch of rags that you'll toss and not go in the storm drains right ?



- Chester

Simple Green. Works very well and quickly and its enviro friendly for all you mamas boys out there:).

Just use your head and you will be fine. Avoid open or unsealed connections, intake, headlights, and that sort of thing. Pretty much anything from the underside is fair game.

New92 wrote:Simple Green. Works very well and quickly and its enviro friendly for all you mamas boys out there:).

Just use your head and you will be fine. Avoid open or unsealed connections, intake, headlights, and that sort of thing. Pretty much anything from the underside is fair game.

Big 2nd on the Simple Green. In fact, I'll ask my mom to buy some more the next time she goes to the store.

ChesterKV wrote: Big 2nd on the Simple Green. In fact, I'll ask my mom to buy some more the next time she goes to the store.

BE carefull with the pressure washer!

You can force water into places where the water will never come back out on its own. The pressure coming out of the pressure washer is like 1000psi or something crazy like that. You can force water right past seals in electrical connectors, ball joints, wheel bearings, etc. (and blow the lube right out)

I stay away from pressure washers for engines and stuff.

Here's what I do:
- warm the engine up and keep it running, incase you short something, you'll have a better idea what connection.
- Hook hose to garage water heater if available.
- Spray hot water on engine
- Spray some CASTROL SUPER CLEAN on engine
- wait 5 minutes
- Hose off with scalding hot water
- drive the car for a while to accelerate the drying

nice and clean without 10,000,000 psi blowing all the grease out of the seals.

Simple green is corrosive to aluminum.

There's a bit of info out there, here's the first three things that popped up in google.

http://www.bikeforums.net/archive/index.php/t-4117.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_Green
http://www.autopia.org/forum/detailing- ... ement.html

As an alternative, I like the citrus degreaser by ZEP. It can be found at Home depot in a spray bottle or in a jug.

+1 on simple green being terrible for aluminum.
It turns any raw aluminum an ugly uneven (with spots on what took a direct hit of this crap) white that looks worse than a dirty motor.

+1 on using a regular hose too.

I hate cleaning motors, but when I have to I use the old school Gunk engine degreaser on a cold - slightly warm motor, letting it sit for about 10minutes then I hose the stuff off & start the motor up to dry everything off.

i use the big metal drip pans from the auto parts store, and a few cans of brake cleaner.

you can spray in really tight areas with the little straw, you don't have to worry about water going where it shouldn't (electrics etc ---> although i'm still careful where i spray it), you just spray and spray, wip eodwn big gunky areas, let it all drip into the pan, and it evaporates quickly especially in the summer. then you're left with black gunky crap you wipe up.

I use Engine Bright (citrus kind) and a low power pressure washer ive done it many times and never had anything happen before. Just let it sit on the motor for 10-15 mins before you wash it off