engine steam cleaning

[rimfire,22]

Hello to all,

Happy Holidays and a joyest New Year.

I want to steam clean my engine from my 89' Camry and can't get any Toyota dealership to handle this. Why??

I recently found a car wash that can handle this and want to find out if their are any concerns I need to worry about before proceeding. My enigne is pretty filthy. I think my engine will run better cleaner.

Thank you all,

rimfire,22

[DFBonnett]

It won't run one bit better cleaner. Steam cleaning is pretty drastic. We used to do it a lot back in the day, but that was before all of the electronics. You might be better served using an engine degreaser spray followed by a gentle rinse. Repeat as needed.
FWIW
YMMV

[rimfire,22]

Originally Posted by DFBonnett

It won't run one bit better cleaner. Steam cleaning is pretty drastic. We used to do it a lot back in the day, but that was before all of the electronics. You might be better served using an engine degreaser spray followed by a gentle rinse. Repeat as needed.
FWIW
YMMV

DFBonnett,

I went ahead and had the procedure done. I was a quick 30 minute wash including a pass through the car wash. The shney stuff they sprayed on look nice. I gave it a good drive and everything seems to work fine. Perhaps they did just what you described. Regardless I'm happy.

Thanks for your response.

rimfire,22

[jdmccright]

I tend to shy away from steam cleaning, but I do like to power wash the engine block, radiator, and other lower areas that collect grime. The steam can soften vacuum hoses (to the point where they don't fit snugly over the metal tube) and can even remove paint from the inner fenders if not careful.

Just beware to only wash the engine when it is cold and keep from spraying directly at any electrical looms and the intake assy. Use a fan-pattern spray. Presoaking the engine with degreaser helps too. Make sure to rinse it all off well. If you have access to an air compressor with a blow-off attachment, use that to dry off the electrical looms, other wires/cables, and alternator.

After rinsing, start the engine and idle for a minute or two to let the belts and pulleys dry off. If it has difficulty starting, then either you got some water in the intake or you have an electrical short. Check the tighness of the hose clamps, let it dry and try again (or use aforementioned air compressor). Likewise if your alternator light comes on...once it dries out, the light should turn off. If not, then something has been knocked loose or water has gotten into a connector.

Claims of a cooler or better running engine by keeping it clean are mostly bunk. You'd have to have ALOT of buildup to get any insulative results, and in that case you've got more serious problems than just a dirty engine. Keeping the INSIDE of the engine clean is the important thing. Hope this helps.

[grandamlv]

A grate way to dry off or dust off things is to use a leaf blower. It sounds crazy but it works. It has a lot of air volum I have used it on many things. I dont recomend using an electric one with water!!!