so Im tired of my engine looking like crap. the outside is tarnished and the back has oil built up on it(old oil leak). I searched but everything that came up was for garage sales or inside carbon build up. does anyone know what the best way is to clean the outside of the engine? I started using seafoam deep creep and it works for getting built up grease and oil off after scrubing the hell out of it but the tarnish is still there and I cant reach every where.

 

multi-purpose cleaner and a power washer?

 

buy a can of gunk engine degreaser. soak down the engine with it while it is slightly warm. not hot just warm. pressure wash it and you should be good. just remember to disconnect your battery first. and try not to spray the distributor or coil too much. ive seen people cover them with a rag and then a plastic bag but ive never done it. i just open the distributor cap to let it dry out. if you want to take it one step further buy a can of clear silicone and spray all the plastic parts, hoses and what not and they will be shiny for a long time.

 

thanks I tried varius engine degreasers and the only thing that it cleaned was the plastice and rubber. this is what I did. I drove my car down the block to the car wash early in the morning or on my first drive of the day then spray the engine down with degreaser let it soak for about ten min. then spray tire cleaner on it then rinse on the highest setting and it still looks the same. so do you think the car wash sprayer isnt powerful enough? I never used a portable pressure washer.

 

yea you will need to use a pressure washer.. we got a couple at work.. and we use it for everything.. lol...

 

Oven cleaner, let sit 1-2 min, spray off.

 

brake parts cleaner is amazing stuff too :D no work needed for that stuff just spray and watch it all melt away

 

yeah you would need a few cans and at 4 bucks or more a can it can get expensive. but it works....if not there is a degreasing spray i used on my grill that works wonderfully...it's called Kaboom. it's a george foreman product.

 

i've used both gunk and brake cleaner with great success

 

you can use fine steel wool too to do fine finishing in corners and such on the block.