Just cleaning up after a rocker cover oil leak and want to give the engine area a good degrease. Not sure if there are any areas that I should avoid spraying with water when doing the cleanup. There is a fair bit of oil and dirt build up on the inside of the rocker cover at the top of the valley area of the motor - is it ok to clean in this area?

Any help appreciated. :happy:

No one cleans their motor?

No one cleans their motor?

do a search,there's plenty on it.

Avoid spraying on the alternator and dizzy, probably couldn't hurt to avoid spraying onto electrical connectors. Other than that she should be sweet.

Some leave the car running, some turn it off - in all honesty it doesn't really matter.

heard that you kept it running to stop from cracking heads?? my be an old wifes tale tho

Some people also say you turn it off to stop the thermo fans from flicking water everywhere.

do a search,there's plenty on it.

Did plenty of searches but could not find anything specific to cleaning the valley area of the motor and how the water drains away from that area.

No one cleans their motor?

No, people do clean the engine it is just that most are patient enough to wait for people to read and respond to a question that has been asked many times before :)

As above, avoid alt but the rest is fine as is all sealed

i clean mine every now and again. good way to find if you have a leak, do it at the car wash place. but i was a lil scared about spraying the altenator..i

Yea on another thread members were adivising me to degrease the engine but Im pretty hesitant about it as when I was doing mechanics at tafe we degreased the teacher's 4x4 and yea it didn't start after that and we spent the rest of the day trying to fix it.

Yea on another thread members were adivising me to degrease the engine but Im pretty hesitant about it as when I was doing mechanics at tafe we degreased the teacher's 4x4 and yea it didn't start after that and we spent the rest of the day trying to fix it.


bahahah the teacher would feel like an idiot i bet


my dad did mine when i bought my car sprayed everything with water then sprayed WD40 in electrics :S hahah, havent had a problem

i do mine most times i go to the car wash prob once a fortnight.. i am not overly careful either... prob should be but ah... never had a problem touch wood. i have leaking rocker cover thats why i do mine..

Heres a tip, as a Degreaser try your household stain remover spray from the laundry, I worked out years ago if that stuff can get grease from fabric it can get oil, dirt and grease build up from the engine and alloys. I find it works OK.

bit more $$$ compared to a $2 can for degreaser from super cheaper

With regards to water in the engine I wouldnt worry too much. I clean all my cars' engine bays regularly and havent had a problem. As a matter of fact, I was caught in the Newcastle June long weekend floods in the magna. Water was over the bonnet when I drove it from King St to Hamilton. Started first go the next day. So if mines had that amount of water I wouldnt be too worried about a quick clean. Just dont leave the degreaser on for too long or it may strip paint/stain metals.

bit more $$$ compared to a $2 can for degreaser from super cheaper

Aldi brand is about $1.79 and seems to do a better job.

oh nice... all the fabric stuff i have brought as been like 5-6 bucks a bottle
hows the aldi stuff go for what its made for cloths

With regards to water in the engine I wouldnt worry too much. I clean all my cars' engine bays regularly and havent had a problem. As a matter of fact, I was caught in the Newcastle June long weekend floods in the magna. Water was over the bonnet when I drove it from King St to Hamilton. Started first go the next day. So if mines had that amount of water I wouldnt be too worried about a quick clean. Just dont leave the degreaser on for too long or it may strip paint/stain metals.

:stoopid: I did the engine bay on my TL a couple weeks ago. Degreaser in every nook and crany, then water everywhere, including shooting the water directly at the injectors etc. No problems at all.

oh nice... all the fabric stuff i have brought as been like 5-6 bucks a bottle
hows the aldi stuff go for what its made for cloths

Yeah the aldi one is fine, been using it for years.
Probably one of the few things where the quality hasn't gone down since Aldi opened.

Thanks for the feedback guys. A job for tomorrow!