Engine Cleanimg

[Ron Johnson]

Sometime over the next few weeks I will be cleaning the engine, radiator and tranny cooler myself. I am at my home site in Kelowna BC so will take it offsite using the pump. The pump is 3 gpm so not strong ... been wondering whether I need to buy a small pressure washer for this job.

I will open the bedroom engine hatch so I can do the whole thing. I have some strong natural cleaner I'll use .... I think it is like Simple Green [is Simple Green a natural product??] ... I only want to do this once and want the grease and soot etc. to come off. I will also take the side intake panel off before doing this [any issues doing this??]. The radiator and CIC were taken out in 2010, pinhole fixed and thoroughly cleaned. I should have done the rest of it myself while I was drycamped at the shop but ... didn't happen.

Is there anything I should look out for or can I spray the cleaner full strength everywhere on the engine, rad, fan, hoses etc. and rinse everywhere?

 I have no overheating issues and there is 75,000 miles on the engine. Any and all suggestions are VERY welcome.

[Karl Welhart]

Ron,

Your 3 gpm pump will work just fine.  I recommend Gumout engine degreaser(the current product is bio-degradable).  However, I would do it a least twice to be sure you have everything clean.  With engine cool, spray the engine degreaser all over and let stand for 20-30 minutes, rinse and repeat.

Karl

[Edward Buker]

Ron,

I would cover the alternator.

Later Ed

[Ron Johnson]

Thank you for the responses. So, apart from the alternator I can spray cleaner and rinse anywhere on this engine and it will dry enough to start in an hour or so?

[Joel Ashley]

Hey Ron, check out this thread.  You may find it useful.

http://forum.dieselrvclub.org/index.php/topic,6601.msg16078.html#msg16078

In previous years, Brett Wolfe had recommended Dawn dishwashing detergent;  apparently regular Simple Green was not good to aluminum.  My take is that it had to be thoroughly rinsed off before drying, and I wonder how well one could be sure of such a rinse on interior radiator fins of sandwiched radiators:

http://www.mechanicsupport.com/aircraft_cleaning.html

He does okay the more recent Simple Green Extreme version though, as it is formulated to not harm metals, and incompletely rinsed interior radiator fins would be safe.

I read one thread where the fellow started the cold engine while spraying cleaner so the fan drew cleaner across and deep into the radiators.  But one would have to be very careful, and also only do it very briefly so the engine doesn't warm the radiators too much, accelerating drying already affected by the moving air.

-Joel

[John Harris]

I cleaned ours with Castrol Super Clean and it did a great job. Also, modified the breather tube by routing it out the back near the genset exhaust. Works great!

[Dave Cunningham]

As John says, Castrol super clean works really well, I've been using it for years, I pressure wash my engine compartment all the time and as Usually just avoid spraying the alternator, but as Ed mentioned, it is probably better to cover it. If you happen to be cleaning the battery compartment, definitely cover the echo charger, they cannot handle any moisture at all ( found out the hard way )

Dave

[John Hennessey]

How about covering the ECM?

[Gerald Farris]

Ron,
Only use a cleaner for the radiator that is noncorrosive. I have seen radiators ruined by the use of corrosive cleaners. The side radiator on your coach seldom requires cleaning, and it should never be cleaned with a pressure washer, because a pressure washer can bend the fins and do more harm than good.

The insulation around the engine, that insulates the wooden coach components from the engine heat, can be damaged by too much water. The ECM has weather-pack connectors and a water-resistant housing, but I would not recommend spraying it or any other electrical component directly with water. Also be very cautious not to let any water get into the air intake system.

Cleaning the engine is not something that I normally recommend unless you have oil residue on the engine that can be a fire hazard. Overall there are risks in cleaning an engine, so be sure that the benefits out weigh the risk before you start spraying things that are not designed to be sprayed.

Gerald        

[Edward Buker]

Regarding the radiators, oil coolers, and intercooler, there is a spray coil cleaner that is made for heat pump coils and finned assemblies that are both copper and aluminum.  Lowes carries it and it is designed to be safe for these metallurgies if you feel that you need it. I have used it on my heat pump at home successfully. Read the label and try an area. It is a mild foam that you apply, wait, and you rinse it off. A foaming cleaner is an advantage as it expands into small spaces and gets into regions that a regular liquid spray cleaner application would not. It is a cleaner that is designed to clean similar assemblies to our radiators.

I would be reluctant to run the engine and try and use the fan air flow as part of the cleaning process. I would do the best that I could at getting the foam into the assembly.

Later Ed