308 engine mess clean up

Jeeez.... you consider that dirty?? Pretty clean for a Ferrari

Engine degreaser, pressure washer, Simple Green.... whatever works/is handy.

Don't know what's legal or not in your area. Certainly would not be where I live.

 

Hey, wait a minute Bob. That looks like my dirty engine!

 

Bob,

Here is a post that one of our locals up here posted a while back. I always refer to it when somebody asks about cleaning up the engine bay. The car in the post is now in a new owner's hands and it still looks great! http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=79081

Personally, I just did the...."crawl under it with some Griot's engine de-greaser and a spray bottle of water to rinse it off" routine. Of course I did mine in the garage while I had the rest of the car apart too.

 

+1

 

No engine likes water. Use break dust cleaner. This is used by most, if not all, F1, Champ cars (now INDY) race cars and others. Most brand name part house carries it.

 

Be a little carefull with brake cleaner. I have had it disolve some paint on parts lke the oil cooler shroud. Maybe a less energetic cleaner, like safety solvent and a brush would be good.

hth,
chris

 

Add 'Gunk Concentrate' to mineral spirits(paint thinner), The Gunk concentrate will both speed up the thinner's solvent action, and the mix will emulsify, so can be water rinsed off. Alternatively, use a commercial grade citrus parts cleaner. Brush in well with a stiff brush to break up deposits. Either will get almost everything off except for stuff embedded in the casting pores.

Napa sells an Aluminum cleaner in a hand squirt bottle, spray on, let set, rinse off. Repeat a couple of times. You'll have bright Al.

Do NOT use a pressure washer anywhere near the alternator, water pump, cam belt covers, cam seals, cam gears, cam belt drive gears, or crank damper. The pressure will drive the water right thru the seals & quickly rust things. Ditto for the distributors & half-shafts.

Rinsing with a hose is OK as long as you don't aim it straight onto seals.

 

I would be scared of a pressure washer too. In addition to all of the concerns you have listed, I would be worried about wiring too.

 

Low pressure is 800 psi like found on cheap electric units.
That's what I used.

 

I use that as well. It works great.

I agree!

I am always judicious in where I aim the nozzle. I also cap, bag and duct tape ALL sensitive areas before spraying with pressure. Just a little common sense.

My engines have always started, never missed and all electrical has functioned without problems.

When I pick up a car that has 20 years of grime and crap on the belly pan, suspension, wheel wells and running gear it gets a good coat of Simple Green and left to soak for 12 hours. My low-pressure sprayer (600/800psi) makes short work of the scum without collateral damage.

Once I get the initial crap blown off the car it only takes an application of cleaner and a light spray with hot water from the hose to make it like new..

 

Before you clean it up, look up from underneath the engine (probably the right rear) to see if you can find the oil leak. You will be able to trace the leak back to its source by looking for the "clean" area - i.e. where the oil has been running down and "cleaning" the dirt away.

As for cleaning, I put plastic down on the driveway, cover that with newspaper, back the car over the area, jack it up onto jack stands, warm up the engine and Gunk it to death. Then powerwash it down with hot water (low power). Use compressed air to blow it dry. If you are gunking the top of the engine, be sure the blow out and dry the spark plug wells.

 

Why would you want to remove all that rust proofing?

Cheers,
Bill

 

Three things come to mind,
Crankcase ventilation system on the L/H side of your engine may be the culprit dumping oil on your clutch housing
OR the oil lines to the oil cooler are leaking.

The oil and dirt under the rear head, around the differential housing looks like the differential seals are due and/or a split or two in the axle boots.

You won't always find a clean trail when the stuff is flung from a rotating object, like an axle.

The best way to find a leak is clean the car thoroughly and start a regular schedule of inspections with a mirror and flashlight.

 

Actually, the best way, but pricey, is clean up as much as possible, at night, put the car up on a lift, put UV dye in the oil, then start the engine, turn off the lights, & use a UV light to see where the leak appears. You may need both a trouble light sized UV light, as well as a small 'pencil' LED light.

Clean oil can travel a surprisingly long way before it either gets dirty, or shows up as drips.

One source of oil in the area in question is a cam seal, cam cover gasket, or distributor gasket leak. Any of these can flow along the head-cam cover joint until it finds something to drip down onto.,

 

That is a great idea.
Can you recomend a brand or source of UV dye?

 

I think my brother gets his through Snap-on. You can probably get it through a "real" auto parts store like NAPA.
ANY black light bulb will work if it's bright enough, found at party stores.