Has anyone used one of those 100 dollar steamers as seen on TV to clean engine area.Might buy one for the wife for me to use if it'll do the trick.This way I can clean areas of the car up inside garage with out neighbors bitching to the HOA,

no, but Foamy Engine Brite, simple green, solvent and lots of elbow grease (hot water helps too) has worked for me. Be careful of the mega powerful blasters, they can actully remove the paint. (my dad has one of them, it is gas powered,and even blew the siding off his house as he was cleaning up.)

paul.

here is what i did before getting my car painted.

i towed the roller to a coin op car wash late at night.
washed the whole car dwon.....

then, it had "degreaser" option. 5 bucks later and im a happy camper....

stuff rocked.

if your up for a late night jolt to the coin op car wash... im there

AA

Aaron SssHhhh the EPA may be listening .but did ya spray in the trunks also?

Aaron one more thing wheres the coin opp in your area aint none around my house?

QUOTE (spunone @ Jan 13 2006, 03:30 PM)

Aaron one more thing wheres the coin opp in your area aint none around my house?

i went to one toward the riverside end of town.... prolly a 20 min drive from your place...

me my dad and friend rolled the car off the trailer.... washed and sprayed it... and rolled it back on....


91fwy and mckinley by the walmart

"Riverside end of town" Guess where the coin-op cleaners drain? Funny in a sick way.

I have the shark steam cleaner, bought from television. Tried it on my '81 928 and while it worked somewhat it was not as good as I expected. Now I use the cheap carb cleaner from autozone, it ate through 25 years of accumulated oil/dirt easily.

QUOTE (dmenche914 @ Jan 13 2006, 05:00 PM)

"Riverside end of town" Guess where the coin-op cleaners drain? Funny in a sick way.

go convolute another thread.....

riverside is a city... which actually has really no river.


go hug a tree.

There is one in Santa Ana also, off the 5 at grand.

My wife brought this one home from Costco. Someone she works with recommended it. I tried it out on a couple things around the house and I thought it sucked. No way I would try cleaning an engine with it. I returned it and got our money back.

QUOTE

go hug a tree

That was funny

I love ninjas...Really who doesn't?

Coin-ops are gud.

I second the foamy engine brite.


KT

QUOTE (trekkor @ Jan 13 2006, 08:28 PM)

QUOTE go hug a tree That was funny I love ninjas...Really who doesn't? Coin-ops are gud. I second the foamy engine brite. KT

can he take a hint? i bet its the governments fault for not regulating coin op carwashes...gimme a break.

b

I've used the small steamers for small parts and rims, but it takes a long time and really doesn't that well. The engine cleaners are the way to go IMO.

I have a love/hate relationship with this stuff.
Non petroleum based, bio degradeable, yada. Works almost as well as Foamy without the stink or environmental problems. Works on engines and garage floors. Removes baked on gunk if you help it with a brush. Available at Costco, cheap. Dilute at least 1 to 1.

Bad news. Do not use on shiny alloy surfaces, especially if warm. It will etch, and you should use a pressure washer to remove the gook. Little home steam cleaners are good for spot cleaning around the house, pretty much useless on heavy grease.

Oil Eater . top shelve. i have a jug in the garage.

k

I say be careful with any high pressure cleaners when doing the motor. When I pulled my motor to rebuild it I sealed every little nook and cranny I could find. Used a high pressure steam washer we have at the office. When I split the cases a ton of water came out.

casob style. 3x lengths of garden hose hooked up to the hot water faucet for the washing machine and a noozle. scrape the heaviest build up with a 2" putty knife first.

k

QUOTE (Headrage @ Jan 14 2006, 08:10 AM)

I say be careful with any high pressure cleaners when doing the motor. When I pulled my motor to rebuild it I sealed every little nook and cranny I could find. Used a high pressure steam washer we have at the office. When I split the cases a ton of water came out.

Yup. I've only seen powerwashers used from beneath the car (lift or ramps) and used very lightly since it's the degreasing agents that really do the work.

Just take it to the carwash and stop thinking like a treehugger

Just put $8 in quarters and 2 cans of engine cleaner on 30 years of built up crud on my tranny. It was a waste of $8 and 2 cans of cleaner. Took off mabey 30%. Finally had to use a fellow teeners landa (commercial grade Hotsy) which he uses to clean road grading equipment. It got about 90% of it off. Still missed some spots looking through the spray. Make sure to seal the vent hole or it may fill with water. Good Luck.