Re: Engine Cleaning

[Daniel Hussey <GY3WSX@VM.SC.EDU>]

     Thought I'd add my $.02 here....

     Gumout Carb and Choke Cleaner is the best overall engine cleaner I've foun
d!  Really, use this and some old rags.  This stuff will clean all that grime a
nd crap!  But, you don't want to leave this stuff sitting on painted surfaces,
etc, so when done using this, clean engine bay thoroughly with soapy water, and
rinse.  Then, I like to add some wax (Teflon stuff) around the painted areas in
side the engine bay.

     Put pure silicone (spray) on all hoses.  BTW, my 5KTQ is nearly 10 years o
ld and I still have all my factory hoses!  And, that is part due to the fact th
at I still have the factory wax-parafin coating on them all.  It may look crapp
y, but it keeps moisture and that stuff out of there and has kept my hoses like
new.  I just add a little silicone to them to make them shiny and so they don't
dry out.  Not so sure I'd want to get too much of this on electrical parts sinc
e dirt and stuff can stick to it.

      Electrical parts, just keep clean and dry!  And, stuff like the Lubro-Mol
ly or Stabalant 21 are good to put on these.

      Joints and moving parts, apply some spray White Lithium Grease, or some
WD40 on those parts to keep them lubed.  BTW, All this talk about replacing of
driveshafts got me thinking.  Did y'all know that you should lubricate your dri
veshaft periodically?  Me either, but I was looking through the Bently manual
the other day and was reading this.

      You may already know this, but if you are like me and didn't, here's how
to do it!  First, you will need to jack up the car (I am small an I had NO room
to move under there without jacking up the car) towards the rear end.  Then cli
mb under there.  Look at where the U-joint is in the driveshaft.  If you are pa
rked in the right spot, you will be able to see a little cube like thing sticki
ng out of the U-joint.  There is a little hole at the top of this little cube t
hing (sorry, this may be unclear now, but you will see what I am talking about
when you are under there).  If you don't see this thing, you may need to move y
our car forward a little till it is exposed (it is on one side of the U-joint,
and if it is not facing down, you probably won't be able to get to it).  When
you find this cube thing, get a can of spray White Lithium Grease and stick the
end of it down in the hole on the top of this cube thing, and spray some down i
n there.  That is it!  You have now lubricated the drivshaft!  This will lubric
ate the bearings in your driveshaft and keep them from going bad.  It is worth
it since a new driveshaft is big $$$!  Good luck!  I have yet to do mine, but I
climbed under my car with the manual in hand and went though the process.  I'll
do it, along with a good engine cleaning (and, man, is my engine DIRTY) when th
e weather gets a little better.  It is time for a spring cleaning!

       Well, maybee I should have included that in a seperate post, but I hope
this helps someone.  But, the best way to keep your engine bay moderately clean
is to give it an occasional pressure cleaning.  Just be careful with it and cov
er up your coil and dist cap with Aluminum Foil or something of the sort if you
want to drive home.

                                                              Later,
                                                              Dan