I just ventured into my first oil burner ownership. 00 Excursion Limited with 194,000 miles. I have been reading a lot in this section.

The engine is nasty from oil leak/leaks? The valley is wet looking towards the back of it and has a very small puddle. All the tubing: CAC, air inlet ect have oil and grit all over them at the connections.

How aggressive can I get with the cleaning? Engine de-gunker and garden hose? power washer? rags only?

What can I get away with with doing any damage? After clean up hopefully I can get a better idea of whats leaking. I'm guessing pedestal or EBPV, CCV might be letting a little out too.

 

Take some aluminum foil and cover your air filter and the cap of your power steering reservoir. Put a 50/50 mix or 75/25 mix of simple green into a spray bottle or sprayer and thoroughly coat the engine and engine compartment. Wait about 15 minutes and hose it off with a garden hose and it should be relatively clean. Repeat if necessary.<O</O

 

Others will gasp in horror, but I once shot the valley with a pressure washer just to get the old crud out after a repair. Most humans spray it down with Simple Green and rinse it off with an open hose. My method is odd... but I'm odd.

StinkyWash.MP4 - YouTube

StinkyAir.MP4 - YouTube

 

I always finish mine off after cleaning with a good spray down with Teflon Tire Shine, but I believe that product may no longer be available. I found a bunch at Big Lots a while back and stocked up. This makes all your hoses take a clean shine to them, but because it is teflon based, it won't attract dirt like Armorall will.

 

the valley is 'wet' because (imo) you have a fuel drain valve leak at one of the o-rings. Before you clean your top side, overhaul your fuel bowl. All you need is at this link. Give Guzzle a call.

Welcome to guzzle's Powerstroke Fuel Bowl Rebuild Web Page

 

Fuel bowl is a definite culprit, but find the leak before you buy anything. We can help you track it down if you have trouble. Could be your oil pump too.

Back on subject.

Since your motor compartment seems to be neglected chances are that you have some pretty heavy grime. Simple green works great, but you might need more 'cutting' power than that in some places.

I bought my truck at 130,000 and it was similarly dirty under the hood. I tried the simple green approach and it worked on the stuff that wasn't caked in grime. To dissolve the grime I sprayed it with carb cleaner then shower scrubbing bubbles. I then use a toilet brush and a hose to rinse the crud off (to be perfectly honest, I went to the local DIY car wash because I didn't want the run off on my property! shhh...) I repeated this until i got it clean. DON'T spray carb cleaner and shower cleaner on and walk away, make sure you rinse and repeat until it's clean.

Don't let these chemicals sit for an extender period of time. There's no harm in letting it soak into the grime, but you don't want to leave any real cleaning products on your connectors/wires/hoses etc for too long.

Repeat until you get her clean, product choice is key, but the real shine comes from elbow grease. Once you get her clean, keep her clean! It's easy once you get it clean, take your time and treat your new 7.3 right, and she will return the favor!

Also....I used a pressure washer in my valley, just be careful.

 

Keep the pressurized water away from your 42 pin connector that is under your cac pipe and laying on the driver side valve cover. You can wrap it in a trash bag. The blue nitrile gloves and rubberbands work great for covering your power steering cover. All the drainage from the valley ends up between your oil pan and transmission.
Dwayne

 

Well I think everyone here has some great ideas and what works for them. But I would just like to add my 2cents also.

I myself cover the power steering cap, alt., fuse box so water does get it there. ( Note to self ... don't forget to uncover these things before starting engine) Last time the plastic bags was wrapped around the alt pulley because I forgot! Then spray it down with engine degreaser let it sit for about a 1/2 beer then pressure wash the easy to get to stuff and then use a water hose down in the engine valley Then I use compressed air and a air blower to help dry and break up the rest of the crusty stuff.
This last winter when I installed T500, rebuilt fuel bowl, modded turbo and EBPV delete I played hell getting it cleaned. I wanted to get the valley clean and painted so I could find leaks easier and quicker.
I think it turned out nice and the color makes it easier to check for leaks.

 

Ed - That looks really good - Brand new block -Wishing I would have done that awhile back when I had the turbo out.

 

Thanks Bill But was kinda of the snowball effect. Started out wanting to clean the engine to see where things were leaking and the cleaner I got it the more leaks I found. The fuel bowl was leaking and so was the hpo plug, turbo & EBPV. Then I said I may as well replace the HPOP, then since everything is out of the way I'll clean it real good. Well now that it was clean as may as well paint the valley and heads. To do so I ended up sanding, using Dupont 5717S metal conditioner, priming and painting. Bottom line is now it is clean & painted and will be easy to find any furture leaks.

I don't understand how some guys can stand having a dirty nasty engine and expect to be able to find a leak??? Wait a minute that was me!

A clean engine is a happy engine

 

I have used a pressure washer several times and since buying a Hotsy I have used it as well. I never cover any thing I just don't go crazy with the water and spray it only on the dirty items. Typically the alternator is never a problem nor the top of the power steering pump so I don't spray these areas, and on the gasser's I don't hit the top of the distributor. No problems with the truck or any of my other vehicles.

 

Ed, yours looks nice, did you paint the HPOP reservoir?

 

Yes I did paint the HPOP reservoir I also polished the HPOP & fuel bowl but it hard to see in the photos. I had more time than money last winter.

 

Dang Dog, I would eat my lunch off that valley. Nice!

Thanks for all the replies - a few good tips there. I think I'll stay away from the pressure washer unless the grim is to stubborn.

 

Good luck with getting her clean ! I just hope you don't find as many leaks as I did. And when you get it clean let us know what you found and we'll help point you in the right direction.

And thanks for the kind words !!