Cleaning the engine bay, 2000 Ranger
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Cleaning the engine bay, 2000 Ranger
2000 Ford Ranger XLT 3.0 4X4
The engine bay is getting real dusty and dirty. What is the safest way to clean it without having problems down the road? Is it safe to spray with water or is it a little more detailed than that?
The engine bay is getting real dusty and dirty. What is the safest way to clean it without having problems down the road? Is it safe to spray with water or is it a little more detailed than that?
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Joined: Oct 2004
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Use a good quality foaming engine cleaner, like Gunk. Some of the store brands are okay too, YMMV. On a warm - not hot - engine, spray the heaviest stuff first, then the rest of it. Let it soak a while, then use a brush to get the caked on crud. Rinse with water, or use a pressure washer from a distance to help with the cleaning. DON'T get close to any connectors, gaskets etc to prevent damage.
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From: SW Va
If it's mostly dusty, I use a garden sprayer loaded with BlueCoral car warsh, mixed with my home AC condensate, as it's distilled water & won't spot when it dries.
The garden sprayer will put the detergent where you want it, with enough force to clean, WITHOUT forcing water into where it shouldn't go.
If you find a stubborn dirty place, just use an old paint brush with the spray, or if it's really greasy, spray it before hand with a wheel cleaner, agitate it with the old paint brush, then hit it with the sprayer to rinse.
If you've filled the spark plug wells with water & don't have compressed air, you can blow them out with a bicycle air pump with a modified sports needle attached, then start the engine & let it warm up, to finish drying things off.
I do my engines yearly & rarely have to do that because the garden sprayer doesn't put that much water on the engine, so it just naturally air dries & a 2.5 gallon mix of the BlueCoral car warsh detergent & water is plenty for a engine & radiator wash job.
Yup I also clean any dead bugs, ect from the radiator, AC condenser, P/S & Tranny cooler fins, with the paint brush and old tooth brush too!!!!
Anyway the yearly engine cleaning with wheel & car warsh detergents & garden sprayer with an old pint brush, have worked well over the years, without any post "cleaning stress disorder"!!!! lol
More cleaning thoughts for consideration.
Let us know how your wash job goes.
The garden sprayer will put the detergent where you want it, with enough force to clean, WITHOUT forcing water into where it shouldn't go.
If you find a stubborn dirty place, just use an old paint brush with the spray, or if it's really greasy, spray it before hand with a wheel cleaner, agitate it with the old paint brush, then hit it with the sprayer to rinse.
If you've filled the spark plug wells with water & don't have compressed air, you can blow them out with a bicycle air pump with a modified sports needle attached, then start the engine & let it warm up, to finish drying things off.
I do my engines yearly & rarely have to do that because the garden sprayer doesn't put that much water on the engine, so it just naturally air dries & a 2.5 gallon mix of the BlueCoral car warsh detergent & water is plenty for a engine & radiator wash job.
Yup I also clean any dead bugs, ect from the radiator, AC condenser, P/S & Tranny cooler fins, with the paint brush and old tooth brush too!!!!
Anyway the yearly engine cleaning with wheel & car warsh detergents & garden sprayer with an old pint brush, have worked well over the years, without any post "cleaning stress disorder"!!!! lol
More cleaning thoughts for consideration.
Let us know how your wash job goes.
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