I just got my '78 F150 4x4 and she was neglected for a long time. The engine compartment in general, block, intake manifold are saturated w/oil.

The steering shaft and surrounding area are all gunked up w/PS fluid.

I was thinking of just going to the car wash and using the "engine cleaning" option on the wand sprayer and just trying to cut some gunk away. Of course, I would leave the engine running and try to stay away from plugs and distributor.

Is this a good/bad solution? Should I try something like gunk's engine bright and lots of rags? What's the best plan of attack?

 

I wouldn't be afraid to use high pressure water to clean off the layers of old oil. Just try to stay away from distributor and carb/air cleaner. I would turn the engine off and definitely wear goggles. Hopefully the water isn't too cold so it won't get on the hot exhaust manifolds and cause them to crack. The engine brite works great, I don't think the engine degreaser at the car wash works too well.

 

Hey thanks....I'll get some engine bright and get on it.

 

If you can read this and you're not stuck at the car-wash , make sure you take a screwdriver to take the distributor cap off, some rags and maybe some WD-40.
When they're really gunked up, it usually takes several trips. I have found that I get better results by warming the engine up, spraying it down with the cleaner and letting it sit overnight. My nearest car-wash is pretty close, and I go straight there, and I try to mist the exhausts at first just to make sure. Just a quick mist, wait a few seconds, repeat, repeat until the water starts to stay water, then they are cool enough to spray around.
Really gunky stuff will benefit from a good scraping and save you some $ on the engine cleaner. Besides the Engine Brite, the store brands aren't half bad either.
Harbor Freight sells an engine cleaning gun. It hooks up to an air hose and has a siphon tube that you put in a container of cleaner. Obviously to get any benefit from it you need a good sized air compressor or a good sized store of patience.

 

I also want to try and clean up the block around the spark plugs and the top of the intake exhaust without getting anything into the engine of course.

I was thinking of removing the air cleaner assembly and plug wires, then securing a bag around the carb and distributer while leaving the plugs in place to keep water out of the engine. Of course, I'd do this right before replacing the plugs.

I'll probably also remove the battery and wrap up wire harnesses and such.

Anything else I should wrap up?

 

I use Varsol put it in a garden sprayer you pump up to pressurize. Spray everything let it soak do this a couple of times and off to the car wash.Put cardboard under truck in driveway to save on mess.Thick stuff should be scraped and re sprayed.Cheaper than your automotive degreasers.

 

I think you're going way overboard worrying about that stuff. I spray the hell out of them and the distributor cap is the only place I ever have any problems. You can either leave the air cleaner in place or wrap the carb in plastic. Unless you really drench the carb it's going to start anyway and the little bit of moisture there will be gone in 30 seconds or less. You could spray around the base ot the distributor with clear coat before hand and lessen the chance of getting water in it. Keep in mind that the distributors don't always get wet under the cap either, you just want to be prepared in case it does.

 

Yeah...I have a "goin' overboard" type personality...haha. Thanks, I'll just drench it. That's what it really needs.

I just didn't want to get stranded at the carwash.