so i recently bought a used s5 engine with low miles (60,0000 ) but it was really dirty, road grime dirt, oil, etc etc. before i put the engine in my car i wanna get it looking near spotless, but cleaning it by scrubing seems like it would take forever! soo i was wondering if i could soak it with engine degreaser then power wash it? obviously i would make a blockoff for the intake and exhaust (engine is bare block right now) and also any other openings into the engine (fuel injectors, oil injectors, oil lines, yadda yadda). Also sealing all the blockoffs with rtv.

Soo is it safe to clean the engine this way? it would def help a lot towards getting the engine spotless.



also are there any other sufficient cleaning methods?



any help or advice is appreciated!





thanks, John

 

If you don't want to worry about the pressure washer, I've always had good luck with engine degreaser and scrubbing with a brush.

 

that was my oniginal plan, but it seems like it would be very time consuming



im just worried about water getting past the main seal on the front cover and possibly getting past the blockoffs with rtv

 

Nothing to worry about, just block everything off like you stated. Just keep a couple of inches between the power washer and the block. They can cut right through more than you think and very quickly I might add. I dropped a power washer wand locked in the spray position and caught it because it was flailing around next to a buddies car. I caught the wrong end and two of my fingers were injected with water. I squeezed the water out quickly, hurt like hell. Kinda neat looking, lol. Be sure to flush coolant and oil afterwords if you wanna be even more sure about getting any water out of the system if any makes its way in at all.

 

ouch!! i actually power washed it few days ago, i ended up getting a little water in the rotor housings. i dont know about the oil though, i drained the oil and coolant before i washed it, i'll probably flush the oil system with cheap oil to make sure to get rid of any water and fill with good oil later on, im not to worried about the coolant system having a little water in it. as far as the rotor housing i just tipped the engine sideways and got the water out then sparyed WD40 in the housings, spraying all 3 rotor faces in each. that should prevent any rust until i get the engine running in the car.