My Saturday Morning with a Grimy Engine

So, the engine in my old truck, she was looking pretty rough. You know how it is, years of just… stuff. Dust, a bit of oil weeping around the valve cover, road grime. Every time I had to check the oil, it was like, ugh, don't want to touch anything. Decided it was high time to actually clean it, not just think about cleaning it.

I’d had this bottle of engine degreaser sitting in the garage for ages. Kept meaning to use it. Finally, Saturday morning, weather was decent, so I thought, "Today's the day."

Getting Started - The Prep Work

First things first, I didn't just go spraying willy-nilly. Learned that lesson the hard way a long time ago on a different car. So, here’s what I did:

• Pulled the truck out onto the driveway, not in the garage. Don't want those fumes building up.
• Popped the hood and let the engine cool down a bit. You don’t want to spray cold stuff on a super hot engine, and some of these cleaners work better when it's just warm, not scorching.
• Grabbed some plastic bags and tape. Covered up the alternator, the air intake, and any obvious electrical bits. Didn't go totally overboard, but the main sensitive parts, for sure. Better safe than sorry.
• Gave the engine bay a quick blow-out with my air compressor to get rid of loose leaves and big chunks of dirt. Less mud to make later.

The Actual Degreasing Part

Alright, with the prep done, I grabbed that bottle of engine degreaser. Shook it up good, like the instructions said. Then I just started spraying. I went pretty heavy on the really greasy spots, like around the oil pan and the lower parts of the block. Sprayed the valve covers, the intake manifold, basically anything that looked like it needed it. The stuff started to work pretty quick, you could see the grime starting to kinda dissolve and run a bit.

I let it sit for a good 10-15 minutes. The bottle said something like 5-10, but I figured a bit longer wouldn't hurt for the caked-on stuff. Went and made a coffee while it did its thing. Didn't want to just stand there watching it.

Came back, and for some of the real stubborn areas, I used an old parts cleaning brush. Just a bit of a scrub here and there, nothing too aggressive. Mostly on the flat surfaces where gunk really collects. This definitely helped loosen things up more than just letting it soak.

Rinsing and The Moment of Truth

Then came the rinsing. I just used a garden hose with a gentle spray nozzle. Not a pressure washer – heard too many horror stories about forcing water into places it shouldn't go. Started from the top and worked my way down, letting all that dirty, foamy degreaser wash away.

Once it was all rinsed off, I took off the plastic bags. Then, I started the engine. Let it run for a good 15-20 minutes with the hood open. The heat from the engine helps dry everything out, especially in all those nooks and crannies you can't reach with a towel.

And you know what? It looked a heck of a lot better. Not showroom new, it's an old truck after all, but a massive improvement. You could actually see the metal again! No more caked-on grease. Made me feel a lot better about working under the hood. So yeah, that good engine degreaser, paired with a bit of patience and elbow grease, really did the trick. Worth the couple of hours on a Saturday morning, for sure.