Nissan 200SX Club - South Africa

howzit guys

When I bought the car the previous owner who works for Nissan said that I must not steam wash or wash the engine 'cause it will damage the electrics in the car. He said I must just wipe it.....but this is a nightmare to do.....

Do you guys steam wash the engine or how do you clean it, and which parts must I watch out for, in order not to get water on them?

911 help

Hey bud

I feel your pain, I live on a plot with a nice dirt road leading to it, damn dust

Here are few links that may help:
<a href="http://www.automedia.com/Engine/Cleanin ... /1">Engine cleaning 1</a>
<a href="http://blog.lanescarproducts.com/2005/0 ... ml">Engine cleaning 2</a>
<a href="http://www.se-r.net/car_info/clean/deta ... ml">Engine cleaning 3</a>

Hopefully that helps you out a bit

I power clean my motor. Just make sure the seal on the coils' cover is not damage or you will be running on 2 cylinders and the only way to get rid of the water is take out the coils. Amazing that water can get in but steam cant ?

Go and have a look at my engine bay before and after i cleaned it
http://200sx.za.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=323

All i used was a bottle of engine cleaner with a small paint brush. Throw the engine cleaner into a old cup or jar so that you can dip the brush into the engine cleaner. Then just brush off the dirt and afterwards you give it a nice hose down Dont open the tap to wide just enough to wash away the engine cleaner.

The i use some silicone spray and spray all black parts with it to give it a shine

Ps - try and get a engine cleaner with a degreaser in it

I am owning my 3rd 200sx s13 since 1991. So I had them all, new and old. Water on the tappet cover: you run on 2 cylinders thereafter and find yourself opening the covers and removing sparkplugs. Exactly as some previous threads. So, I do any wash method as long as I am covering up the tappet covers. I normally do that with a towel. Then I shampoo, hosepipe galore and it works fine.

hhhhmmm...

i often run the engine without the coil cover on. often wash with the pressure washer, but i do remember once that the engine was running on only 3 after one of the washes!!!

it took some time before it steamed itself away.

or for a really good clean - you could follow the footsteps of Vlade, myself, toby, and i'm sure a few more, and just take the engine out, strip it down to single parts, send them to the engineers, clean the individual bits that haven't gone, and reassemble it when it gets back.

but thats not practical!!!

engine cleaner and brush works wonders, and its usually water soluble, so it will rinse away!

My 2c is never take a pressure cleaner to an engine esp one with EFI.
Engine cleaner with a brush if needed and a moderate flow of water from a hospipe is all you need.

The reason I went to such lengths to clean my engine (yes that was my primary goal in getting my engine out!) was 'cos the car had leaked oil all over the engine bay (with previous owners) and the fan must've sprayed it around good and proper. Then years of heat had baked the greasy goodness right in.

Of course, you always need a good exuse to get your engine out, cleaning just ain't a good one. Luckily, my engine started making knocking sounds! You can always count on the CA18 to come through for you when you need some trouble

Washing the engine is usually a nightmare for me too. So i have just left it as is of late

I usually have one or other problem after washing the engine, no matter how careful iv been. The only time I never had a problem is when i was visiting my folks and i used my dads compressor afterwards to dry everything.