Who else washes their engine/s?

Part of my long standing engine maintenance routine is to wash the engine and entire engine room after an oil change. I always clean up any spilled oil first. Then after there is no danger of discharging oil I use a mild cleaner (Rolloff) and spray everything down. Then I rinse everything with water from a hose.
After disposing of the water with my wet vac, I run the engine for a few minutes. Finally I finish up with a can of WD-40 that I spray the engine with before wiping up any excess.
My engines on past boats have looked like new after 10 or 12 years of this treatment.
Of course, I have never had such a large engine room to detail before but it just takes a few hours and it always looks so pretty!
Bruce

Greetings,
Mr. BrB. Ooooohhh. That IS purty!

Looks really good, a credit to your maintenance schedule.
I do the same myself, mainly because you never know when yoy have to pop in and reset or change a fliter on passage etc. Not that I'd pop in a a dinner Jacket!
However having a clean full size engine room with standing room makes all the difference!

Anyway on anther note my port engine is out and the afternoons entertainment is painting the bilges under my port engine with bilgecote. ( Changing camshaft and tappets) This will occur in airconditioned comfort of course by opening the forward engine room access doors in my Cheoy Lee and letting the a/c from the owners cabin enter.

cleaning engine

isn't rolloff an acid cleaner? wonder if a auto degreaser cleaner would work along with a weak stream pressure cleaner. just worried about exposed wires.

Looks very nice.

I do something similar.

As you know you just have to be careful of the electrical and electronics on the engine.

I also like to run them after a wash to help evaporate off the water.

Realistically, if you are washing off oil and replacing it with WD40....nice but, think about it. Water getting into cracks and crevices isn't good, and only a guess that WD40 is replacing it.

I have run beautiful yachts and grungy commercial vessels...they both run forever, or not. Cleanliness Has it's place, but an engine room is an engine room, not an operating room.

It's what you do in real maintenance that counts, not necessarily over the top cleanliness. Pride is a wonderful thing and can count fo a lot, but it is not magic.

The bilge is a different topic all together, that being crystal clean is magic.

So far, I have just been spot cleaning my engine as needed and as convenient. I'm a lazy mechanic. Any spots of rust I have cleaned, wire brushed, painted or spray with Corrosion X. I then wipe it down with a shop towel.

My ER and engine are not nearly as pretty as Bruce's, and while I may have an excuse of mine being 7 years old and his being new, and I have only owned mine for a year, I think that Bruce's ER would look cleaner in 15 years than mine even if I had a brand new boat fresh off the factory floor.

No fan here of rinsing engines. Water sneaks into bolt holes and corrodes the threads of both bolt and hole. I can tell the engines that have been rinsed or sunk during teardown. More seized and corroded bolts.

Also, rinsing is a good way to kill a Delco alternator. Repaired scores of those, all had water damage.

If you want a clean engine, just wipe it down. These things are not furniture. More important that the machine is in good condition and less that it is spotless.

Run she may, shine she must!

I always said I wanted to hose down my engines with degreaser and then rinse off, but I never could justify that amount of water/oil in the bilges. I use a spray degreaser and manually wipe down all surfaces. That works great for me and it keeps the engines nice and clean. If I keep up on the maint and give a little wipe down here and there the engines stay pretty clean.

Ken

Yup, full washdown on a regular basis and after every long trip, and quick rinses in between.

Bruce, you're cheating. That is a brand new boat's ER. Come back at us in 15 years when a few knots are under the keel. BTW, what does Cummins have as an on engine fuel filter micron rating?

sunchaser said:

Bruce, you're cheating. That is a brand new boat's ER. Come back at us in 15 years when a few knots are under the keel. BTW, what does Cummins have as an on engine fuel filter micron rating?

Click to expand...

I believe all the Cummins common rail use a 2 micron on-engine filter.

sunchaser said:

Bruce, you're cheating. That is a brand new boat's ER. Come back at us in 15 years when a few knots are under the keel. BTW, what does Cummins have as an on engine fuel filter micron rating?

Click to expand...

Here is my last boat engine at about 10 years and 2000 hours time.
You will please note that it looks like new and it has no rust in the exposed threads of unused bolt holes.
It is all in what happens after the rinse!
I spent a lot of years maintaining a lot of engines in my business. If I never have to work in a dirty, rusty engine again I will be very thankful. All of my engines are always clean and rust free in our boats and autos. I never paint engines either.
Bruce

Bruce
You ever think about glass engine hatches! It's a shame to cover them up

Damn Bruce. That's impressive.

Now this is just me but when I look to buy a boat and it's 10 or more years old I view a spotless engine and engine room as a "what are they hiding" thing. A little oil spot here and there, a box of new filters, a collection of old and new zincs, a spare fan belt or two make me feel a lot better. But, as I said, that's just me.

Bruce B said:

Here is my last boat engine at about 10 years and 2000 hours time.
You will please note that it looks like new and it has no rust in the exposed threads of unused bolt holes.
It is all in what happens after the rinse!
I spent a lot of years maintaining a lot of engines in my business. If I never have to work in a dirty, rusty engine again I will be very thankful. All of my engines are always clean and rust free in our boats and autos. I never paint engines either.
Bruce

Click to expand...

Bruce am curious tho with WD-40 does that not rapidly deteriorate paint? I feel like any hydrocarbon left on paint on my engines causes peeling pretty rapidly.

kev_rm said:

Bruce am curious tho with WD-40 does that not rapidly deteriorate paint? I feel like any hydrocarbon left on paint on my engines causes peeling pretty rapidly.

Click to expand...

Most of the WD-40 is wiped off immediately. It is really there to promote drying of the little seams and cracks that would otherwise rust.
It does leave the surface just a bit shiny so I am sure there is something left behind.
Not sure why your paint is coming off. I have done this for some 20 years now on lots of engines and I have never experienced paint peeling.

The funny thing is that I really do not look at WD-40 as a lubricant. It is a marginal lube at best. What I use it for is for cleaning and displacing water.
It is a great cleaner...and it cleans without destroying.
Bruce

I like having a clean engine and engine room, but can't bring myself to turn a hose on it. When I clean, it's more of a sponge bath.

Wiping down a relatively new, rust free engine does the same without the harmful effects of washing it.

psneeld said:

Wiping down a relatively new, rust free engine does the same without the harmful effects of washing it.

Click to expand...

you are so predictable Paul...
Sigh,
Bruce

I've only washed down my starboard engine once, after I managed to make a hash of a fuel filter change. So, lots of those fuel spill sponge sheets, some degreaser, wiping and finally a hose down.

Afterwards the 'water in fuel' alarm (sensor at filter) drove me nuts. From now on a wipe down will be the limit!

A little dishwasher soap mixed in water makes an excellent degreaser, especially for diesel. Discovered this when I cut my 35 year old tanks out, making a ferocious mess...

Fortunately, I inherited two great 30 year old Perkins 4.236 engines. When I bought the boat, they already had the Perkins patina. Today, they are great 40 year old engines...with a little more patina.

I also clean up after oil changes and I know just about every drip of my engines. As a responsible Perkins owner/operator, I have drip pans and oil diapers to catch and indicate the current oil "flow" patterns.

Early on, I was told that if my Perkins stopped leaking oil then it means they're low on oil. I once removed a start solenoid bracket bolt from the case and oil emerged from the threaded hole. I knew at that moment that there was really no need to chase leaks. In my case, better to catch, observe and address the changes. It works for me, anyway.

Nice to have a modern, new boat, though! I love the everything about it except the price. Until I hit the lottery (which I don't play), I'll enjoy my "comfortably imperfect" trawler, but KUDOS to you for an impeccable ER! I love seeing boats like this and Codger's and so many others here on TF. It helps me keep the dream alive and be thankful for what I have!

Cheers!

Greetings,
Well, I'm a bit anal with machinery. A clean (and properly lubricated) piece of equipment is a joy to behold IMO. I admit to having degreased and hosed down the non electrical bits in our ER at least once in the past, primarily to remove built up grime but use of water to flush has been VERY limited since. Subsequent clean-ups have been accomplished with, as mentioned, WD-40 which I agree is a great general maintenance/cleaning item as opposed to a lubricant. I have the advantage of a small air compressor on board which is great for blowing oil seeps or excess WD to an area where it is more easily and readily wiped off. The ER gets a regular vacuuming as well.

Bruce B said:

All of my engines are always clean and rust free in our boats and autos. I never paint engines either.

Bruce

Click to expand...

So Bruce, since you have an engine that is painted Cummins White, will you touch up the paint as needed? I never really thought about it, but my boat came with a can of Cummins White spray paint that I have used on spots as needed.

FlyWright said:

Fortunately, I inherited two great 30 year old Perkins 4.236 engines. When I bought the boat, they already had the Perkins patina. Today, they are great 40 year old engines...with a little more patina.

I also clean up after oil changes and I know just about every drip of my engines. As a responsible Perkins owner/operator, I have drip pans and oil diapers to catch and indicate the current oil "flow" patterns.

Early on, I was told that if my Perkins stopped leaking oil then it means they're low on oil. I once removed a start solenoid bracket bolt into the case and oil emerged from the threaded hole. I knew at that moment that there was really no need to chase leaks. In my case, better to catch, observe and address the changes. It works for me, anyway.

Nice to have a modern, new boat, though! I love the everything about it except the price. Until I hit the lottery (which I don't play), I'll enjoy my "comfortably imperfect" trawler, but KUDOS to you for an impeccable ER! I love seeing boats like this and Codger's and so many others here on TF. It helps me keep the dream alive and be thankful for what I have!

Cheers!

Click to expand...

Some engines just leak! I've tangled with a few in my life...
Somewhere early in my career I learned to pick my battles but I like the challenge. I remember my first Corvair engine rebuild, done for a customer with some guidance from a friend who was the master of Corvair repair. This was an unusual vehicle for my shop as we specialized in European makes. It was an interesting enough job that I took it.
Those engines just poured oil from a number of places as delivered from the factory and this customer didn't believe we could stop the leaking. I serviced that car for years afterward and it didn't leak a drop after the rebuild. It can be done sometimes!
Thankfully, my boat diesel have all previously been of Japanese manufacture and these were pretty tight in terms of leakage. I expect the Cummins in our Tug to be every bit the modern design it is and not leak. If it does, I will see it immediately and fix it.
Bruce

Bruce B said:

you are so predictable Paul...
Sigh,
Bruce

Click to expand...

and why might tbat be?

dhays said:

So Bruce, since you have an engine that is painted Cummins White, will you touch up the paint as needed? I never really thought about it, but my boat came with a can of Cummins White spray paint that I have used on spots as needed.

Click to expand...

Dave,
I am referring to the engines you see where people just let rip with a spray can and cover up the underlying mess of rust and neglect.
If I had need of repainting a part, of course I'd paint it.

I have learned that it is typically far easier to maintain something than it is to restore it. I wash and use my WD-40 not only to clean and then preserve but to rid the engine of any salt that has entered the engine room.
That salt is the reason you get rust and rust makes life more difficult later. I find that the time I spend cleaning my engine and engine room is easy time that I enjoy. I get my hands on every inch of everything that I can reach. I inspect, I see and if necessary I repair.
When I am done, I have an engine that looks better than new and that makes me happy.

In spite of some of the dire warnings of doom, my experience is exactly the opposite. When our saildrive input shaft seal began leaking at year 9 of the last boat, it was easy to see where the problem was and everything came apart like the engine was new. The repair was finished in no time. I am sure that most of the engines I have seen in similar year boats that have been treated to more typical oil and filter services would have been more difficult to deal with. Just because of the rust.

I am not suggesting that everyone go out and wash their engine right away either. Before hitting the Cummins with my soap and hose I first called Cummins and then communicated with Tony Athens just to be sure there were no "issues" with harnesses I needed to be aware of on the common rail QSB. Both gave a thumbs up.

The Northern Lights generator in Esmeralde has a new injection pump and injectors under warranty. The new parts are not painted and the original Awlgrip paint used chipped and left hundreds of tiny pieces behind when the parts were changed. When I spoke to the people at a Northern Lights about washing things to clean up the mess, they were concerned about certain parts getting wet. I was very careful to avoid those areas and still got everything cleaned up.
I may paint the new parts in or I may just leave them. As long as they are clean and free of rust (and working properly) I am happy...
Bruce