Clean engine rooms?

[thoward]

Ok, I have been looking at pics of engine rooms on some Hatts and I do not understand how they get them that clean or how they keep them that clean. One boat even had carpet in the engine room. I have put 100 hours on my boat in the last month and I allways end up with a little water on the floor and oil/fuel here and there. I hate to say it but the best cleaning chemical I have found is diesel fuel. Simple Green will just not cut the blow by.

Soooo....is it ok to wipe down the engine room with diesel fuel once in a while?

 

[Paul45c]

Ok, I have been looking at pics of engine rooms on some Hatts and I do not understand how they get them that clean or how they keep them that clean. One boat even had carpet in the engine room. I have put 100 hours on my boat in the last month and I allways end up with a little water on the floor and oil/fuel here and there. I hate to say it but the best cleaning chemical I have found is diesel fuel. Simple Green will just not cut the blow by.

Soooo....is it ok to wipe down the engine room with diesel fuel once in a while?

Yeah, there's no doubt that diesel will cut greasy crud really easily, but given what a strong pungent smell it has I sure wouldn't do it. If you must, do the scented lamp oil thing and then you'll need a standard degreaser to get the light oily residue from that off.

 

[Boatsb]

If you like the smell I guess its OK.

basic chemistry states Like disolves Like. Degreesers with oils like the Orange cleaners tent to work well. I get the gallon of the orange cleaner from the knowledgeless ones at Home Depot and spray it on and wile it up. Since there is oil do not allow trhis to get to the pumps and go overboard.

FYI I have one of the "well used" engine rooms too. The PO left gallons of sludge in it that I had to scrape and vaccuum out. The orange cleaner and greased lightning in a pinch proved there is paint below all that gunk.

 

[67hat34c]

i lay cheep towels under engines, then pour in mineral spirits,towels hold the mineral spirits in place allowing it to disolve crud then mop it around and put in a trash bag. wash the bildge with tide with fabreeze in it. for hard to get places, zip tie towel on a stick. been trying to get mine clean enough to repaint and getting close.

 

[34Hatt]

been trying to get mine clean enough to repaint and getting close.

Well that is the hard part but when you get there just paint with a GOOD two part paint then is cleans up with ease. I have also found that ZEP-E or ZEP purple same stuff different label works real good. The Purple can be found in Home Depo!

 

[Freebird]

Look out, I'm gonna take this one south a minute. The way I see it, engine rooms are like garages. Seeing one that is totally clean is a sign of someone with way too much time on their hands!

On a more serious note, I can't imagine using diesel as a cleaner in the engine room. You're going to smell up the whole dang boat. Simple Green or the citrus stuff should be more than adequate to remove all but the most stubborn stuff, and it'll make your engine room, and your cabin, smell nice and fresh.

 

[67hat34c]

would that be "fresh as a summers eve?"

 

[Genesis]

Simple Green and the Orange-based cleaners do work.

Go over to WalMart and get a long-handled stiff-bristle brush. They sell 'em for cleaning house things. The handle is long enough to reach under the engines.

Pull the diapers out of the drip pans and put in some simple green. Use brush. Add some water. Shopvac out nasty sludge. Rinse, you're reasonably clean.

Now if you want to get ANAL, you can use a steam cleaner, or repeat with orange stuff a few times. Then lay a new coat of bilge diapers under the enignes and you're good.

The biggest problem I had with my engine rooms was the outboard areas (outboard of the engines); they were a beast to keep clean as access was difficult, and dirt that got sucked into the engine room air intakes (under the cockpit coamings) accumulated there. That + water = MUD, which is a real bear. That also works with the simple green treatment, and since there's no oil in it, THAT sludge I would pump over the side without fear or favor.

Hatteras' "drip pan" design is OUTSTANDING in this area. They're one of the VERY FEW builders that isolates the engine drip area from the rest of the bilge, and believe me, I appreciated it. It makes keeping the engine rooms reasonable MUCH easier.

I was never in the "eat off the floor" crowd, but my ER was always reasonably clean.

 

[67hat34c]

also a toilet brush helps get to hard to reach places, i also use toilet brush for cleaning around trim tab. Real crappy job so might as well use a toilet brush.

 

[Freebird]

would that be "fresh as a summers eve?"

Gives you kind of a wierd mental image of that applicator doesn't it?

 

[Will]

thoward,

I wipe down using oil absorbent pads and mineral spirits. The smell is not as bad as diesel fuel.

Both Simple Green and Orange cleaners work well once the big mess is cleaned up.

You also mentioned blow-by. Perhaps you should consider installing Racor CCVs.

If you have Detroits, you'll always have oil drips. Like GENISIS said, the built in drip pans work really well especially, when oil absorbent pads are used.

Will

 

[yachtsmanbill]

Have your airbox drain cannisters been cleaned in the last 20 years?? Mine looked like NEANDERTAL COOKING LARD !! Didnt smell much better either ! My 12-71s must be a freak 'cause there is VERY LITTLE blow by vapor.

 

[thoward]

Well, 80 hours and 700 miles in a matter of 2.5 weekends is a years worth of use for the dock queens but I've got places to go and parts to break...I do not think I'll ever run her like this again, it is just too much like work. I like a clean ER b/c it makes it easy to spot potential problems. Simple Green Extreme worked for the light stuff but all it did with the real grime is spread it around. I think I may use thinner for step 1 and a degreaser for step 2. Thanks for the advice!

 

[Boatsb]

Grime and goo are best removed with plastc scrapers and buckets. Get the heavy stuff out then clean the remaining with the orange. Trust my experiance here. Also plan on a way to dispose of the oily crap too as its not environmentally friendly. I fed mine to Manatees.

 

[luckydave215]

Properly assembled detriot's don't leak. Mine have 6 or so very small leaks (that's total for two 1271's and 2 cummins generator engines)
Use Yamabond 4. It even works on British motorcycles. A Norton commando engine assembled with it won't leak AT ALL.......well except where the sand castings are porous, you can't do anything about that except infuse the area with wicking locktite, and that only works some of the time.
It sure makes your engine room a lot easier to keep clean.

 

[Boatsb]

Yamabond? Is this a sealant for adding to or replacing gaskets? Marine I take it? I will look for some at the outboard shop.

I cant argue with the leaks being minimal on newer properly assembled engines. I have one 1966 8V53 that has never been majored. One that has with questional skill. No Airbox drain cans and a mess to clean up. Any advice is welcome as I want to do things ONCE like it should be.

 

[yachtsmanbill]

Didnt someone post a thread about a homemade airbox drain? Like tubing into a gallon jug stuffed with steel wool. A real throwaway device. Cannot have any backpressure. ws

 

[rangerscott275]

I'm with the not so clean club. My engine rooms in general are very clean but I have to admit I spend no time trying to clean under my engines. on the port I have a constant water leak (still can't identify but think need to rebed a few things once pulled) and a new tranny leak that leaks while running and a decent amount. (never had before this last trip so it is a bummer...tried tightening up every bolt I could find but haven't cured it) on the stbd I have engine oil leaks and some residual water that is pretty ugly to look at.

 

[thoward]

Dave, I need to pull the airbox drain and check it out b/c that is where the majority of the oil comes from.

 

[jim rosenthal]

Don't use diesel fuel. I would avoid mineral spirits also. You are inhaling that stuff while you are doing this. Karl is right, the citrus cleaners work fine. Mostly it's a lot of scrubbing. Diapers under the engines are important, and CCVs if you don't have them. If you ever do a repower, that's the time to REALLY clean the ER and paint it. Then it is a lot easier to keep looking good.

By the way, the Super Orange Bilge Cleaner from StarBrite really works. PBR tested it- and so did I . Good results.