The Engine- Cleanliness is next to Godliness

[gpd955]

So......Been spending some time with my engine recently and find that when a lot of people on the forums post pictures of their engines, they are usually nice and shiny clean. Now my M25 is fairly clean....compared to the rustbucket A-4 I had.....but I would like to clean it up nice so it is presentable when I post pictures. What does everyone use?? Is a steam cleaner a good idea or is it just elbow grease that does the job right??

There aren't any leaks staining it up and it appears that it is original gray paint on it.

What say ye's?

 

[Bad Obsession]

You must have seen some pictures of Mainesaill's engine. I swear that you could cook food on it and eat it because he keeps it so clean.

Mine is functionally clean......I just wipe mine down. This allows me to see drips or other issues. I wish it was cleaner though.

My secondary fuel filter seems to allow just a little fuel to come out of it. Not enough where it drips to the bilge, but just enough to have just a little damp look near it (probably slow enough that it evaporates before it can get off of the engine). Nothing I do seems to stop this. The new filter that I put on it was the right filter, but it appears as if the filter changed where they place the gasket now.

To clean this I little greased lightening sprayed on a rag and then wiped across the area seems to clean it okay. This is how I know that this is barely a leak, if you can really call it that at all.

 

[Bob S]

I use a water based degreaser like Simple Green or Ultra Solv with a cheap paint brush then wipe it down. I keep an absorbent mat in the bilge. I do it before launch and sometime touch up the paint with a can I buy at an auto supply.

 

[Ross]

I wipe the entire engine everytime I check the oil. That way what I miss one time I likely get the next.

 

[FastOlson]

'Plus One' on Cleanliness

While most of us will never keep our engine as spotless as Maine...

I do keep it pretty clean, with obvious dirt and crud removed.
Many years ago at the diesel class taught by a four decade of experience diesel mechanic we learned to try to keep the block clean of crud and oil.

Most of these engines are designed to shed about 5% of their waste heat by direct radiation. While that's not much compared to the heat exchanged with the coolant circuit, it can be significant on a hot day when you are pushing the revs up near WOT for whatever reason.

That's also why he said to run the exhaust blower any time the engine is running. While this may not seem to make a lot of difference when you open the engine compartment door, moving more air through that area does cool it.
(Your alternator will also thank you for removing all the ambient heat possible.)

LB

 

[tommays]

Strong elbow and paper towels as you do NOT want to make a bunch of liquid haz-mat

 

[RAD]

When I bought my boat the small engine bilge was full of oil,water and all sorts of other crap and the first thing I did before moving the boat on a 18 hr journey was to get a heavy plastic bag and a roll of paper towels and cleaned the mess up so any thing that was going to leak could be identified then when at my home port I bought a can of engine cleaner at the local auto parts store sprayed down the hot engine and then let it sit for awhile before I washed it with clean water, after drying off a can of Westerbeke red spray paint made it look like new and I just wipe it down with a rag when I'm changing the oil or messing around down there.....I'll admit its not as clean as MS but he does set a fine example for all of us

 

[Cool Beans]

Ooohh. . .what kind of paint did you use?

 

[JK_Boston_Catalina310]

When my wet exhaust elbow went last year it covered my whole engine in soot. I asked Mainesail what to use and he told me Gunk engine degreaser on a microfiber cloth. It works really well but be sure to ventilate the area.

I used it a bit last season right after the incident and then again over the winter. For tight spaces I used the microfiber over a small wooded wedge. There are still some spots I have to get but it is better.

I ordered paint from my local westerbeak rep but he sent the wrong color. You can see the new water pump is a different color. I will reorder the right color and touch up the paint. I will probably use PUR15 or something similar as a primer for the rusted areas.

Good Luck

 

[RAD]

Ooohh. . .what kind of paint did you use?

Bought some engine paint from Torresen Marine but paid a lot for it next time I'll search the auto parts stores or racing web sites cause red paint is red paint

 

[Stu Jackson]

Rustoleum makes a high temperature paint for just this use.

 

[Ken13559]

I tried to keep my engine clean, even sprayed it with degreaser and hose down with water and hand wipe everything. But every so often, I find bits of black carbon and fine dry carbon coating on the engine and the compartment. It usually around where the belt is. So is my belt tension too tight, too loose or wrong size? The belt I use has teeth instead of smooth face. Got it from auto shop.

 

[Dantodd]

I had a similar problem. I Was painting and re-sealing my keel bolts and shifted by black funnel where it was touching my belt. It threw tiny black particles all over the engine, just like a misaligned belt.

 

[Cool Beans]

Bought some engine paint from Torresen Marine but paid a lot for it next time I'll search the auto parts stores or racing web sites cause red paint is red paint

Word, that was my thought exactly

Tommays, did you use anything special for your engine compartment? I've been using Rustoleum Topsides for painting the interior and storage areas. . .think it would suffice for the engine room? Or would any ol' white paint do?

 

[Dantodd]

Well. It isn't perfect but I did clean up my engine room Wednesday.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

You can always tell what shape a boat is in when doing an inspection for purchasing a boat the boat when you look at the engine. I have told this to many and they agreed.

 

[Maine Sail]

Alright, alright I'll play..... approx 3000 hours when this video was shot...