Detail engine-- Tips for top and bottom clean up?
 

I have a 1985 300DT. On a road trip, the engine mounts gave, the engine shifted so that the belt wore a nice hole in the oil hose to make a very impressive oil geyser once I opened the hood. Of course, I only discovered the problem after about an hour of 60mph through the Cascade Mountains. Point being: there is oil everywhere.

I had the mounts replaced and a new hose installed, but the oil gunk remains, making it impossible to diagnose my current oil and trans leaks. Any tips on cleaning an old diesel engine top and bottom? I have searched the forums and youtube about engine detailing but I couldn't find anything specific to old diesels where everything is exposed. Any tips:

• with an engine as dirty as mine
• cleaning the underside of the engine without ramps
• on steam vs degreaser and potential dammage
• parts to cover/not cover during the process
• on letting it sit to dry or run to try afterwards

Thanks!!

That simple, eh? Thanks!

some tips that worked for me
 

I had a similar mishap except with a diesel fuel return line from an injector. I followed ForcedI's same response and went to the car wash and spray washed it..

A few other things i did that seemed to help was since I don't have a hood pad I purchased a thin plastic drop cloth from the dollar store and a few various cheap brushes. I used the drop cloth first after opening the hood all of the way back tucked the drop cloth between the windshield and the hood and over engine bay to keep dirty/oily rinse water from entering engine bay. I used a mix of Dawn and water and brushed under side of hood first. After cleaning unerside of the hood i used plenty of the Dawn soapy mix and brushes to get at as many nooks as I could. The drop cloth worked great for protecting the fuse box and master cylinder.

It has been about nine months since I did that and have noticed two things that may or may not be related to the cleanup. The first is I did not spend any effort cleaning under the air filter housing and the rubber cushions/mounts have gone away real soft and mushy (looks like it was affected by the diesel fuel), and I now get an ocasional brake light on after going over a rough R R track on my commute towork which I just need to push the tabs on the top of the brake fluid resovwoir. You may have a little heavier duty clean up than mine but it will be worth the effort once your done .
I may just plan on doing a good clean up after ordering rubber air cleaner mounts before installing and before winter.

Good Luck

Thanks pbsled. Bummer about the diesel spill! I think its gonna be a bit of a bear cleaning the underside of the area so that I can get a good look at my trans leaks-- but I guess owning and maintaining one of these magnificent beasts isn't for the timid or the impatient. Maybe I'll post some before and after pics for everyone's amusement (it looks pretty much like I dragged my engine & chassis out of the Gulf Oil spill).

Thanks for the tip!
 

Thank you ForcedI,your idea and suggestion on the placement of the hose is greatly appreciated as mostly on startup it goes into a pretty good rumble.

I take mine to the car wash too, but I keep the engine running. It pressurizes everything, less likely to get water where you don't want it. I spray lightly in those areas that common sense tells me I should take it easy on like cloth braided fuel return lines on my diesels and distributers etc. on my gasoline motors ;)