Engine maintenance

[kengrutza]

Hi Fellow Bu Owners,

I have a 93 Sunsetter that I restored last year and was wondering how y'all go about degreasing and cleaning your engine?

I use commercial cleaners on car and lawnmower engines but they are messy to get off the block again. I don't want to mess up my carpet with hose spray if possible.

Any help appreciated,

Thanks,

Ken

[bigD]

I've never cleaned my boat engine maybe wipe a little dust or finger prints off occasionally but My truck engine looks like new with a little Simple Green and the garden hose, then I coat it with W-D40. Still looks new after 8yrs.

I know autos pick up road grime and other gunk but how is your boat engine getting dirty ?

[kengrutza]

Thanks,

I don't exactly know. It looks like the dirt/grime that would accumulate on a car engine.

I purchased the boat a couple of years ago and basically rebuilt everything but, the motor and floor. This including the trailer and the hull. The engine perfiorms well had about 530 hours when I got it. Compression readings in the high 170's. Now about 560 hours.

I was thinking about taking plastic bags and taping them to the carpeted areas around the edge of the engine bay to keep hose spray from getting on the carpet.

Thank you,

ken

I've never cleaned my boat engine maybe wipe a little dust or finger prints off occasionally but My truck engine looks like new with a little Simple Green and the garden hose, then I coat it with W-D40. Still looks new after 8yrs.

I know autos pick up road grime and other gunk but how is your boat engine getting dirty ?

[Michigan boarder]

I know autos pick up road grime and other gunk but how is your boat engine getting dirty ?

I've got the same thing. My first season with this boat, running it WOT the last couple of times I smell oil burning, so I'm assuming valve covers? I'm hoping to get thru the season and clean it up over the winter. Lifting the cover it's the filthiest boat engine I've ever seen, not sure where to start. Put 35 hours on it so far this year, no oil used.

So I'm open to suggestions too, interior is new (except carpet, which is still very good).

[JohnDoe]

I was working on our old boat (an 85) and funky doesn't even begin to describe the bilge area. Dealer had a product called red devil that without any scrubbing, made bilge look clean-enough to eat off of. I think it would work well on the engine itself...Just make sure you're careful where you're spraying the water.

[Douge]

Simple green is a great option. Might have to do it a couple of times but wont harm the carpet. Stainless steel cleaner is also a great dressing, better than just WD40 IMO. High butyl content degreasers can interact with the resins in the boat floor so I would be careful to flush any heavy duty engine degreaser off if you go that route.