Sc400 Engine Cleaning

[creek]

Does anyone have a suggestion on how to properly clean your engine? My cousin told me to get a can of gumout and spray the whole engine area with it then drive down to the local self serve car wash and directly spray the engine compartment with the high pressure sprayer. Is this the correct way to approach cleaning my engine or would the water get into areas I don;t want to get wet?

[SEAN_VANCE]

Hello,

Ok let me tell you nicely...HELL NO!

I just finished cleaning my engine, and i did it very carefuly without getting any of the electrical components wet (specially distributor) and still made a boo boo. I was using degreaser in a bottle and water in a bottle being very careful not to spray anything electrical. Well guess what, even like that I wasnt careful enough and got my self into a mechanics bill. Turns out that some water fell on top of the engine block where the plug wires go into the block, the water seeped through the rubber covers and went into the plug's wells, and now I have to do a complete spark plug job which I cant do myself cos its a !Removed! to do. so If you are going to clean ur engine be sure not to get a drop of water anywhere near those wells because water will seep through there into the plugs and will make your life miserable. Good luck! <_<

[SCdriver]

I suggest never using a pressure hose ar any water hose on the lexus engine. I would only suggest doing a bit of surface cleaning by hand when the engine is cool. You can put the degreaser directly on old rags and then clean some of the exposed surfaces and even vacuum out around the radiator and air inlets. My mechanic warned me not to use an engine cleaning system that needed to be hosed off on any lexus and he was correct. A lot of people have found this out this out the hard way!!!!! I use simple green but if you plan to use a stronger cleaner by hand I would suggest using gloves.

[VGR]

There's no legitimate reason to clean the engine. Worry more about the cleanliness of your air filter, throttle plate and the fins of your radiator and air conditioning condenser.

[TMaxxTim]

Hello,

Ok let me tell you nicely...HELL NO!

I just finished cleaning my engine, and i did it very carefuly without getting any of the electrical components wet (specially distributor) and still made a boo boo. I was using degreaser in a bottle and water in a bottle being very careful not to spray anything electrical.  Well guess what, even like that I wasnt careful enough and got my self into a mechanics bill.  Turns out that some water fell on top of the engine block where the plug wires go into the block, the water seeped through the rubber covers and went into the plug's wells, and now I have to do a complete spark plug job which I cant do myself cos its a !Removed! to do. so If you are going to clean ur engine be sure not to get a drop of water anywhere near those wells because water will seep through there into the plugs and will make your life miserable.  Good luck! <_<

←

Do you have an SC 300? I think its more of a thing with water getting in spark plug holes in that car. But just be careful either way, whether you have an SC 300 or 400. You can rinse off the engine, just don't spray it on the engine block.

[914lps]

I have an LS 400. The engine was cleaned off with very little water. Low pressure. And I only did about $1,000.00 harm to stuff.

Now I treat my Lexus like my cat. I do not get either wet. They don't like it.

[SEAN_VANCE]

Hello,

Ok let me tell you nicely...HELL NO!

I just finished cleaning my engine, and i did it very carefuly without getting any of the electrical components wet (specially distributor) and still made a boo boo. I was using degreaser in a bottle and water in a bottle being very careful not to spray anything electrical.  Well guess what, even like that I wasnt careful enough and got my self into a mechanics bill.  Turns out that some water fell on top of the engine block where the plug wires go into the block, the water seeped through the rubber covers and went into the plug's wells, and now I have to do a complete spark plug job which I cant do myself cos its a !Removed! to do. so If you are going to clean ur engine be sure not to get a drop of water anywhere near those wells because water will seep through there into the plugs and will make your life miserable.  Good luck! <_<

←

Do you have an SC 300? I think its more of a thing with water getting in spark plug holes in that car. But just be careful either way, whether you have an SC 300 or 400. You can rinse off the engine, just don't spray it on the engine block.

←

Yeah mine is an sc300, never again will I bother cleaning the engine. THe plugs are way to hard to reach and just a little water can mess everything up. I never sprayed water freely just little squirts and wiped off immediately but it wasnt good enough, oh well ye live ye learn