Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi,
would like to know if engine steam-blasting cleaning is possible without damage. This would be to avoid using dangerous and anti-ecological liquids...

Thanks,
Luca

Steam cleaning... Normally used to make a bad engine bay look clean again, by second hand car dealers. The problem is that old cars do not have waterproof electrics and connectors so you get water where you dont want it. Therefore it can cause long term damage to a car if no care is taken.
On modern cars (from the last 5 or 10 years) the electronings and connectors are designed to be robust against for steam cleaning.

On the Minor there are not so many electrontics to start with!
If you take the wiring loom out of the engine bay and protect the electric units (wiper motor regulator box etc..) then you only have to make sure they don't get water in the engine...

How about not using the car for a week or so to let everything dry out?

Bit difficult to get home.... unless you get someone to do it on your drive...

or you go there with a friend in another car..... or have the engine and box out of the car

Luca is trying to take a sensible approach, as they are not allowed to use chemicals in Roman Baths

Matt,
Water inside motors and/or connectors has a tendency to make a mess, so you only find out after 6 months when thinghs stop working.
If you car is left on a beach when the tide comes in- this used to be an automatic write off for most insurance companies, as the car will be more trouble than it is worth.
Peole rarely consider the damage water can do, bit water in the electronincs / corroded conectors etc.. is a large cause of problems.

they are not allowed to use chemicals in Roman Baths

Should be plenty of Ancillae (think that's the spelling - Dan remembers Latin lessons from a dozen years ago...) around to scrub it though

LUCA... if you have the engine steam cleaned it will be
covered in rust within a week unless you coat it with some
sort of oily spray afterwards. This is because the steam
removes every trace of oil because it is so efficient. Add this
to the possible damage to the electrics and you may decide
to clean it by hand instead??

im going to have a go at steam cleaning my block wehn rebuilding it - ie no electrics in the way

That's different Matt because presumably you are going to paint
it afterwards?

well i need to get rid of the grime to see whats there, GUNK doesn't work because you are meant to use it on a warm engine.... oh and where can i get proper green and black engine paint? (no not in the same tin.....)

Steam cleaning your engine can have a similar effect to driving the car through a flood. As far as driving your car away afterwards goes, the only parts likely to be affected by the water are the distributor cap, ht leads, ignition coil and spark plugs.

Take a spare distributor cap with you when you go to the garage. When you get there, take off the good distributor cap and put the spare one onto the distributor to prevent water getting into the distributor.

After the engine has been steam cleaned, dry the spark plugs and the end of the coil with an old towel then replace the spare distributor with the good one.

The car should start easily and you will be able to drive home.

A trace of water may get into the engine oil via the dipstick hole so it is best to do this before an oil change rather than afterwards.

GUNK works fine for me, hot or cold.

Most Minor specialists do the BMC green engine paint for the late engines (948 & 1098).

yeah but this is for an austin with a 1275, i think the block was green but the head was black, or was it all black?

Try having a word with some MG centres. I'm sure they will be able to advise the correct colour and hopefully sell you a tin.

thats a good idea, why didn't I think of that! *slaps himself

Thanks to all of you, as usual asking information in the MMOC forum is very very useful!!!!!

Luca

Quoting Salty

think that's the spelling - Dan remembers Latin lessons from a dozen years ago...)

I'm not that old!!!! I stopped doing latin 6 years ago thanks