Steam Cleaning Your Car

If you have ever watched the old Tim Allen sit-com "Home Improvement" then you are familiar with the whole phrase "More power, arghh, arghh, arghh." No matter what you may have thought of his results in that show, there are times when this does seem to be the best possible solution. One example of this is when you are trying to clean your engine. There may be a time when you just cannot seem to get your car's engine clean with a regular hose, or engine degreaser. In that case you may want to consider using a steam cleaner to do the job.

A steam cleaner is basically a high pressure water system. You can get either a gas powered or electric one, and they can be rented from just about any hardware store. The steam cleaner can be a great tool for cleaning an engine, but there is just a few things that you should keep in mind before utilizing one to clean your engine at home.

The first thing that you need to keep in mind is this: what year of vehicle do you have? If you have one of the newer vehicles, typically something that was made from the early 1990's on, then you need to be extremely careful if you use a steam cleaner. The modern car's engine has quite a few delicate electronic components that can be easily damaged, so you either need to be extremely careful, or better yet, find another method of cleaning your engine. Second, you need to be sure of the power output of the equipment that you are using. If you use something that is too powerful, then you are going to be causing damage to your engine. This is either going to be done by the belts, or the electronic equipment and cables may be ruined. It is best to follow the directions of equipment that you get, so as not to cause any problems that you may not have the means to fix.

Finally, when you do start to clean your engine, you need to make sure that you are cleaning it in an area where the runoff can go without getting you into trouble. You are going to be removing a whole lot of gunk, grime, oil and dirt that is going to have to go somewhere. If possible, I would suggest that you do this at a car wash, since they have the facilities necessary to process the contaminated water. Once you have your equipment and location you are ready to begin. Simply cover any delicate electronic equipment with plastic bags and duct tape, spray the engine down with engine degreaser, and follow the directions of the steam cleaner, and you are soon going to have a completely clean engine.