While I've got my exhaust out and working under my car, I've started to clean up the underbody, especially around the diff and suspension bits.. Been using Strong mixture of Chemtech CT14 Degreaser with hot water.. Haven't stepped up to the CT14 + kerosene stage. Worried that it might eat at the original bushings which probably have to be replaced anyways.. Was thinking steam cleaning might be a better way since that way I wont have degreaser dripping on me while Im scrubbing underneath and the heat would melt the caked up build up in no time. So I assume steam cleaning should be safe in this area as long as its no where near electrical connections. Any possible down sides ?
Sounds like your onto a winner. CT14 is great stuff. But even if you spray on the CT14 diluted with a hand squirt bottle and let it soak in a little, then spray off with the steam cleaner. You'll be all good. Electrical items just tape and bag up. Shouldnt have too many dramas.
Cool thanks! I'm starting to clean up all electrical contacts as well, smearing a bit of dielectric grease on them. So I guess that helps if I ever want to do a bit of spring cleaning on the engine bay in the future.
Main thing with engine bays is to avoid pressure spraying at all costs which inevitably forces water, degreaso and whatever jungle-juices you are using to clean into those pesky connections to guarantee corroded connections and running heaqd farks sooner or later. Really wise move to pull, clean and lubricate your plugs and pins as you go. H5! Really high end (and savage) truck and trailer chassis cleaner is the way to go for really shithouse jobs! Its this evil looking brown watery liquid, unlike any soapy kind of truckwash youve used, which will remove stubborn oily grime with ease and no more than a garden hose pressure, will also successfully remove paint shine and ruin anything polished so be VERY wary with it. Its awesome stuff tho. E
ive steam cleaned everything from the paint to the windows in my z, havent worried about the undercarriage, but then again i wouldnt even stress too much about any electronic gear considering it would be used to moisture and wetness that would have contacted it if youve ever driven your z in the rain.. i used a clothes steamer though, not sure if your considering any sort of industrial steamer, that might be a different kettle of fish
For our cars i use works big bitch of a steam cleaner. Its a diesel/electric unit. With its own built in detergent mixer. We use a truck wash product from castrol which we spray on neat and let sit for a few minutes before hitting it with the hot water and detergent mix from the cleaner. The nozzle has variable options so it can be skin piercing or like a flood with a heavy rain. I tend to go mid way and not have it too close to the cars paint... its known to act as a stripper.
that sounds like one mean ****er of a steamer.. definately don't want to put my hand in front of that thing... maybe don't clean you paint with it
I was thinking of grabbing this small one... http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170872039078&ssPageName=ADME:X:AAQ:AU:1123 Asked a few purchasers how its performed and they say not bad just takes a while to heat up... Also be handy to degrease rangehood and demould shower.
Yeah you have to play it safe when operating it. One of the young, new, apprentices blew a hole through his blundstone safety boots and ended up with 3rd degree burns on the bridge of his foot. Lucky he didnt have to have skin grafts. We need a strong machine. As the machinery our detailer cleans are harvesters and very large ag machinery.
Hmm somethings under the car are painted.. Sides of diff, suspension structures. I was thinking that it might be okay to use it on paint that isn't chipped or flaked just keeping it at a further distance than normal not to super heat the surface.. hmm something to think about.. I'll have a bit of a google around regarding paint.
steam gun, No. Little hand steamer with low pressure is great for removing tree zap and road tar and all sorts of dirt from your paint.. far better than all the chemicals i was reading other people have used in another thread.. Yeah some of those industrial steamers, you almost need to treat like they are laser cutters, high pressure water guns too, they could do some damage at the pressure they operate at... just curious, its possible at that pressure you could start ripping into some of the underbody protection, so if you give it a good go over and take away all the oil and grime you might have some bare surfaces that would do wel to get touched up with some undercarriage paint or some sort of a sound deadener if bare spots show up?? probably a good opportunity to go over with some spray on sound deadener once some of its all clean anyway?? not that i want to be telling you what to do with your Z edit: hey, i walked away from the stove a few days ago and left porridge in a pot, i came back and the milk was evaporated, now i have charcoal porridge burnt to the bottom of the pot, been soaking for 3 days, its not coming off... sounds like i should bring it in and go over it with that steamer of yours??
Definitely not touching any of the deadener with steam , I value my rust protection.. Thats why I only mentioned diff and suspension structures.. I have alot of crud on them.. just takes time and elbow grease to get it off. For deadener areas I was thinking of just using a weak-medium C14-water solution and using a paint brush to gently wash it.. Only been using garden hose instead of pressure washing to clean underneath. I might give the lower pressure hand held steamer a go first only $29 from kmart, I was thinking the bigger one might be a bit strong.. Started looking at underbody antirust treatments.. Waxoyl looks worthy of a further read.. http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/HAMMERITE-WAXOYL-RUSTPROOFING-BLACK-SPRAY-400ML-/290555261598 For your porridge issue - http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/how-to-clean-burnt-frying-pans-140547
