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Cleaning to find the broken crap

E

eyelobes

New member
Hey guys/gals

I just recently bought a 98 GTP from a guy and he stated that it was his son's. Apparently he was pretty irresponsible with the car and didn't maintain in well, but i thought for $1300 with a strong motor and trans...eff it.

So there is def some leakage going on around the LIM and a power steering leak somewhere but the undercarriage is pretty caked on with just about every fluid imaginable+road dirt.

What is the best way to go about cleaning everything off so i can start to see where exactly I need to start replacing gaskets and hoses. I was thinking of the local car wash with a pressure washer for the underside and about 3 cans of engine cleaner. For the top side a more gentle "hands-on" approach since I don't want to screw up the Alt, coil packs and spark plugs.
 


I've hit them with purple power/simple green/degreaser and pressure washed.. you just need to be nice around the air filter and alt.
 
I just spray everything down with a cleaner or like purple power and let it sit for a few minutes then spray it down with hot water if you can.

I never cover anything up with bags, I just don't spray the alternator directly. Otherwise everything else can get wet without a problem.
 
even the coil packs? Might just take a couple of ziplocks just in case. I really want to just blast the crap out of it so i can monitor it.
 
It's just water, it's not like your pouring acid on anything.

Let it dry for 30-60 minutes if you want. I never wait, I just clean it up and go drive it. The heat from the engine will dry it faster.
 
Just hope cleaning all the gunk off doesn't just open everything up and i dump all my fluids on the ground haha. My grease and dirt build-up might have replaced my seals
 


I've noticed that there is NO resources on the internet about this. Everyone says something different. from: don't ever use a pressure washer, to hand clean, to blast the hell out of it YOLO.
 
i go to the local car wash with a self wash bays, i take my open cone filter off spray everything, get under it too, the pan, the front and back of the block, the tranny, as much as you can. buy 2 or 3 cans of de greaser, one is never enough. ive been using the crc brand, is has almost no smell after its hosed off.

do it once, then if theres thick areas still there, re spray with de greaser then use a old paint brush to bust the caked on crap off.

then wash it down again, repeat if needed.

everything under your hood is water proof, but the alt and air filter if you have a open cone, stock air box spray and clean it too. dont for get the sides of the engine bay too. strut towers and such.

you can also de grease the rad and ac condenser, over time the fins get clogged up with dirt and bugs and what not. spray it down then hose it clean, the crap that comes out is amazing.

if using a power washer with hi pressure keep back a bit so you dont tear up any wires. a garden hose at full blast also works.

i do like to blow the engine down with compressed air if you have it, if not no big deal, just drive on. you may have some misfires after you fire it up, thats wet plug wires that need to be changed due to age. it will stop and clear up fast.
 
Thanks again Scotty! i don't have a cone filter on it yet, just got big red on monday. I'll take a couple of ziplocks for the Alt just to be safe, and def going to be picking up some de-greaser/cleaner. Going to change the spark plugs as well for some nice colder ones ASAP. just need to get a feel of what all needs to be replaced as far as lines and gaskets. Might just pick up a full kit off of ZZP since it won't hurt to replace the gaskets on the LIM, valve cover, SC, exhaust mans, coolant elbow, and whatever else i can do. The 3.5" tension pully sheared off at some point before i got the car so i need to pick up a SC belt and a new pully. Trying to avoid running it as much as possible until I can get that SC up and going again. Then i need to figure out what that nasty CV sounding popping is and where its coming from.
 
Totally understand what you are finding. To give you a little further info.. here's the Regal that I drive. I bought it at 160K and almost no maintenance had ever been done. Aka I found the air filter from before the guy I bought it from... said 64K miles on it.







I sprayed it with purple power and pressure washed it... twice. Then immediately started it. Sprayed coil packs (they are sealed)


Literally...all this water was from the engine bay and subframe cleaning


 
For the love of all that is good. DO NOT USE ZZPs Valve cover gaskets. Worst gaskets I have ever used in my life.
 


Holy Jeebus, and THAT is the reason i'm taking this to the wash rack and not doing it in my driveway lol. Is irreparable harm being done to the engine if that SC is not hooked up? I noticed there are no accessory pullies along that belt.
 
That was water btw.. and then I let water run to rinse it off. No biggie.. I've had a beach in the driveway from cleaning some cars.
 


there is no SC belt on there because the 3.5" tension pully sheared off. So i can only assume that with all that extra slack the belt said F this i'm outa here. Guy told me that all is son did with the car is "dad! the car is acting funny again". Time to give up the man card college boy. But it came with a nice black light under the glove box, that's gotta more than make up for the missing SC belt in terms of horsepower.

But, alas, I needed a car with a quickness and this was in my budget. And i miss my 335i so not going forced induction wasn't an option for me :D
 
I had the bearing in one of my idlers freeze up last winter. Pulley exploded and took the belt with it. I still find little bits of belt around my engine bay from time to time.
 
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