Cleaning an engine bay to diagnose a leak

Kinja'd!!! "BaconSandwich is tasty." (baconsandwich)
09/01/2018 at 19:18 • Filed to: None

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It would seem that I have a small oil leak somewhere on the Civic, but I’m not quite sure where. I’ve never really ever properly cleaned the engine bay, so it’s a bit tricky to diagnose where the leak is coming from. I have heard that using a pressure washer is a bad way to clean an engine bay, as it can mess with a lot of the electrical bits (e.g.: fuse box). So what is the proper way to clean things? Any recommendations on cleaning solutions, brushes, or that sort of thing?

I’ve also heard some belt squeal a few times - I can’t replicate it with any sort of consistency though.  I’m wondering if my A/C + power steering belt has slowly worked its way looser than it should be.  What sort of deflection is normal when pressing on a belt like that?  (It would seem that would greatly depend on how hard you press on it, but alas, I haven’t heard of a good way to measure belt tension).


DISCUSSION (6)


Kinja'd!!! ToyotaFamily > BaconSandwich is tasty.
09/01/2018 at 20:01

Kinja'd!!!3

This might be a bit more than you need, but it’s a good video.


Kinja'd!!! Urambo Tauro > BaconSandwich is tasty.
09/01/2018 at 20:02

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Pressure washers, you just don’t want to use at point-blank range. The way I usually see pressure washers used to clean engine bays, they’re holding t he gun nozzle way back, and only coming in close if there’s a solid something that ca n stand up to the extra oomph. Most electrical connectors are intentionally water resistant (not waterPROOF t hough ), so gently rinsing the engine should be ok in most cases.

T h e b u lk of the actual cleaning should be done chemically, a n d a g itated w i t h a b r u s h . T h e w a t e r’ s just for rinsing, a n d y o u’ l l w a n t to d ry it off as much as you can, like with a l e a f blower or compressed air before running the engine to steam off whatever’ s left.


Kinja'd!!! Just Jeepin' > ToyotaFamily
09/01/2018 at 20:51

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Chris Fix is my cleaning guru. Not that I ever do much with his knowledge .


Kinja'd!!! Junkrat aka Rick Sanchez: Fury Road Edition > BaconSandwich is tasty.
09/01/2018 at 21:50

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You could always use one of the cheap dye kits available at your local auto parts store. 


Kinja'd!!! BaconSandwich is tasty. > Junkrat aka Rick Sanchez: Fury Road Edition
09/01/2018 at 22:41

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I've heard of using dye to find A/C leaks but not oil leaks. Interesting. I think my first plan of action is going to try to clean things up, and see if that makes it obvious on where it's leaking.


Kinja'd!!! BaconSandwich is tasty. > ToyotaFamily
09/01/2018 at 22:42

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I'll give it a watch. Thanks!