Engine bay steam cleaning

[pnanda16]

Experts,

I did the search and couldn't find anything wrong mentioned against steam cleaning the enigne bay (97 Q45). I want to do some work (throttle body, IAC valve etc.) and seeing all the grime and dirt under the engine plastic top has made me think if I open anything up, I would land up letting dirt in instead of cleaning a decent amount. So first cleaning the engine bay would be a good start before I get into some parts.

There are two schools: Steam clean and the other using garden hose and de-greaser. My real worry is around all the electronic components getting water (fuses, components to connectors), alternator getting wet and the list goes on. I called Q45 dealership and talked to a service technician and he says he does steam cleaning without any problem.

Would like to get final blessings before starting the work.bestPhal97 Q45, 168K miles. Almost all original except the alternator.

[qship96]

I have never steam cleaned, but have done the degreaser/hose method at least 7-10 times over the years on the Q- never had problems at all

[pnanda16]

Thank you, that is the validation I was looking for. Appreciate it.bestPhal

[AlabamaDan]

I had a longer reply, but lost it. I'd do it.

[Dabizzo1]

Make sure they accept accountability if something gets damages of shorts. Degreaser in electrical harnesses makes me squirm with fear.

[pnanda16]

Steam cleaning done. The shop signs a waiver - they are not responsible...

The bay looks awesome. They have different pricing - engine bay top, $65, top and bottom $120. Here are some pictures after cleaning. Should have taken a couple before for comparison - but it is awesome now. Believe it or not, I saw that my Alternator was outputting more Volts (from 13.4v consistently to 13.8v consistently) after the cleaning - may not have anything to do with it - dunno - but i did see the difference.

[maxnix]

Now take it to the shop for any deferred maintenance before it gets dirty again.

[NightRiderQ45]

Looks good!

[pnanda16]

Hi Brian,

Thanks! I am on top of all maintenence (i hope) - have owned it since it had 30K miles, to now 171K. All fluid flushes every 2yrs, Mobil1 for transmission and Engine, I follow what you and Dennis and other have suggested. California car, so has been in good weather since day 1. MPG pretty good - 18mixed, 20HWY. Whatever little parts have failed, replaced with OEM (either Joe or local dealership) parts only.

thanksPhal

[maxnix]

It's all Dennis' best practices.

Don't forget to add an auxiliary ATF cooler when you do your next ATF exchange. Stock heat exchanger is woefully inadequate.

[pnanda16]

I did some research here to see which ones people recommend, but didn't get any overwhelming majority supporting one vs the other. Someone talks about installing one with a ATF filter and some routing mechanism etc. I would need some definitive direction - like ATF Cooler for dummies .

Is there a golden solution/installation? I cannot do it myself (I am just about as skillful as to get to IAC, throttle body and do some cleaning) so have to find a mechanic who won't mess things up.

[maxnix]

Very simple for almost any ASE ceritified technician. If they drill, make sure they paint with touch up or otherwise seal the bare metal edges, and use bolts, washers and (I like stainless metric) nuts and not self threading metal screws.

Look at BulletAndy's solution using a Ford transmissioin cooler. Look in the old gallery under my name for some pictures of a B&M 70264 mounting behind the driver's front wheel. The B&M 70268 may fit between the condenser and radiator on the FGY33.

http://nissaninfiniticlub.net/photopost/

or specifically

http://nissaninfiniticlub.net/...nterm=

http://www.summitracing.com

has the B&M coolers also at

http://www.bmracing.com

The external filter is nice, but clean ATF with an auxiliary cooler is what's most important.