[Z06] Engine cleaning
Thread Starter
3rd Gear
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 3
Likes: 0
From: Ridgecrest California
Engine cleaning
Hi all, Can you tell me the best and safest way to clean the engine. I was at the dealer yesterday and asked about steam cleaning and they told me not a good idea. Thanks
Melting Slicks
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 2,389
Likes: 5
From: Northern Virginia
Le Mans Master
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 8,574
Likes: 961
From: Communist Colorado
If its really grimey you can spray it with a 50/50 solution of Simple Green and water, then hit it with some high pressure water. Just use your head and dont get carried away with it. I do it all the time and have always done it this way. I have to be really carefull on my LT5 engine, but the LS6 can handle it. Its nice to have compressed air to blow it dry, but if not, just drive it for a whiloe and dry it off with towels.
Heres mine at 75k miles, now at 80k, looks the same
Heres mine at 75k miles, now at 80k, looks the same
Race Director
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 14,639
Likes: 39
From: Winston-Salem North Carolina
St. Jude Donor '08-'09
As 81c3 said, use your head. I keep the engine running and use engine cleaner/simply green/car wash soap/ whatever is handy at the time. A long handled brush, and just spray it off with a garden hose. You don't need to "soak" the engine.
Instructor
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 156
Likes: 0
From: South Bend Indiana
Start with a slightly warm engine....not hot, not stone cold either.
Cover all electronics, fuse box, alternator with Plastic bags, tie off and close with duct tape, rubber bands or ties.
Spray engine with a damp, not wet coating of simply green or degreaser citrus orange.
Take a softer nylon type brush or bottle washer, spray or dip the brushes into the same solution cleaner and swab engine, especially behind hoses, crevices and the back of parts.
With a garden hose, a quick spray rinse twice over, quickly. You should have to use more than a gallon or two of water on the engine. Don't forget to spray down and rinse painted body parts that may have gotten overspray of the painted body.
Take your leaf blower (works great) to blow off all free water from the engine and areas that may trap and puddle water.
Now take a clean DRY terrycloth rag and wipe the engine dry. Leave the hood open out in the sun and natural breeze to finish the final drying of the engine compartment.
Afterward, detail the engine with your preferred rubber/plastic dressing.
Stand back and enjoy how great your engine looks.
They call me the "clean" BreeZe
Cover all electronics, fuse box, alternator with Plastic bags, tie off and close with duct tape, rubber bands or ties.
Spray engine with a damp, not wet coating of simply green or degreaser citrus orange.
Take a softer nylon type brush or bottle washer, spray or dip the brushes into the same solution cleaner and swab engine, especially behind hoses, crevices and the back of parts.
With a garden hose, a quick spray rinse twice over, quickly. You should have to use more than a gallon or two of water on the engine. Don't forget to spray down and rinse painted body parts that may have gotten overspray of the painted body.
Take your leaf blower (works great) to blow off all free water from the engine and areas that may trap and puddle water.
Now take a clean DRY terrycloth rag and wipe the engine dry. Leave the hood open out in the sun and natural breeze to finish the final drying of the engine compartment.
Afterward, detail the engine with your preferred rubber/plastic dressing.
Stand back and enjoy how great your engine looks.
They call me the "clean" BreeZe
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
Top 10 Most Expensive Corvettes Ever Sold on Bring A Trailer
Brett Foote
10 Things Every Corvette Owner Needs (2026 Edition)
Michael S. Palmer
8 Most "Only Corvette Owners Understand" Quirks and Problems
Pouria Savadkouei
10 Reasons the C6 Z06 is Still A Performance Benchmark After 20 Years
Joe Kucinski
How Much Horsepower Every Corvette Engine "LOST" in 1972
Joe Kucinski
Top 10 DOs and DON'Ts for Protecting Your Convertible Top!
Michael S. Palmer
Top 10 Most Explosive Corvettes Ever Made: Power-to-Weight Ratio Ranked!
Joe Kucinski
150 hp to 1,250 hp: Every Corvette Generation Compared by the Specs That Matter
Joe Kucinski
8 Coolest Corvette Pace Cars (and Replicas) of All Time
Verdad Gallardo
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 939
Likes: 52
From: The Woodlands Texas
I don't cover a thing and spray the hell out of it with solid stream and use the leaf blower to dry it. The best recommendation I have seen so far is to be careful under the throttle body where there is a gap under the intake where water will go. If this happens, it will rust your knock sensor and cause you to have to replace it. Otherwise, the alternator windings are encapsulated, electrical connections are watertight connectors, fuse box has cover that will not let water up in and then down onto fuse block. Been doing this since '01 and never had an issue except for the knock sensor. I also do it monthly since I drive it everyday. Now if you want to talk about under the car I have some tips for that too.
