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How do you clean an engine safely?
grahamh	#1  Posted on 08/26/10 - 7:09 AM
Member Posts: 60 Comments: 0 Joined: 05/28/10	My boat sat for a few years and the engine became a Hyatt for the local mouse population. I have manually cleaned the engine and it looks pretty good and runs excellent but still smells horrific. (If you know the smell of mouse feces you will know exactly what I am talking about) One thought is that using the engine will simply 'burn off' the smell. BUt I also wonder if it is safe to clean an engine and how you would do this. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks Graham
CES	#2  Posted on 08/26/10 - 7:42 AM
Member Personal Page Photo Albums Project Albums Posts: 2681 Comments: 7 Joined: 04/27/07	Good morning Graham. I've used the Gunk engine cleaner on my outboard several times and have never had a problem. If you rinse the engine with a fine spray of water, you shouldn't have an issue. Cliff 1966 13' Sport with a 1993 40hp Yamaha 2 Smoker
MW	#3  Posted on 08/26/10 - 8:49 AM
Member Personal Page Posts: 1827 Comments: 10 Joined: 01/08/06	For some reason no other engine cleaner work's as well as "Gunk". Matt
luckydog	#4  Posted on 08/26/10 - 10:39 AM
Member Personal Page Posts: 82 Comments: 0 Joined: 03/01/06	Graham, Whenever I had mice in an OB they have always chewed insulation off the wires. Check carefully and repair any missing insulation before you introduce Gunk and water or you will be asking for corrosion in the future. liquid electrical tape works good for small spots of chewed insulation . You don't have to cut the wire, just paint it over the bare spot. I now keep a poison bait block wire tied to my powerhead at all times and have had no more mouse problems, once in a while I see it has been chewed on but they don't live long enough to build nests or chew wires.
grahamh	#5  Posted on 08/26/10 - 11:04 AM
Member Posts: 60 Comments: 0 Joined: 05/28/10	Lucky Dog- Did your engine ever have it 'so bad' that it had the mouse smell? did it burn off? i had the engine looked over extensively (or at least the price indicated extensively) for any damage - but electrical in particular. they were mostly living in the air intakes - so the carbs were a mess. the only wire they seem to have chewed was a spark wire. all will be ok if i can just get rid of the smell!!! seems like gunk might be the thing......
CES	#6  Posted on 08/26/10 - 11:17 AM
Member Personal Page Photo Albums Project Albums Posts: 2681 Comments: 7 Joined: 04/27/07	Use the Gunk and it will be clean. Then run the engine and use it for a day on the lake or wherever. The smell will go away. I think the Gunk will probably take care of the smell before you even have to use it in the water. Use a lot of water using the hose. I'd just use the plain hose when washing the engine down and not worry about using a water nossle. Liberal amounts of water is what is needed to wash off the Gunk once it's time to rinse the motor off. Cliff 1966 13' Sport with a 1993 40hp Yamaha 2 Smoker
luckydog	#7  Posted on 08/26/10 - 4:21 PM
Member Personal Page Posts: 82 Comments: 0 Joined: 03/01/06	Graham, CES is right, I would not use any spray nozzle. Just let the water pour out of the hose, if you need to you could use a bottle brush like the kind sold for baby bottles at the supermarket. As for the smell, yes I know it well. You will probably experience a placebo effect where you keep smelling it for a while even after it's gone. But yes it goes away.