I have a 22re and went mudding today and my motor is caked on with mud. What is the best way to clean it.

 

stay out of the mud

Turn the engine on and spray it off with a hose. Make sure not to directly spray the distributer or any major electrical stuff. Your never going to get it shiny and clean now because mud goes everywhere. You are gunna want to power wash your undercarriage too.

 

Personally, I spray it with some foaming stuff from the local parts store and follow their directions which say engine off. I also put plastic bags on the alternator and distributor.

When I rinse I also scrub with a scrub brush and then I start the engine to cook off any moisture.

 

Looks like this?


I have done this a few times now. What I have found to be plenty effective is just a garden hose with a pistol grip spray nozzle. As stated, try not to hit the distributor, electric connections(fuse box, etc.), too hard. I had trouble with water getting in my EGR valve making it act up. No big deal, just runs a little rough till it dries itself out. I have no EGR to worry about now (another bonus of removing the POS).

My tips from personal experience are:

Remove the Fan Shroud, if you still have one. They collect mud at the bottom, difficult to spray out. Then spray the radiator fins thoroughly. Esp. if your radiator looks like this.


The other thing to pay special attention to is the exhaust manifold and the exhaust pipe all the way back to and including the cat. Any mud you let "bake" on those isn't coming off with the hose. You'll need some type of scraper or wire brush.

If you've managed to get that deep in the mud, it has infiltrated more than just the engine compartment. Pay as much attention to the undercarriage. If your lucky like me, you now have a frame half-full of the stuff. That, my friend, I have yet to solve.

 

I usually just leave my engine muddy, he he

 

what are some ways of protecting things like your alternator? mine just went tits up and i think its because it was jampacked with mud, i tried cleaning it off but i need to get a new one soon and dont want to do the same thing to my new one. so what are some of the things you guys do to help prevent things like that from getting too dirty?

 

I was wondering myself if anyone has any shrouds or cowling that they've seen or installed to protect the engine from mud and water on the roads? I'm sure it would have to be designed in a way to allow air from the radiator to escape the engine compartment.