How do I clean Coolant off the engine of my car?

Question

One of my coolant pipes burst while driving down the highway spilling coolant all over the engine of my car. It dried and looks like salt water dried on my car. It appears to be deposits of white crusty stuff. I tried to clean it off with numerous engine cleaners, oil degreasers, etc, and none of them seem to do the trick. How do I effectively remove this stuff w/o wrecking my engine. Is using S100 Total Cycle Cleaner an option? Tell me what you think the best option is.

Answer 1

try Aquaklean by KBS Coatings. It's a water-based automotive cleaner with industrial strength cleaning power. Use a concentrated solution and scour as needed.

Answer 2

The white crusty stuff is actually lime scale from the water that was mixed with the coolant. With the engine at operating temperature,
wash the engine down with a mild soap, then mix CLR with water
as directed on the bottle. Spray onto the engine, let soak for 1 hour, and rinse. That should remove the worst of it.

Answer 3

I have used all kinds of engine cleaners and found LOC from Amway to do a very good job. It is environmentally friendly and takes most everything off with just a garden hose. You just spray it on and let it set for 20 minutes or so and spray it off.
I don't sell the stuff so you will need to find someone who does.

Answer 4

I just used a hose.

If you go to a carwash, sometimes thay have an engine degreaser you can use. The coolant is bad enough, can kill pets. Don't use others, plain ol' h2o will work fine.

Answer 5

I know that coke can be used to clean a car battery (the part where you hook the jumper cables) and clear a dirty windshield in the rain. You can try it since the deposits you are describing are similar to the ones I found on my battery.

Scary that the stuff we drink can be used to take the linoleum off floors and help get rid of battery acid

Answer 6

While the car is running....power wash the engine. You may add an engine degrease into the power washer. Be sure the car is NOT in your garage when you are doing this. Avoid spraying the alternator with the power washer. The engine may bog down occasionally, if so, stop spray for a moment until the RMP's recover then continue cleaning the engine with the power washer. After you are done allow the engine to run this will warm up the engine and the water will evaporate, leave the hood open while doing this. Turn off, cool down and close the hood.

Answer 7

top cop's answer would work, also you could use a pressure washer instead of a brush, just use a wide pattern nosle on the pressure washer and keep it about 2 feet from the engine. this gets about anything off an engine compartment quickly.

Answer 8

I have had this problem before with our show cars. All you need to do is use some regular liquid dish soap, a rag, and a hard bristled brush. A little elbow grease should be all that it takes to get it off.

Answer 9

It sounds like water spots.Try a cleaner wax or a very fine polishing compound, not rubbing compound.

Answer 10

i use oven degreaser on mine and it cleans it very well, if you got shiney alumin or some other shiney metal be careful if you use it be sure you wrench it off very good with a water hose