Coolant Leak (schmutz) Cleanup ?

[faster675]

Any suggestions on how best to clean up this mess:

I will be replacing thermostat and all three O-rings on "thermostat housing assembly tubes"

 

[Donal]

If the engine is runnable - warm it up and then wash the whole area with a pressure washer. You may need a a small brush to get in and loosen any baked on crap................

 

[Bugnatr]

I am a big fan of Orange base cleaners, really good at removing sticky stuff.

I wouldn't use a pressure washer in there.

 

[FJRay]

Anything that can be scraped and vacumed first and then as the Bug man said. Citrus based cleaners are really good and don't damage parts. I think a pressure might be a bit to violent.

 

[bluesdog]

Problem with pressure washing, or even high-pressure hose washing, is that water can be introduced where it shouldn't. Use of high pressure cleaning is better restricted to areas that don't have seals, bearings, electrical connections of any kind.

Citrus based cleaners are OK, but avoid full strength, and rinse repeatedly

Wash, rinse, repeat..

You can also make good use of one of those soft bristle cleaning brushes favored by the Hardley crowd. They resemble latrine brushes, but are generally tapered, are flexible, and have nice long soft bristles.

 

[Queensland Ken]

I'd just use something like Inox and a tooth brush.

I'd also blow out the spark plug recesses, amazing what gets in under the rubber boots / caps.

Stops the crap falling into the cylinders on the next spark plug change.

The ends of the coolant pipes will be truly rusted down in their recess.

A bit of penetrating fluid down there as well if you ever want to remove the bolts that clamp the coolant pipes.