Word of caution on engine cleaning

[top189h]

A friend of mine and I were putting a clutch in his car today and had me detail his engine when we finished. I wrapped and covered all the normal things, followed my normal routine with the exception of using a degreaser instead of an apc because it was terribly dirty. When I finished the car started fine and ran for about 5 minutes and then died. I double checked everything I could and just let it dry. It finally started again and I felt terrible because it didn't run right at all. It sounded flat like the timing was off and come to find out it popped a timing belt. So I thought I would just throw this out for everyone especially those doing it without insurance, please be careflul when doing things in the engine bay and you may want to check into insurance to cover you in case something does happen. We both knew this was in no way related to the cleaning but to an uneducated customer or one simply looking for a way around a repair bill, it could have ended up to be quite a mess.

 

[geekdout]

Sorry to hear about what happened but it sounds like it could have been even worse. You really don't know it wasn't related at all to the engine cleaning. The one thing you changed, APC to a degreaser, could have weakened the worn belt that I am sure was already overdue to be replaced.

What kind of car is it? How many miles since the last time it was replaced?

 

[top189h]

02 Hyundai Accent and its original to the car with 120k, and the belt didn't break it moved and was visibly worn

 

[RDKC]

02 Hyundai Accent and its original to the car with 120k, and the belt didn't break it moved and was visibly worn

I've had it happen both ways, clean it and it runs worse, clean it and it runs better. Not on customer vehicles, but on fork lifts and semi's at work. Sometimes things get gunked up and hold things together. I definitely get your point though as I can definitely see certain people blaming you.

 

[Calendyr]

I had issues cleaning my 02 accent as well. In my case water went into the wells where the spark plugs are and caused engines misfires for a week. Old engines are dangerous to detail because many seals and gaskets can be worn out and water can get into areas it's not supposed to go. Now when someone ask me to detail and old engine I recommand to them not to do it. If they insist I have a disclaimer they have to sign informing them that this process can cause issue with the engine and I am not responsible.

 

[top189h]

I know what you mean. If he wasn't there with me doing it I wouldn't have ever done it on this one because there are several large leaks and if it's bad enough to leak I always assume it's bad enough to let stuff in.