Date: Fri, 24 Aug 2012 15:39:01 -0700
Reply-To: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Subject: Re: All the wires are brown!
In-Reply-To: <5037FCD6.8030006@gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
if you want to do anything like that ..
this is my surefire method.
the first word of caution is 'don't overdo it !'
you could just use compressed air to get dust off..
if you want a washing method....
warmish engine preferred.
spray down with Simple Green ...scrub with a toothbrush here and there
as needed.
Don't spray into the alternator, but everything else, pretty much.
Don't try to get every tiny bit of grime off the engine ..it doesn't
hurt anything.
Let the simple green soak in a little. ...10 minutes say.
Ideally.........hose that off with hot water.
Just spray it off briefly ..no sitting there blasting ! Don't spray
water into the alternator.
just a fairly quick swish and spray. Like 10 seconds is plenty. Even less.
Immediately spray everything....... especially all wires, plug wires,
distributor, coil, etc. with WD-40.
This is the most important part of the entire process. You can use that
generously.
You can dump a gallon on the engine and it won't hurt anything. Just
spray generously.
it displaces water...very, very effectively.
Then start the engine right away and let it idle some ..
and dry out.
It does not have to be show-car clean ..there's no point in trying to
accomplish that.
Always treat any corrosion, like on ground wires say ..with WD-40 or
something.
on a regular basis.
there absolutely is no reason for waterboxer engines to be rusty and
corroded.
Most of them I see are.
I just don't get it. Corrosion is the main enemy of vanagons. Easily
treated and prevented, throughout the entire vehicle.
On 8/24/2012 3:14 PM, Rocket J Squirrel wrote:
> Was tracing out some wires in the old engine bay and noticed that all
> the wires were brown. "This wire," I thought, "should be yellow with a
> red stripe* ... oh, wait, that's just dust."
>
> A lot of dust.
>
> The brown overcoat is due to a hefty accumulation of Central and East
> Oregon dirt road dust buildup on every object in the compartment.
>
> Can I just stick a garden hose with a nozzle on it in there and wash
> everything off? The weather is warm and humidity low (about 8% right
> now, you guys in the South where it's probably, like, 99 and 44/100ths**
> percent humidity can just suck wind) so things should dry fairly quickly.
>
> =============
> * Bonus points for telling us which wire this is. Details of the vehicle
> in the sig, below.
>
> ** EXTRA bonus points: Which personal care product used "99-44/100%
> pure" in their ad campaigns?
>
> --
> Jack "Rocket j Squirrel" Elliott
> 1984 Westfalia, auto trans,
> Bend, Ore.
>
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