Steam Cleaning of Engine / Undercarriage?

[Finlayforprez]

How dirty is your engine and underbody? Pics?

I do not have any pictures right after wheeling, except for this photo of my sliders, so you can get somewhat a picture of what the undercarriage looked like....

 

[mbw]

I would raise it up, jack it up on one side and use a pressure washer, maybe one of those extended handle brushes and just scrub a bit. But luckily I dont think just dirt is going to hurt anything. The only thing that bugs me when I get mine full of mud is the tires and driveline noise, from the half shafts and such.

Still, harmless beautiful mud. At least it won't cause metal cancer.

Check out mine right now.

 

[Finlayforprez]

Damn, mbw..... That's a lot of salt! Luckily I don't have to worry about that here, but back in MA where my family lives, they salt the roads like crazy. It's good you hose it down, as the salt is so corrosive. You are right, nothing wrong with dirt and mud - though, I do try to wash it away from various areas.

I'll let you know how my undercarriage steam cleaning goes tomorrow, which will likely be a one time thing to start with a clean area so I can install my skids. Going forward, I'll likely just pressure wash it myself like I usually do - works pretty well.

 

[Biagetti]

Good God mbw, I don't miss the salt one bit!

 

[mbw]

I am going to evaluate how much rusted after one season and clean it up really well. I have been trying to figure out what protectant I will use. I am really hoping that LR did a good job on rust proofing (and water proofing) these. Hopefully better than the average vehicle around here.

I live in Dubuque, which is in Iowa on the border of Wisconsin and Illinois, right on the Mississippi River. We are in the 'driftless region' which means the glaciers missed this area during the ice age. So we have lots of large hills and bluffs and expose rock faces and such. It is a very pretty area. Most of the rest of Iowa is rolling hills, pretty flat. Anyway... because of the nutty hills, they use a lot of salt here. Lots of iowa towns get away with lots of sand, which just makes everything dirty. But here, they use mostly just salt and almost no sand.

 

[Biagetti]

I hope for your sake it holds up and I think it will. My LR3 spent its first couple of years in New York and I do have some rust to show for it. Its mainly around bolts, welds and of course the exhaust system.

I drove out to Dubuque from Pittsburgh, PA a few years ago to attend a conference downtown. I can't remember now, but the hotel/conference center was in a beautiful location right down on the river. It was a nice drive in with awesome properties heading in. Good little downtown with some different underground type bars!

 

[Soda]

Does Land Rover apply any kind of anti-rust treatment to the undercarriage at the factory? Would this be one of those rare cases where having the dealer apply undercoating would actually prevent long-term headaches and not be a ripoff?

 

[mbw]

Does Land Rover apply any kind of anti-rust treatment to the undercarriage at the factory? Would this be one of those rare cases where having the dealer apply undercoating would actually prevent long-term headaches and not be a ripoff?

Having a dealer do it would be a ripoff. Its a nasty job to DIY, so if you dont want to do it, have a place that specializes in it do it. If you have a dealer do it, it will be some know nothing kid that gets stuck with the job and it will be a huge mess.

 

[Finlayforprez]

I had the undercarriage pressure washed with hot water and it came out awesome. The detail place used jack stands in the front and then back and hosed down everything. Even after I had pressure washed it last weekend, lots of mud came off. Before the guy started he used a mild degreaser he said is less harsh than simple green and it did a great job.

My undercarriage is like brand new and now ready to install my sliders and skid plates soon.