# Where to get an engine steam cleaned in the San Francisco Bay Area?

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/where-to-get-an-engine-steam-cleaned-in-the-san-francisco-bay-area/850>\
**Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\
**Created:** [June 22, 2007, 4:38pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/where-to-get-an-engine-steam-cleaned-in-the-san-francisco-bay-area/850 "2007-06-22T16:38:36Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![lzb725](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8dc957/32.png) [@lzb725](https://community.cartalk.com/u/lzb725)\
**Post date:** [June 22, 2007, 4:38pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/where-to-get-an-engine-steam-cleaned-in-the-san-francisco-bay-area/850/1 "2007-06-22T16:38:36Z")

</div>

My mechanic recommended steam cleaning to get rid of residual oil on the engine after repairing an oil leak.  
  
 But they couldn’t recommend any place to do it. Anyone have any good experiences? I’m in the East Bay.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/original/3X/1/d/1d47c66a543aa6c5a7873bb2320858f978ff52ed.png) [@system](https://community.cartalk.com/u/system)\
**Post date:** [June 22, 2007, 9:55pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/where-to-get-an-engine-steam-cleaned-in-the-san-francisco-bay-area/850/2 "2007-06-22T21:55:17Z")

</div>

Be very careful. If done wrong, damge can result.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/30_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\
**Post date:** [June 22, 2007, 10:05pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/where-to-get-an-engine-steam-cleaned-in-the-san-francisco-bay-area/850/3 "2007-06-22T22:05:52Z")

</div>

Because of the presence of many electronic components under the hood, coupled with the strong possibility of those components being damaged by the excess moisture, I strongly suggest that you AVOID steam-cleaning of your engine.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![jtsanders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c2a13f/32.png) [@jtsanders](https://community.cartalk.com/u/jtsanders)\
**Post date:** [June 24, 2007, 8:08pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/where-to-get-an-engine-steam-cleaned-in-the-san-francisco-bay-area/850/4 "2007-06-24T20:08:03Z")

</div>

There are commercial degreasers that you can use. First, make shre the engine is cool. Cover the electronics with plastic. Make sure the plastic is tightened around the areas you want to keep dry; use rubber bands or bungies. Follow the directions and put the degreaser on the engine. The use a garden hose to rinse the degreaser off. Finally, remove the plastic.

Tis was the subject of a Motorweek segment this week.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![galant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/77aa72/32.png) [@galant](https://community.cartalk.com/u/galant)\
**Post date:** [June 24, 2007, 8:43pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/where-to-get-an-engine-steam-cleaned-in-the-san-francisco-bay-area/850/5 "2007-06-24T20:43:18Z")

</div>

I have used the DIY carwashes for this many times. As mentioned let the engine cool off, cover plastics & electronics ( I have skipped this!), spray degreaser and then wash off;Oh you might want to disconnect battery, on one of my cars the alarm kept going off. After done I would dry with old cloths. When I skip the covering part I just pay attention not to directly spray on electronic parts but I don’t recommend doing this.