Two things that everyone knows about me:
- I make mistakes and
- I have bad luck.
Things go wrong faster than I can fix them.
I have been trying to track down oil and transmission leaks on my Accord and my Camry started leaking bad enough that I am not driving my car until I fix it.
If you use dye you don't need to clean the oil, but maybe I just have a cheap UV light; it wasn't much help determining that my oil pan gasket was leaking, while I only saw oil below the gasket, not above it.
I certainly didn't see anything as clear as the video indicates.
Of course, right now, almost all of the oil is above the gasket.
I am trying to find a better way of cleaning the bottom of my engine, especially since the leak may be behind the engine.
How do I clean there?!
I have spent so long cleaning my engine that it would have been faster to remove it.
Cleaning an engine outside the car probably wouldn't involve climbing under my car in a swimsuit when it is 40°F (4°C) and hosing off the bottom of my engine bay.
I sprayed it with my P21S car wash and then sprayed it off with my high-pressure nozzle.
I sprayed it with engine degreaser and sprayed it off.
I had bought dishwashing detergent because it was nice and thick, figuring that it would stay on better, and spend longer breaking down the grease.
This time I thought I would make a paste. I bought LA's Totally Awesome Oxygen Cleaner from Dollar Tree, but most of that fell off right away, and then it got rock hard. I tried mixing it with the dishwashing detergent, but I wasn't going to break up the rocks.
I scrubbed it with one of my Dollar Tree toothbrushes and started looking for a better way to do this. I found this video by HumbeMechanic:
I started watching it a second time, and then went through the transcripts because he kept saying that you need to clean the area and I didn't remember him saying how to clean it, which is taking me hours and hours.
He just said to use brake cleaner, engine degreaser, and dry it with compressed air.
Oh you sweet summer child!