Can you pressure wash the engine

I have a 76 900 LTD that is off the frame. I would like to get it clean before I paint parts. Is it possible to use a pressure washer to clean it up before painting--as long as I cover all opened parts?

yes
just seal it up real tight.

Welcome to KZr myephit.

It all depends on the pressure washer, and what it's psi rating is.

If the pressure washer has an unloader (pressure adjustment knob/handle), be sure to set it on a very low setting, and be sure to NOT use a zero degree nozzle as it can literally cut into whatever you're attempting to clean! :ohmy:

I fix pressure washers for a living, so I'm very familiar with their capabilities.
For example, with a Devilbiss/Dewalt 2800 psi pressure washer at full pressure and a zero degree nozzle, I could bore a hole about 1" deep and 1" diameter at the initial opening of it into the concrete floor of our shop in just a few moments. Sure, there's a nominal 200 psi drop as the water exits the nozzle, but 2600 psi isn't something I'd snear at either.
Coincidentally, the flat part of the legs on our work benches are large enough to cover a hole just that size.
Please, don't ask me how I know. :whistle:

Post edited by: RetroRiceRocketRider, at: 2007/01/18 19:00

I pulled a real cruddy motor out of the frame and pressure washed it last fall. I had never run one before, but I borrowed a little cheezy homeowner unit, (said "Remanufactured in Mexico" on it) and went to town. It worked slicker than I would have imagined.
The only drawback was that I spent the entire afternoon walking around my house looking for things to blast. I did my concrete parking areas, the propane tank, my truck...

I spent the entire afternoon walking around my house looking for things to blast.

I bought a little Sears job (the kind you can carry around) last year when I wanted to clean the deck, then I got the bike and zapped that. Then I blasted the walkway, the driveway, the kid next door (j/k).

Heh, anything with a trigger gets me going! :woohoo:

Retro is right about that zero degree nozzle - even with this wimpy compressor (4hp motor, book says 2150psi), I carved my initials in the driveway with it.

Post edited by: EsaPro, at: 2007/01/19 08:46

EsaPro wrote:

I spent the entire afternoon walking around my house looking for things to blast.

I bought a little Sears job (the kind you can carry around) last year when I wanted to clean the deck, then I got the bike and zapped that. Then I blasted the walkway, the driveway, the kid next door (j/k).

Heh, anything with a trigger gets me going! :woohoo:

Retro is right about that zero degree nozzle - even with this wimpy compressor (4hp motor, book says 2150psi), I carved my initials in the driveway with it.<br><br>Post edited by: EsaPro, at: 2007/01/19 08:46

My fav is to sit out in the front yard with an ice chest full o' beer and with my 2750psi pressure washer at a low idle.
Then when those damned noisy crows land in the trees and start cawing, I crank up the throttle and blast 'em!
They're far enough away that it doesn't kill or actually hurt them, but it sure is a whole lot of fun! :woohoo: :evil:
Since it's not a gun, I can't get popped for discharging a firearm within city limits.
No one on my street is a PETA member and all of them hate these crows too, so I'm safe there as well. :laugh:

Retro-
Wish I woulda met you B4 I decided to re-finish my rear deck..."power washing" seemed like the logical first step to me :whistle: ...at least I 'experimented' in an area that nobody sees :blush:

Hehe - my deck is a bit "fuzzy" in spots now...

Bad Kaw wrote:

Retro-
Wish I woulda met you B4 I decided to re-finish my rear deck..."power washing" seemed like the logical first step to me :whistle: ...at least I 'experimented' in an area that nobody sees :blush:

I've got a 3750psi washer that I've been slowly putting together over the last few months from parts I've scavenged at work from other washers that have been deemed to trashed and expensive to repair and were subsequently returned to be scrapped.

Once I finish assembling it, I'll be sure to post a short vid or pics of what it will do at full pressure and the zero degree nozzle to the concrete driveway of the house we rent. :whistle: :laugh:

Post edited by: RetroRiceRocketRider, at: 2007/01/20 14:22