Cleaning burnt oil off of engine

[offroadkarter]

A little over a month ago I did a valve cover swap on my car. The pass side valve cover bolts decided to loosen up and I lost about a quart and a half of oil burning off on the back of my engine block and on my header. As you could imagine, this smells horrible. I believe I have stopped the leak (tightened the bolts down, did an oil change, oil level hasn't changed since that day) and I tried wiping the areas down with some seafoam and a rag. The smell went away for a week, but its been back since and it reeks bad. I have to keep my A/C on recirculate and even then I can still somewhat smell it when I'm at a stop light.


Any ideas how I can get this burnt oil shit off my motor so I can see if the smell stops and my leak is actually gone? simple green?

 

[NasteeNate]

A regular degreaser should take care of it. Check the zone for engine gunk cleaner and let it soak for a bit, then hose it down with everything protected. If you see pretty colors in the water the oil is definitely being broken down.

 

[Mach1USMC]

CG has a couple of heavy duty degreasers to specifically tackle problems like yours. The others thing I'd do is take a liquid air freshener and while your car is on with the AC running, make sure it's on recirculate, spray towards the vents in the footwell. This will run the air freshener through the entire car and make it smell much better.

 

[Electrokid]

Picked up a bottle of CG's new Signature Series Degreaser the other day and tried it on my DD today (98 Honda Accord). I don't think the engine has ever been cleaned, but I pressure washed it down, then GENEROUSLY sprayed the degreaser in a 6:1 dilution ratio and it did really well when I got the brushes out and started going at it. It doesn't really take any grease or oil off without a little bit of elbow grease though if that's what you're looking for.

Still going to do a bit of dressing on the hoses and such, but I was happy overall with how it worked on a 15 year old engine bay.

 

[greenscobie86]

I'd get a good amount of brake cleaner and get to work as a last resort, Spray the **** out of the sides of the motor/exhaust area, It will DEFINITELY take the oil off there. Had this happen in my mom's Accord when the filter wasnt tightened down, a couple of cans took care of it. A pressure washer afterward wouldnt hurt either. Then dress/protect everything when you are done.

 

[VirtualSVT]

Simple green.

 

[Mach1USMC]

Simple Green works great for moderate dirt. But for burnt on or caked on oil he WILL need something stronger. I almost always recommend using products specifically made for cars- in this case I'd say CG Extreme Orange. It's $10, super concentrated, and is made for projects like this.