Hi All,

Is it safe to steam clean the under carriage? My car over the years has picked up a lot of gum/goop/crud underneath (inclding dried up grease from torn CV boots). So I was thinking of having a local shop steam clean the bottom area, but want to make sure it won't damage anything.... I thank you in adnace for your reply..

 

yup yup....steam away my friend....used to get paid big bucks for under carriage cleaning

 

would getting an underbody car wash every once and awile stop that from happening?

 

naaa, most under carriage wash type deals remove very little if anything at all....most time the grime/crud is pretty thick so some hi pressure and a good degreaser (allow it to soak in for a few minutes....I wait about 10 minutes before I spray off) does a lot more than a simple undercarriage spray.
sorry took so long to write back on that

 

What degreaser spray do you recommend, and is it something I can do in my driveway, without the fear of the neighbours calling the HAZMAT team!

 

Oh yea....no big deal to be spraying off the bottom side. depends on your neighbors though I guess! lol!

I use the ever famous Purple Power.....big purple gallon jug at local parts shop and a cheap spray bottle. I jack my car up on one side......and just start hosing the whole underside down.....get it in there really good and let it set for a few minutes....then hose off....you can get a lot done with the hose and a regular spray nozzle (i prefer the cone looking type that turns to open) or if you happen to come across it...they have wands that turn your garden hose into more of a hi pressure type sprayer....no idea where to get one though, I have only seen those a few times. or you could rent a hi pressure sprayer...local home depot or maybe you have a A to Z rents? (although those guys didn't have the Rodalong I needed one day! lol! well, few people do have those...special tool for my work)

that's how I do it....jack the car up, spray it down, let sit.....spray off....really shouldn't take maybe more than half hour.....be sure to spray down your walks though after so that grease and junk don't just sit and accumulate