Think Twice Before Using Brake Parts Cleaner To Clean Your Engine: Here's Why

When owning a car, consistent, thorough maintenance is key. If you want to get the most out of your vehicle and prevent paying for costly repairs, it's crucial to take care of little things and avoid common maintenance mistakes that will diminish your car's reliability. In fact, there are plenty of do-it-yourself engine maintenance tasks you can do at home that will ensure longevity, including engine cleaning. However, if you're to do such a job, you'll want to steer clear of using brake parts cleaner to clean the grease off your engine.

While this variety of cleaners is great for cleaning up brakes and metal electrical components within your car, it's far from ideal for most engine parts. Most brake cleaners are based on isopropyl alcohol, which is tough on grease but doesn't mesh well with the plastic and rubber components within the engine. It can cause rubber seals to crack and swell and degrade plastic in short order, leading to more problems than it would theoretically fix. Redditor u/Thebigdoggie1980 attested to this in a thread on the subject, having to replace belts, hoses, and an idler pulley while contending with a coolant leak thanks to brake parts cleaner use.

If brake cleaner isn't a safe product to use to clean your engine, what should you use instead?

Moving away from brake cleaner, there are plenty of alternatives to clean and degrease your engine without the risk of damaging it. One option is fairly self-explanatory, that being engine degreaser. There are numerous brands out there to choose from that all operate in similar ways. All you have to do is apply it to the engine parts you want to clean, let it sit for a bit, and then wipe it off with a brush and rag. The only thing to be mindful of when using a degreaser is your car's paint, as it'll take it right off with ease.

Alternatively, there are homemade degreasers you can create with only a few household products. One of the most popular consists of two parts ammonia, two parts water, and one part dish soap, which are all combined in a spray bottle and used similarly to a store-bought degreaser. Diluted washing soda in warm water is also a commonly used DIY degreaser. The only downside to homemade recipes is that they may lack the strength needed to clean heavy grease effectively, so you might have to resort to a store-bought blend or thoroughly yet carefully scrub with a brush.

All in all, degreasing and cleaning your engine isn't a hard process; it's just important to use the proper cleaner when doing so. To help you further, SlashGear also has a step-by-step guide on how to clean your car's engine bay.