No one likes to degrease their car engine, but ideally, it is very important to help your engine with its performance over a long time and it’s a great thing to do by getting busy using a good quality engine degreaser.
With fewer chances of dirty grease and gunk clogging the moving parts, a clean engine runs much better. Maintaining such a vehicle is also easier as it allows you to identify issues like oil leakage in time, and get them fixed before they turn out as a huge problem for you.
Having said that, there are a number of degreaser products available in the market, all claiming to make your engine squeaky clean, choosing the right one may still be a tough one. Thus, we went out and chose the best engine degreasers for you and put them together in a list here. With that, we also bring you a very useful guide for purchasing and have answered many of your FAQs as well
The Best Engine Degreaser
1. Simple Green Crystal Industrial Cleaner/Degreaser
- Crystal Simple Green is formulated for critical cleaning applications that demand a fragrance-free...
- It is a highly effective, concentrated, all-purpose degreaser and cleaner
- Non-toxic, biodegradable, non-hazardous, non-flammable, non-corrosive
- Excellent in parts washers
- Versatile concentrate with no added color or fragrance for superior risibility
2. Meguiar’s Super Degreaser
- Strong and fast acting for the toughest jobs
- Residue-free performance prevents unsightly white residue stains
- Pleasant herbal fragrance
- Quickly breaks down even the toughest grease
- Easy to use, spray on and wipe off
3. Oil Eater Original Cleaner/Degreaser
- Powerful Cleaning: Dissolves Grease, Oil And Dirt From Any Washable Surface
- Usda Approved: For Use At Food Service Facilities (A1, A4, A8)
- Biodegradable Formula: No Harsh Solvents And Is Noncorrosive
- Ultra Concentrated: Use For Cleaning Floors, Walls, Driveways, Grills, Exhausts, Patios, Outdoor...
4. Krud Kutter Original Concentrated DegreaserSee
- This item is a KRUD KUTTER KK32 Original Concentrated Cleaner/Degreaser, 32-Ounce
- Purpose of use for Building Materials & Ladders, tile-cleaners
- This product is manufactured in United States
- Water based, non-toxic, biodegradable, non-flammable and xylene-free
- Safe for use at home and work
5. Purple Power Industrial Strength Cleaner & Degreaser
- Concentrated formula penetrates grease, oil and dirt on contact
- Creates barrier between stain and surface
- In just seconds, Purple Power wipes away even the toughest stains
- Effective on a wide variety of surfaces in auto, home, marine, farm and shop
- Biodegradable, non-abrasive, non-flammable and phosphate-free
6. Chemical Guys Signature Series Orange Degreaser
- PROFESSIONAL STRENGTH - Signature Series Orange Degreaser is a professional-strength citrus...
- VERSATILE IN ANY SITUATION - Orange Degreaser is blended with powerful citrus extracts and hyper...
- SUPER CONCENTRATED - Orange Degreaser ships at full strength. Without added water to dilute the...
- REMOVE YEARS OF GRIME - The specialty formula easily cleans motor oil, coolant, hydraulic fluid, or...
- THE GO TO BRAND IN CAR CARE - Beginners and professionals alike choose Chemical Guys, not only for...
7. SuperClean Tough Task Degreaser
- Superclean Dissolves Grease On Contact And Quickly Removes Grime, Oil, Wax, Dirt And Tar
- Industrial Strength, Yet Biodegradeable And Phosphate Free. One Of The Strongest Water Based...
- Use Powerful Superclean Cleaner-Degreaser At Full Strength For Your Toughest Tasks
- Every Bottle Is A Full Strength Concentrate That Can Be Diluted Down All The Way To 16:1 If Needed.
8. Simple Green Heavy Duty Cleaner
- Simple Green Pro HD is a PROP 65 product, non-corrosive, professional grade product
- Developed for multi-purpose contractor applications including use on floors, walls, industrial...
- Also including commercial kitchens and baths and for pressure washing, parts washing, ultrasonic...
- It quickly eliminates tough grease and grime, removes stains, and is safe on metal surfaces
- Simple Green Pro HD is your one-stop cleaner and degreaser
9. Chemical Guys Grime Reaper Extremely Strong Degreaser
- Heavy duty grease and grime remover, concentrated degreaser
Best Engine Degreaser Buying Guide & FAQ
These were some of our top picks of best engine degreasing products available on the market right now. Many of these will perform well, without a doubt. But which one is the best for you? As mentioned earlier as well, engine degreasing is no fun or child’s play, so you really want to get your hands on a product that makes the job fairly simple.
This is why we have compiled this buying guide with the FAQs, that talk about all the features you should look for and answers many questions about the product you ultimately select for yourself.
Essential Factors to Consider When Selecting the Best Engine Degreaser
Multi-Surface
Go over the product description and check how many products can it be used on. If it claims to work on, or at least not cause harm to the painted surface, plastics, etc, then you can use the product just as you want to.
Multi-Purpose
Some degreasing products are particularly for cars only, while others can be used around the garage and even house as well. A multipurpose product is usually milder, making it suitable for a wide range of surfaces. Moreover, it is also better valued as you get the ability to clean many surfaces with a single product only.
Smell
A petroleum-based cleaning product will typically smell bad, and you also need a dust mask or so to block that smell. While many products also smell nice and have added perfumes as well. So, this is a feature that depends solely on the user’s preference, as to what product they are comfortable working with.
Size
This is also dictated by the product’s price. Frankly speaking, some of the products on our list are great bargains as they are almost gallon-sized bottles with a very minimal price tag. The question however is, how is such a low price achieved, and will it match the cleaning ability as that of premium products?
Types of Engine Degreaser
Largely, there are two types of engine degreasers in the market and we have included both these types in our list. The two types are water and petroleum-based degreasers, and both the formulas have their own pros and cons so you can quickly go over the product breakdown below which will help you decide the better one for yourself.
Petroleum Based
Generally, petroleum-based degreasers are cheaper than the water-based ones due to their strong cleaning ability that doesn’t need any sophisticated formulations which are usually found in the water-based variants.
These cleaners are very powerful, but can also be quite abrasive compared to the water-based products, so you need to be very cautious when applying and wiping them, such that no runoff or splashbacks go on any plastics, aluminum, painted surfaces, and chrome. (unless it is explicitly mentioned in the product description that it is safe for use on these surfaces)
Water Based
Water-based degreasers are much milder and gentler than their petroleum-based counterparts. Nevertheless, they can also be as effective and tough as those, raving about their high tech formulation that tackles oil and grease just as powerfully as petroleum-based versions do. Water-based versions are typically more gentle and can be used on a variety of surfaces, so there is no need to panic if the product comes into contact with other surfaces.
In fact, many products are designed to clean and degrease those as well. They are environmentally friendly as well, so no worries about the runoff in your lawn as well. The only downside we can think of these products is the high price tag they carry.
Foam Engine Degreaser
A third type is also available in the market which is the foaming engine degreaser. The two types mentioned above have minor differences, with use and application more or less very similar. A foam-based cleaner is however very different from these, and there’s quite a lot of information about them which will need a separate guide of its own only!
Frequently Asked Questions About Engine Degreaser
Q: What is In Degreaser?
A: There’s a variety of ingredients in a degreasing product, with each one having a slightly different formula. Even when the ingredients are same, their quantities vary across different brands. Speaking broadly, some kind of agitator is added to these products that help break down the oil, dirt and grease, along with a solution which is typically petroleum or water-based, in which the agitating ingredients are added.
There’s a difference between various cleaning products which is usually a closely guarded secret of every manufacturer. There are some products in our list above that have an emulsifying agent as well that helps break down oil and grease to make them easily washable. One of the products also uses citrus as its primary cleaning agent. While every manufacturer doesn’t specify the cleaning agent, broadly speaking, all of them perform almost the same function.
Q: What is Engine Detailing?
A: When you take your car for an automatic wash, it looks clean on the outside but in reality, that’s just the touching surface. The level of deep-rooted and long-lasting cleaning equivalent to engine cleaning is just like when you sit down to clean your closet a pleasant Sunday afternoon and are filling garbage bags with all the crap inside for the next few hours. Engine detailing needs time and tools, as it is a very deep clean of the engine block, but the results are worth everything.
Q: Is Degreaser Harmful?
A: When you use it as per the instructions mentioned, it won’t really be harmful. Depending on the product type you have picked, some are safe to come into contact with while others aren’t. thoroughly read the instructions before you purchase, and you are good to go.
Q: What Parts to Cover when Cleaning an Engine?
A: Make sure that the engine’s sensitive parts are covered at all time when using the engine degreaser. These include:
- The Carburetor
- The inlet holes of any air intake systems
- The Distributor
- All Electronic Components
There’s no need of anything fancy either, some plastic bags and a tape will keep you covered!
Q: How to Remove Engine Sludge?
A: Engine sludge is slightly different from the oil and grease build up on the engine surface. If you haven’t changed your vehicle’s oil in a while, this builds up. The most simple way to tackle this is adding a sludge remover in your oil and leave the engine idle for at least 10 minutes. Followed by this, perform a full flush to remove the old oil and sludge to replace it with fresh synthetic oil.