Cleaning an engine

I want to get in and clean the engine bay in all 3 of my Jeeps (all 4.0 L) - one 01 XJ, one '96 ZJ, one '04 WJ. They are all high mileage enough that I want to get it as clean as possible so that I can start to pinpoint and monitor or repair leaks - seeing as how oil leaks are a factory option on the 4.0.

What solvent do y'all recommend, and when I put it on and get the power washer fired up, what needs to be covered and what do I need to keep the water off of.

I like simple green.

Sorry, y'all. Should have searched better:

http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1123046

From September.

lol I said the same thing.. its good stuff tho

ZEP Industrial Purple cleaner. Available concentrated by the gallon at Home Depot. Basically concentrated 409. You can mix to whatever strength you want. My own experience is that it works better than Simple Green on heavily soiled stuff.

Then again, there is my old recipe for degreaser/cleaner that works very well and is super cheap. Tide detergent, mixed 50/50 with water. Spray on and let dry (yes, let dry). Hose off. It works great on concrete too with some scrubbing.

NEVER hit the TPS with water or you will end up buying a new one.:flame:

When out of the truck we use oven cleaner to clean transfer cases, transmissions and blocks. Load them in a truck and go down to the car wash.

Works very well but I'm not sure how liberal you want to be with it inside the engine bay. It's pretty mean stuff.