I was hoping to clean the engine block of my '04 5.4L. I'm more accustomed to detailing engines on older vehicles. I noticed the block and valve covers are bare metal and have turned an oxidized looking whitish color. Is this normal? Can it be cleaned or painted?
Thanks

 

yes very normal, you could paint them, sure would put a hault to rust forming

 

I believe they're bare aluminum... as such, you DO NOT want to use ANYTHING that may contain some level or has an acidic pH. My hunch is that the 'whitish' look that you've seen may be a result of previous cleaning with such a product.

The best route is this... NO direct water stream. A spray bottle full of dilute Simple Green or similar and a few rags will get the best portion of everything pending you take your time and don't get ahead of yourself. Follow with a nice water-based protectant like VRT, Meg's #40, or Vinylex to coat everything down and protect and you're done.

The block, itself, is a bit more tough to deal with individually. I suppose that you could utilize an aluminum or all-metal polish to attempt to remove the white oxidation but, I'm not sure that I'd try it on a very visible spot -- in short, test in an inconspicuous spot.

RP

 

https://www.f150online.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=256950

Theres my thread after using the Simple Green to my F150 if you are intrested.