engine cleaning question... [Merged 2-7] engine bay washing

[Tx97GSX]

the heat shield only took me like 15mins or so of sanding and polishing. I'm going to redo it some other time and get all the marks off the side and make it super pimp ass bling...

 

[eclipsegsx1736]

This might sound like a stupid question, but whats the best way to clean the engine and its surrounding parts? Im talking about the spark plug covers, hoses, battery, etc so its shiny and not so dirty when i pop the hood. I was gonna use some rubbing alcohol and some shop towels, just wanted to know if this would hurt anything, or if you guys just give it the good ol' spray down

 

[Bigglesworth87]

simple green, water hose with a light mist setting, cover up anything that produces electricity and good old fashion elbow greace.

 

[WHOADY]

I was curious if any of you guys have ever used a steam cleaner to clean your engine bay and if so what were the results? Did it work on alot of the grime or was it a waste of time and money. I just got my 6 bolt put in and Im looking to clean everything up nice. Thanks in advance guys.

 

[kyledykstra]

I haven't done it myself,but a friend of mine steamcleans his Lightening every spring once the snow is gone, still looks brand new under the hood. I'm going to give it a try this year too, since my head is all shiny, but everything else is oily.

 

[CyberEye]

This is what my engine bay looks like right now, plus a nice polished strut tower brace



I was wondering what things I can do to clean it up a bit/make it look nicer besides just spraying it down with simple green then washing it off.

[Reduce your pic to a maximum of 800 pixels wide, get a 1G BOV, and get the bumper and headlights to fit.]

 

[Dsmboost4g63]

engine bay thread
This should help you out...all i did was spray engine cleaner on mine and pressure washed it.....anyways that thread should help u out a little.

 

[4geze63]

a painted vavle cover will make a world of difference

 

[CyberEye]

a painted vavle cover will make a world of difference

I'd like to either paint it or get it podercoated black and polish the letters, then get an aluminum/stainless spark plug cover

 

[ericbev]

I'd like to either paint it or get it podercoated black and polish the letters, then get an aluminum/stainless spark plug cover

Ditto..my valve cover gasket was leaking and I picked up a nice powdercoated w/polished letters one off of ebay...I then decided that I couldnt put the old spark plug cover on there so I orderd a nice billet one from RRE..made a HUGE difference..my engine bay was fairly clean to begin with but it just made it ten times better you wont be dissappointed with the results.. there is an engine bay pic in my gallery if you want to see it..Ohhh and dont forget to be very careful when tightening your valve cover bolts.. if you dont tighten them evenly you can crack your valve cover .. dont want to hurt your new piece! also found out that the factory torque specs are a tad too much.. so take it nice and ez

 

[olmytsi]

battery in the trunk and removig things like cruise control.

 

[Iryoku]

Any suggestions? tips?

What can I use to cleam my engine to make it look all purtty? hehe

 

[marcmsj]

any engine degreaser would do the job.

spray 9 works great and a little power washing from time to time is good.

 

[Iryoku]

Whats spray 9?

Sorry for the newbieness hehe...

 

[CyberEye]

any degreaser, Spray 9, Simple Green etc. Use platic bags and rags, cover up your alternator, coil packs, fuse box, air filter etc. Then spray the degreaser on a warm engine, let it soak for 5-10 minutes, then use low pressure (garden hose spray nozzle) to rinse off, repeat if needed.

 

[shiftdrift06]

Im not sure if anyone else does this but i spray Son of a Gun or ArmorAll on the rubber hoses and fittings to make them look new again

 

[roffles]

For the initial clean i'd recommend Gumout Steam Premium, but only use it every once in a while because it dries out the hoses a tad(dont let this scare you, just dont use it at every car wash). Then go over it with CD2 Engine Detailer and it will look awesome. Both of those products should be able to be found at your local autoparts store. Also for regular cleaning use a citrus based degreaser, it wont be as potent as the other stuff mentioned but it will help keep it clean between big detailing projects.

 

[americanjebus]

engine degreeser

a couple cans of brake cleaner

armoral

and a ton of paper towels,

or if you just dont want to get your ahnds dirty take it to get pressrue washed just wach the electronic stuff.

 

[Defiant]

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/search.php?searchid=946960

Please.

 

[greathuskie]

ok well as im sure many have tried to do before me, its time for me to clean my engine bay up a bit, but as im sure every DSMer on this site knows, there is only so much stuff you can do with it. im looking for some parts to help clean up the engine bay and replace the stock ugly-hard to clean stuff. anyone have some good ideas as to waht i can remove/replace to help clean it up?
my long term plan is to remove PS and ABS to get rid of alot of weight and the lines, but until then i can only do so much...
but anyways, back to the subject. list some parts you guys have looked at or have to clean up your engine bay a bit.

1. polished stainless steel heat shield
2. valve cover (obviously)

and well i need some ideas folks!

 

['96_Talon_TSi]

You can bleach the white caps for the brake and clutch reservoirs, or just get some billet caps.

Use some of that spray tire wet to clean up the top of the radiator, the radiator hose, spark plug cover, factory airbox (if you still have it) master fuse box and vacuum hoses.

Any billet peices you have just clean with mothers mag polish, or use it to make a polished valve cover shine.

 

[sc2_ct]

Grab a couple of toothbrushes and some engine degreaser or simple green automotive. Any cast aluminum parts (exterior of the cylinder head, various different castings, etc) can be cleaned up pretty well by spraying the surface, agitating it with the brush, and repeat until clean. Simple green with various different brushes and towels to get into hard-to-reach spots will help get all of the sheet metal clean. Also, in my car I found that pulling the headlights and trim and cleaning them up real well outside the car, and repainting the black pieces really helped make it look better.

 

[heff]

Hey guys I changed my oil on my 99 gs last night, and after spilling a little oil when refilling it, I rinsed the engine off with water, then it sat overnight. Today I drove it to town and after about 15 minutes of driving it started running real bad, and misfiring/sputtering all the way home and after about 15 minutes of that, the check engine light came on,
any ideas?

 

[Geno]

http://members.shaw.ca/costall/1000Q/answers-minor.htm#wontrunafterwash

hope this helps bud

 

[SnoopySLR]

there's a chance water got into the sparkplug chambers. Pull out the wires and use a air line to blow out the chambers. Don't pull the plugs cause it will cause the water to go into the combustion chamber.