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

[DSMu4ia]

Y'all will never learn anything without SOME FORM of experimentation.

Here's a thread I made on DSMtalk about 2.5 years ago.

http://www.dsmtalk.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=15134&highlight=CD2

 

[InfamousEclipse]

Originally posted by turbowop
About ten years ago I detailed cars for a living. Believe me, you can hose the crap out of the engine bay without much worrying. If you have an open element air filter just put a plastic bag around it. Only other probs I used to see was getting water into distributor caps and that was an easy fix by just drying them out. Of course, we don't have to worry about that as we have distributorless ignitions. I hose mine off about every three car washes to keep build up down and dust off. And this is with the high pressure car wash guns. Just use common sense and don't hold it like one inch from electrical connections and such.

I can't stand that greasy tire dressing crap on my engine though. It makes your hands all nasty if you work under the hood much. A nice clean non shiny engine bay looks better IMHO. If you look at the pics of my engine bay you can see how good regular rinsings keep the engine bay clean. No tire dressing necessary. Click the pic to see a bigger version.

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Mark has the cleanest engine bay I have ever seen, and I saw it inn person a couple times.

 

[Laser93Nash]

What is the best way to clean the engine bay? On dsmtalk people were talking about using tire cleaner?? Then spray it down with water? My dad always tells me spraying water on the engine will ruin it. Like screw up the battery and spark plugs and alot of other stuff. Is this ture? If you have any other methods of cleaning the engine bay please share them. I don't want to spend hours cleaning everything by hand.

~Andrew~

 

[Daedalus]

I can finally post of something i know about. I spend over 18 hours cleaning my engine bay last spring. First off, dont do the spray down with gunk, hose off, and run until dry, you will regret it. It will #### your electronic connections. I used simple green in a bottle, and a spray bottle with water. And then a toothbrush and a lot of time.

For Engine (metal/non-painted):
Spray the simple green on engine part, let set for 1-2 minutes, rub with toothbrush, and spray off with water from spray bottle.

Painted (shock mounts, underside of hood):
Spray and dilute quickly and rub with cloth, repeat as neccesary, if paint starts to come off dilute a lot and rub all off. Some red should come off, but it wont truly affect overall look.

Gunk works for spraying off stuff way down below where you cant reach. Other than that it just takes time.

http://www.distortedtruth.com/gallery/

Take a look at my results! Peace.

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[ivanr4g63]

Hey Deadalus your engine bay looks pretty clean, if your very good at it, why don't you make a FAQ about it with all your details, it'll help more people who want to do this...

 

[Daedalus]

Yea, i just may do that. It took me hours to complile enough information from all over the web to take a whack and detailing every inch of my car. But it has paid off, that picture was prior to me tackling the engine even more, and the exterior and interior. The DSM club of omaha voted me Cleanest DSM in Nebraska, . I will start working on the FAQ!

 

[bosljeff]

Originally posted by Laser93Nash
What is the best way to clean the engine bay? On dsmtalk people were talking about using tire cleaner?? Then spray it down with water? My dad always tells me spraying water on the engine will ruin it. Like screw up the battery and spark plugs and alot of other stuff. Is this ture? If you have any other methods of cleaning the engine bay please share them. I don't want to spend hours cleaning everything by hand.

~Andrew~

There were a buttload of posts regarding this somewhere, I'll try to find the link, but I guess some 3000gt dudes used Gunk Engine Detailer all over the bay then rinsed, then used Armorall Tire foam and just let it do its thing.

I tried it and just went for it (sprayed stuff everywhere, plastic bag over filter) and it turned out awesome. I'll get you the how to link later, check out my engine bay pics.

This took maybe 15 minutes and you could do it all with a Corona in one hand and never set it down.

The armor all tire foam cleaner is nice cuz it gives it a nice protecting shine, but your hoses aren't all oily and crap.

My gallery
http://www.dsmtuners.com/gallery/showgallery.php?ppuser=13014&cat=500

Later
Boz

 

[bosljeff]

Here are pics

 

[bosljeff]

I have links at home. I'll get them today after work. It is certainly something to consider reading.

 

[Daedalus]

I did do part of my engine bay like that, but be careful that you dont go hog wild with the water. I went over my electrical connections with electric tape before.

 

[BUCK]

The DSM club of omaha voted me Cleanest DSM in Nebraska, . I will start working on the FAQ!

Well done - Congrats - Amazing how you can make some headway on the cleanliness of these cars ONCE you become leak-free! & THEN you can actually see a new leak if it pops up...

 

[bosljeff]

Originally posted by Daedalus
I did do part of my engine bay like that, but be careful that you dont go hog wild with the water. I went over my electrical connections with electric tape before.

Yeah, I agree, better safe than sorry. I ended up doing it after a long day of tweaking/fixing/modifying so at that point I just wanted to be done, but I still made sure I got an attachment on my hose that kept the "spray" very sparse. It still was scary though.

 

[MrPikolo]

After a 1 word search and about 3 seconds, I found the link

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=57345

 

[FiReBReTHa]

Ok,



Guys.....


why do elec probs come up with water, when you RUN the car, Let the car sit for a few hours and it will dry out and then you will have. =No Probs.


But im going to try this soon,

Buy FOAM Tire/Wheel Well cleaner????? and then rinse it off. and then the Tire foam is just dressing?


but Buy Foam Wheel well cleaner?

 

[bosljeff]

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=57345&perpage=25&pagenumber=1

http://www.3si.org/forum/showthread.php?t=146514

Those should help.

 

[InfamousEclipse]

I bought me some 'Gunk' saw it while at Napa and was inspired by this thread . I will try it once my Turbo settup finally gets done... and I will try and post a B4 and after pic.

So I spray everywhere (I will remove the filter first) and let it soak for what an hr, then spray it off? Or after an hr should I turn my car on and let it heat dry? Should I apply the gunk to a warm engine bay or cold engine bay to start with?

 

[MrPikolo]

Originally posted by bosljeff
http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=57345&perpage=25&pagenumber=1

http://www.3si.org/forum/showthread.php?t=146514

Those should help.

You just posted the same link I did

 

[a_scobel]

Originally posted by FiReBReTHa
Ok,



Guys.....


why do elec probs come up with water, when you RUN the car, Let the car sit for a few hours and it will dry out and then you will have. =No Probs.


But im going to try this soon,

Buy FOAM Tire/Wheel Well cleaner????? and then rinse it off. and then the Tire foam is just dressing?


but Buy Foam Wheel well cleaner?

....Speak...English....please

 

[RipperXX]

Do you think it would effect paint on your valve cover? I know I got radiator fluid all over it once when the damn cap blew off and it faded bad.

 

[StreetDSM]

One more tip if you want to dress your engine up for show-

If you are running an aftermarket exhaust manifold that won't let you keep (or you just removed) the heat shield. Simply spray some WD40 on it and it will look very shiny as well, almost like a jet hot coating or similar. It WILL burn off as soon as you start the car and it will smoke a little too but there are no ill effects from this.

 

[miamieclipse]

i wonder if this actually works, my best friend swears buy this.

He water-pressure cleans his engine, he did it on his SE-R Spec V, and he does it now to his WRX. I am a little skeptical of this and am wondering if anyone has does this. He said of course you cant use the car for a couple of hours as u let it dry, but i dunno...Has anyone does this

Thanks

 

[turboholic]

-Make sure the motor is cool before you spray water on it, advoid spraying directly on to the intake and sensors, as soon as you get done, make sure there's no water get into the spark plug holes, if you have an air compressor, blow off as much water as possible, then start the motor and let it fully warm up, I do this to all my cars once every 1-2 month.

 

[Robby Camero]

Wrap your maf in a bag. Might be a good idea to wrap the cas in a bag as well. Dont start it till its dry or at least let it run for a while with the hood proped up. Steam can enter the cas and royally screw it up. I know this from first hand experience.

 

[turboICE]

hey everyone,
i just wana say that you guys are great, and this site is unbelievable. i mean what else ca u ask for, it has everything.
the question that i wana ask you is whats the best way to clean your engine. i read about not power washing it and stuff. i have a 95 GST and i am gettin sick and tired of looking at a dirty engine bay. i was thinking about getting a degreaser and just taking off all the gunk that is on there. any suggestions for me, also what woudl be the best way to get rid of rust? i have a rust spot right above my wheel on the engine bay that is right above the passenger wheel. i do not want it to spread and i want to stop it soon. if anyone would gimme some help or info on any of these things, i woudl greatly appreciate it. thank you
you can reach me at [email protected] or on aim at turboICE86
feel free to im me if you have a eclipse/talon im always lookin forward to meetin new people. thank you
-chris

 

[leet]

Just cover electrical goods, and your intake. You should be fine. Don't forget to let it dry thoroughly.