Cleaning Engine Bay? How to?

[Gemini]

There is a detail thread around here somewhere, but too lazy to search. I found a new secret too, after doing all the cleaning, dont use armorall to shine the hoses and evrything else, just a buy a cheap can of clearcoat and lightly clearcoat the hoses all the other plastic stuff in bay. All you can spray those humps on each side where the struts area mounted. It make you engine looks new with little labour and then it would get dirty again that fast.

[CBAccordA4]

Im guessing you cover your electrical and intake parts??

[Morbidlife]

Now here are some shots of using tire foam to finish the engine bay

Before:


After tire foam:
[/QUOTE]
so ur sayin using that tire foam will change ur sri into a cai lol jk
has anyone used the function at the carwash for the engine bay how good does that work especally seeing how its high pressure how would u just coverup the electricals w/o w.e you used to cover it getting blown off

[Ghostyman]

Im guessing you cover your electrical and intake parts??

I only cover my distributor (and air filter if I'm running a SRI, but I'm usually not). The only other place I'd consider covering would be the fusebox but since I never use high-pressure water, I leave it uncovered and give it a lighter rinse than the rest of the bay.

so ur sayin using that tire foam will change ur sri into a cai lol jk
has anyone used the function at the carwash for the engine bay how good does that work especally seeing how its high pressure how would u just coverup the electricals w/o w.e you used to cover it getting blown off

Nice eye on the intake...

I'd highly recommend against any sort of high-pressure wash for the engine bay. That's how you force water past seals and into places where it really shouldn't be. It will get the engine bay clean but there is a much higher risk of damaging stuff, especially on older cars like ours.

I've never tried steam cleaning but that might be the best method of them all.

[Ghostyman]

Oh yeah, I also usually take the battery out when I do this.

[Leung]

i've always covered the distrubitor and the alternator with grocery plastic bags. to get the grime off, i'd use an engine degreaser in combination with a tooth brush or a small paint brush.

[quickangel93]

i use simple green or a new thing called purple power. they work great and i have no electricle problems. no need of covering anything.

[SilverGT]

i cleaned my engine using this steps it works
-You dont have to cover anything. i hosed my engine down once a week. not a problem yet.
-Use a air gun to get all the dirt out of the engine bay
-Engine Degreased [using your simple green/purple power]
-Use a brush of any kind to get the hard greased covered area
-Hose it off
-Use a air gun to blow out any sitting water beacuse sitting water = mold/corrosion
-Silicone spray or tire shine works amazing on the engine lolz. [BLING!]
Try it out and let me know how it goes!

[pangga]

I remember I used one of the pressure washers from the car wash and when I start the engine, it seems the car is getting cold... its shaking like its getting cold.... later that day my alternator got busted. Next time I'll try hosing it often and use whatever that green thing is...

[mikes_accord_se]

well to start off, go to a car wash and cover up your distributer and alternator with a plastic bag or something. then just give it a light soak with engine degreaser, wait a couple of minutes and then rinse it off. that should get all the dirt and dust off. it's really hard to get everything off though b/c there's so many nooks and cranies in there. to finish off you can use tire shine on the valve cover other parts to give it some shine. i recently painted the heat shield and it looks a whole lot better now than it did when i bought it. mothers back to black is also a good product to use on all those plastic parts in there like the fuse box and stock intake hoses and what not. here's what she's lookin like right now.

[mozzandherb]

O.K so I next time I won't use a pressure washer. I love cleaning my car, one of my favorite hobbies, but I don't clean the engine bay too often, and every time I have I've used a pressure washer, and covered the battery, altenator and air fitler. Now I know it's better to just use a garden hose and the tire cleaning product that looks awesome. I think tomorrow I'm going to clean my engine bay! Since I don't have an air hose, does anyone have any other ways of drying the car? I'm thinking of a towel? Or maybe just let it dry under the sun. Anyway good tips in this thread.

[Ghostyman]

I've had good luck with a leaf blower to dry it. But normally, I just start the car and drive it a bit after cleaning the bay. That seems to get most or all of the residual water. Also, there aren't very many places that water can really collect and pool in the engine bay so it's not as big of a deal as it could be.

[bluepearldreamz]

CD2 brand enginge detailer... works wonders, makes the bay look amazing and lasts a long time

[Drizzt DoUrden]

great thread i need to clean my engine bay since i just bought the ride i want it to be pimped out lol

/me wants his ride to be pimpstyle

[Calxtreme]

I use engine degreaser for the engine. I spray simple green on pretty much anything else. Then I rinse off everything with a light stream of water while trying to avoid electrical components.