Cleaning the engine compartment
Cleaning the engine compartment
Well these past few months my cars spent alot of time with the hood up, and after seeing all the beautiful montes on this site im gettin tired of seeing all the grime and dirt in my engine compartment. So is there anyway to get everything sparkling clean again that doesnt involve toothbrushes or removing the engine?
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 6,449
IMO, depending how dirty the engine bay is, you almost have to use a hose. Sometimes there is so much gunk, and in such inaccessible places- that all you can do is hit it with some engine degreaser- scrub a little, and wash it away with water (even a low pressure stream). I'm not saying you have to powerwash the engine bay, but a hose makes cleaning a bunch easier.
Monte Of The Month -- January 2010
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 8,464
From: San Jose, CA
I spray my entire engine/ engine bay with 100% concentrate Simple Green, let is soak, scrub the few things that are easy to get to, and then blast it down with the hose. Once done, start it up, and go for a nice drive to get the engine hot and dry up all the water! 
Before doing this, make sure the engine is cold, you don't want to hit a hot engine with cold hose water. I also take aluminum foil and cover the alternator, and exposed electrical connectors.
Before doing this, make sure the engine is cold, you don't want to hit a hot engine with cold hose water. I also take aluminum foil and cover the alternator, and exposed electrical connectors.
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 924
From: OHIO
last year i just wiped everything down. this year i bought a can of GUNK sprayed everything down let it sit, toke a "rim" plastic brush and went to town. then i sprayed it down with the hose.
i also covered the fusebox,coil packs/alternator, intake, and battery with foil,[thanks mamonte]
then i went around with quick detailer spray on all the plastic, not sure if that was the best thing to do but it worked.
it looks great now.
oh ya i started at about 1/4 way up the thermostat, basicly let it idle for 5 minutes, turned it off, when i was done i waited ten minutes and let it run for 15 then left the hood open to dry for a couple hours.
i also covered the fusebox,coil packs/alternator, intake, and battery with foil,[thanks mamonte]
then i went around with quick detailer spray on all the plastic, not sure if that was the best thing to do but it worked.
it looks great now.
oh ya i started at about 1/4 way up the thermostat, basicly let it idle for 5 minutes, turned it off, when i was done i waited ten minutes and let it run for 15 then left the hood open to dry for a couple hours.
