Jump to content
SAU Community

Recommended Posts

I have a really dirty engine bay and want some advice on the best way to clean it!

I don't want to damage the paint.

The reason I ask is I have oosed out the engine bay before and got corrosion on all my terminals.

Do you use degreaser in a can and then wipe it off?

First cover your battery terminals, cam cover +/ coilpacks, afm, alarm/siren.

Use engine degreaser, spray on hose off.

Use a cloth dry out as much as possible, then uncover the covered bits, and start the car up in as short a time as practical as to dry out the rest.

Then continue to detail the rest by hand using metal polishes and/or silicone spray.

On the inner panels - I use cut and polish, in a similar way i'd do the exterior panels.

Edited by Howie

i do as what howie said.. but i have som slight changes:

- cover alternator, battery, alarm, coil packs, AFM - try uising plastic bags and/or old t-shirts or rags

- spray with a little bit of water

- use about 1-2cans of degreaser.. spray it all over everything and leave it do its job for about 10-15mins

- hose it all clean

- get some WD-40 and go nuts over all the electrical items you can see - electrical plugs, wires.. i sprayed WD-40 over the entire engine bay basically!

- remove the covered items such as alternator etc.

- start the car and let it idle for about 5 minutes with the hood open.. then take it for a brief drive

enjoy!

cheers,

Warren

get a heap of cans of the cheap export degreaser. use a few cans to get it to soak into all the crap, then use the next few cans to work like a pressure gun. get in as close as you can so the pressure sprays off al the crap. or go out and buy some of that real expensive stuff that you have to mix up. that stuff will lift off some seriously stubborn gunk.

Or you could do what im doing and completely remove the engine and every little nut bolt and washer and polish everything one by one...But i probably wouldnt advise this as it tends to take just a little longer :( Mind you the end result should be insane!

cover all electricals... then give it a fine spray of this stuff called "shift it" which you can get from most auto shops like homobarn and crapco. Make sure you don't get it on your paint as it sorta eats into clearcoats. leave it on there for a couple of minutes then douse the f**ker with a highpressure water hose. make sure you wash off excess etc.

goes from filthy to clean in minutes.

I've never been as carefull as you guys in my almost 5yrs and almost 150,000km's of owner ship.

I head down to the local car lovers/bp self wash, pop the bonnet while its still hot, shove a dollar in and spray the engine bay with its degreaser. I then wait a few minutes, and high pressure spray it all off.

I'm not carefull where I don't spray but I don't concentrate it on plugs etc.. I simply just spray it off.

Never had an issue except for when my injector plug boots were cracked, they soon got replaced. :D

Ours in Adelaide do.

Its called Engine Degreaser/Tyre Cleaner.

To wash the car I never use their brush. I always bring my bucket and mit along with my own car wash. I then only use the high pressure wash to wash the suds off. :)

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Similar Content

  • Latest Posts

    • Yes. Probably, given that there is only access from the bottom end of it, go with a drill bit. Don't start too small. 7 or 8mm is probably the right size. You want something that can make a big enough hole to do some damage, but not so bit that it clashes with the steel or binds up and breaks your wrist. A slow speed is probably a good idea too. Once the rubber is destroyed, you then have to get the crush tube off the stud, which will be the whole heat/oil/cutting exercise all over again, but this time with the need to strictly avoid damaging the stud (any further than the corrosion might already have done.
    • We replaced the connector just because we could and it was still there, once we swapped the injectors around it stopped. The injectors were something I had thoughts of replacing even before I first started the engine and in hindsight I should have 
    • Not too sure just yet, want to have a go at doing what I can myself, but to start with want someone to cast their eye over it tell me what needs doing to get it running and back on the road, so anyone with great overall knowledge would be ideal.
    • I personally would go with cutting out the rubber. Then deal with getting sleeve off separately. Rubber can be painful to cut, it loves to jam up cutting tools. I normally have success with drill bits, deburr bits, angle grinders, jigsaw, reciprocating saw, and never forget... fire. Obviously different tools won't work in all locations you're trying to work with, and you need to be comfortable with each. You personally may be happy slowly slicing it out with a razor blade, if you are, go for it with one too! Feel free to wait for others to weigh in also on their thoughts.
    • So ... I got everything disconnected and started dropping the frame. Three of the four mounts started to come down but the fourth one (the one with the nut that gave me all the trouble) won't budge. The inner metal sleeve stays up tight against the chassis rail although the outer part of the mount drops a bit (and can be levered quite a lot more) but it's just stretching the rubber bushing. So I reckon there's some serious corrosion inside the inner sleeve and holding it tight to the lug at the top of the bolt. Tried everything I can think of so far: penetrating oil, whacking the top of the sleeve to vibrate it and wedge a screwdriver blade in there. I also tried to turn the inner sleeve a bit by hitting it with a chisel at the bottom. It's stuck solid. What do you think about cutting the rubber with a blade so I can drop the subframe around it anyway. Then worry about getting the inner sleeve off after? Will that work? Is it gonna give me even more problems?
×
×
  • Create New...