Best Way To Clean A Filthy Engine Bay?

[CEF11E]

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?

[Howie]

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 August 31, 2006 by Howie

[WazR32GTSt]

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

[CEF11E]

Thanks! will attack it this weekend.

Cheers

[mad082]

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.

[Godzilla32]

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!

[R33S2]

I thought my engine bay was clean until I changed the turbo, even the clean stuff down there was grotty lol.

[funkymonkey]

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.

[WazR32GTSt]

don't forget to use a water dispersant such as WD-40... saves you ending up with a miss as you shorted a circuit somewhere...

[Cubes]

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.

[R33S2]

I'm with Cubes, just dont spray directly into connectors.

[WazR32GTSt]

takes literally 10 seconds to get a rag/plastic bag and put it over the coil packs, battery and alternator

[Cubes]

But is it overkill to do so?

I've owned the car longer than some and had no issues, I'd say its overkill. But if it makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside go ahead.

[Birnie]

Those self clean places have a de-greaser option???

[Cubes]

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.