Cleaning R34 Engine Bay - What Not To Spray?

[SS8_Gohan]

ok, giving the car a massive going over and it's time for the engine bay.

problem is, i'm a noob when it comes to engines, and i don't know what all the bits and pieces are. So when i started cleaning yday i was worried about pretty much everything getting wet

Which is silly, because i drive the bloody thing in the rain, and i know it gets wet in there...

anyways, i've got a pic that i hope will help

stole this from a for sale thread, hope the owner doesn't mind

1. Back wall/drivers side, ok to spray there? (there's some big round thing mounted on the wall)

2. back wall/passenger side. There is a silver box thing there (abs?) that doesn't look like would want to get wet

3. down side of engine and side of driver's side strut tower... a lot of plugs/lines etc there

4. Back wall/middle - again, quite a bit of electronics back there... i'm guess leave that back wall middle section?

5. Down turbo side of engine, where the power steering fluid bottle is

6. Fan area

7. Front of engine

Obviously i won't be going near the battery area, and the headlights.

From the numbers, what should i be leaving well alone and what is ok to spray?

Or are there really only a few things that should be covered up?

cheers,

daniel

[NZM.031]

all around the edges is fine to spray... put a plastic bag over your afm and your air filter..

take the engine cover off... do not spray the top of the engine... from the manifolds down you can.

just do the top with spray and wipe and a rag..

then cover the whole thing with silicon spray or tyre shine and wipe it off.... this will give it a nice sheen.. but more importantly... will make everything real easy to clean next time.. and the time after that, and the time after that.

keep your hoses nicley sheened and it will look good no matter how filthy it actually is.. faded hoses are the worst.

[StealthX]

I'd cover the top of the engine, where the coils are, with a plastic bag, water can settle here around the spark plug holes and you def don't want this.

Take the engine cover off (clean it while he's off ) then put a big bin liner or similar over the cam covers and in between, stuff your air intake with a towel/rag then everything else should be good to go, cos as you say, shit does get pretty wet in there when your driving along on a rainy day...

Important though, make sure your car is left to thoroughly dry after, and is stone cold when you clean it.

If the engine is hot, and you spray cold water on it, things can damage, easily

[joeyjoejoejuniorshabadoo]

you dont need to spray it.... just use a truckload of degreaser and a microfibre

[.:: GimpS-R34 ::.]

you dont need to spray it.... just use a truckload of degreaser and a microfibre

+1.. just hand clean it for a good shine

[SS8_Gohan]

some of those spots are hard to get to though

maybe i'll go half way and get a pump spray bottle of warm water and use that to rinse of the degreaser

[SS8_Gohan]

where's the alternator? i read you gotta cover that up

[GTR-N1]

Agree with Hamish & Craig.

1) Degreaser &/or Armorall

2) Cotton rag &/or Microfibre

3) Chopsticks - Japanese type with pointed end & blunt end to poke around with the rag &/or Cotton Buds

Great stress-reliever after a shitty week.

[GTR-32U]

If you are going to use Degreaser- word of warning,This stuff is Highly flammable. Only a few weeks ago I took my daily for a degrease to one of those carlovers type places.I pulled in to the wash bay and lifted the hood to let it cool down for a few minutes.After this I started spraying degreaser in selective areas.Then some of the degreaser must have dripped onto the exhaust manifold and BOOM !! Up in flames...First reaction SHIT !!! , Grabbed my wallet ,panicking searching for a coin to shove into the slot to activate the pressure cleaner. Could have filed my nails while I waited for it to start with trigger on full,Meanwhile 3 foot flames have totally engulfed the engine bay.Finally out comes the water pressure and flame dies...Go toi start car...No problem whatsoever, As it was only the degreaser burning and nothing else even got touched...

Dont repeat my lucky error

Make sure exhaust area is cold before spraying this stuff

[joeyjoejoejuniorshabadoo]

err... i meant a CAN of degreaser....

they are like $2 @ autobarn/supercheap

[Priestley]

I've cleaned plenty of R33 & R34 engine bays while working at a RAW. We used a product called Reb Baron degreaser. Sprayed the entire bay, left it for 5 minutes and then used a high pressure sprayer to remove it. I did the entire bay without covering anything and never had a problem.

I also did this to my personal R33 once every few months and never had a problem in 5 years. After it dries I used either Amoral or silicon spray on any of the plastic parts, always came up looking great.

[boostn0199]

yeah as above post I laways spray mine at the car wash with degreaser then hi pressure it off. Just cover the air filter or if u got stock airbox make sure the snorkel is dry, just dont get carried away and stand there for 10min spraying thats when youll cause problems