Sniffs

I am not sure where this would go.. but you know those drive in car cleaners that you do everything yourself? The ones where you deposit the coins and you go to work, washing your car yourself..

one of the options shows a picture of a spray that foams up and washes your complete engine bay!! would something like this actually be deemed non-life threatening to the life of the engine? I thought you were not supposed to get the electric parts wet?? can I really spray down my engine bay with a hose and wash everything???

how does one actually clean the engine bay quickly/easily?

Dr_Isotope

iTrader: (1)

The less water the better, and don't put huge pressure on things that won't like it, like the coil on plug packs, the battery, the fusebox. The rest you can pretty much blast away at.

The trick for a clean engine bay? Don't let it get dirty. Routine cleaning will ensure you don't have to pressure blast your engine again in the future.

Sniffs

So it's "ok" to get a little bit of water on the electrical... what about if you have a fuse that plugs into your stereo system's 1200 watt amp? lol..

anyways.. yah I typically do clean my engine bay at least once a week by using a sponge.. but for the most part, i've been extremely busy for the last few months and I will cry once I open the hood.. I know it..

captainlaziness

I pressure wash my bay about once a month with no ill effects. I just use the low pressure wheel/tire cleaner in the bay and then use a rag to scrub a bit and then rinse with low pressure water. Like the Doc said, just be mindfull of the more sensitive electrical components and you'll be ok.

Sniffs

Sweet.. I wish I had asked this question like a year ago.. I had my upper radiator hose sleeved with that braided steel and it didnt take too well and, well, I accelerated and the hose popped off and all my radiator fluid spilled all over my transmission.. long story short.. I spent a long time cleaning all the nooks and crannies.. I could have just low pressure washed it..

paul34

Modern engine bays are pretty well sealed against the elements (think about what happens when you run through a huge puddle and water splashes up into the bay).

With that said, just follow the advice above - follow common sense, and just don't go around blasting under the engine bay.

Other than that, you'll be fine... just remember to turn on the engine right after washing to evaporate any water which might be creeping into bad areas. I like to use a leafblower before this step to manually blow off a lot of water.

Sniffs

Well I went and use a low pressure spray on my engine and cleaned it up fairly nicely.. I turned it on and after a minute or so, I smelled burning water haha..

but yah, looks much nicer with a clean engine!

tC4italy

i'll never water my engine bay :?

microfiber towel and cleaners will do

frame

I hose my engine down every time i wash my car. i even have wires running from the battery to power up my amp and carputer and fog lights. I basically blast it with water
and then quickly grab an air blower and dry the engine bay immediately. I would be careful though if you have the engine cover off because you can get water into the plug wires and will have to change them or just get a tune up like my brother did.

equinox2355

Thats really the best idea. At wal-mart you can get like a 6 pack of microfiber towels for like $5, if it gets too dirty, just throw it away!

chicotunner07

so my car has not had its engine cleaned for 24k miles, so as all of u can guess its pretty dusty and a little grimy where the head and block meet, so i read and i guess pressure washer is safe, but do any of you use degreaser? i dont think just blasting water would ger rid of the grimy stuff, i used to clean my 93 civic engine with autozone degreaser, and it worked great, and that was with a regular house hose, not a preassure washer, so is the tc degreaser resistant of what?

Elijahtc

one of the car show tricks i have picked up is to use the Foam tire shine that doesn't need rinsing. U just spray it on, let it sit, and then wipe away. It makes all the black parts black again and really makes everything look good. I do it at every car show and it looks great.

hawgs74

Use aluminum foil to wrap alternator, fuse box, plugs, and any electrical components u dont wanna get wet. Then blast away. Make sure u dry it with a hand towel afterwards.

jurassic1

hmm..that's a good idea . I'll def try that next tym. good tip!

panda_tC

At the dealership I work at we just wash down the engine bays with degreaser. Then use some spray shine, makes everything look new. It's never caused any problems on anything either.

iKONA

I clean my engine bay once a week. What I do is I just get some de greaser (orange or purple bottle from Auto Zone) And then I mist the whole engine bay like you would with windex, I let it sit for about half a min to the point where it lifts the grime and dirt but wont evaporate or dry up. Then I just wipe it down with a cloth to dry.

When I shine my bay for shows I just take some tire shine or instant shine (aerosol can not the bottle) and jus tspray down the hoses.

Noodle

I use windex and just spray and a disposable cloth. I do this every time I wash my car. It doesn't shine, but I'm a stock engine type of guy, so as long as it is clean, I can live with it.

AcidDrop

iTrader: (4)

same here i use degreaser and let it sit for a min, then rinse it down and air dry it, then i use armor all to shine all the hoses and engine cover and use wax for my polished intake since we don't have any other chemical for polishing and looks great and haven't had a problem since i wash the engine bay every 2-3 weeks

chicotunner07

awesome, i just wanted to know if degreaser was safe, i guess letting it sit for a min, then hosing it off sounds like the way to go for me, do you guys that use degreaser cover anything up, at all???

DonNguyen

why throw them away when they're washable?

36 pack at costco is like 15 bucks