Cleaning under your hood?
Thread Starter
2nd Gear Member
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 200
From:
Cleaning under your hood?
Bah, Dusty california. My Engine compartment is kinda ECK! (yes thats a word 
) Im wondering whats the best way to clean it? Should i take it somewhere and get it steam cleaned? or clean it myself? are there do's and donts? thanks!
) Im wondering whats the best way to clean it? Should i take it somewhere and get it steam cleaned? or clean it myself? are there do's and donts? thanks!
5th Gear Member
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 3,031
From: Babylon, NY
RE: Cleaning under your hood?
DO clean your engine
DO cover Fuse boxes and battery with plastic before you do it.
DO use an engine cleaner.
DO rinse it off with a hose.
or DO use a power sprayer
DONT EVER use a steam cleaner!!!! Under the hood of todays modern engines are a sh^&*^t load of harneses, hoses and connectors. Most of these are rubber and plastic. Now oil and grease do not mix well with rubber. This dirt and grime can cause these things to deteriorate, crack and breakdown so it's important to keep things clean.
The reason to NEVER use steam is steam can easily penetrate these wiring harnesses and connectors. Once it cools it condenses. This condensation will cause corrosion, eventual faulty connections and check engine lights and such. Such things can be a very long and tedious process to find the bad thing that caused it.
So yes, engine cleaners are ok and believe it or not power sprayers with a wide head are ok too!
DO cover Fuse boxes and battery with plastic before you do it.
DO use an engine cleaner.
DO rinse it off with a hose.
or DO use a power sprayer
DONT EVER use a steam cleaner!!!! Under the hood of todays modern engines are a sh^&*^t load of harneses, hoses and connectors. Most of these are rubber and plastic. Now oil and grease do not mix well with rubber. This dirt and grime can cause these things to deteriorate, crack and breakdown so it's important to keep things clean.
The reason to NEVER use steam is steam can easily penetrate these wiring harnesses and connectors. Once it cools it condenses. This condensation will cause corrosion, eventual faulty connections and check engine lights and such. Such things can be a very long and tedious process to find the bad thing that caused it.
So yes, engine cleaners are ok and believe it or not power sprayers with a wide head are ok too!
5th Gear Member
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 2,179
From: Nor Cal
RE: Cleaning under your hood?
One of the best thing you can do to keep it looking good is give it a good wipe down every time you wash the car or once a week. If the engine is really dirty you can use Scrubbing bubbles y(es the bathroom cleaner) and a very flow of water over the none elctrical areas. Here is a link to a great site with great info. If it is really dirty use a APC all purpose cleaner Simple Green works nicely when diluted but it can harm certain aluminum.
http://www.premiumautocare.com/how-t...ur-engine.html
http://ocdetails.com/index.html
Richard
http://www.premiumautocare.com/how-t...ur-engine.html
http://ocdetails.com/index.html
Richard
2nd Gear Member
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 454
From:
RE: Cleaning under your hood?
ORIGINAL: randy78045
Cover your distributer also...
Cover your distributer also...
Second, On thing I used to use on my 88 LX when I actually washed the engine was SIMPLE GREEN...the grease cutting ability is amazing...
Step 1:
Spray the hell out of the engine with Simple Green....
Step 2:
Start car (helps keep things like a "distributer" dry from spray)
Step 3:
Turn on hose and rinse thoroughly....
