highlandej9
New Member
- Joined
- Mar 23, 2013
- Messages
- 141
Had a look on the forum and cant find anything on engine bay cleaning so will write up what i know and has helped me keep a good looking engine.
I watched a boy presure wash his engine 1 night then using fairy up liquid and hot water started to throw buckets of this over his engine then got a brush scrubbed it all and used presure washer again and then wondred and asked why his car didnt start and when it did it sounded like a bag of nails lmao
P.S THIS IS GUID LINES AND DO NOT TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANYTHING THAT GOES WRONG
WASH AT OWN RISK
Heres my way how to
things you need
presure washer (that has a mist setting) garden hose that has the attchment for mist setting
engine degreaser ( your choice )
set of brushes ( old tooth brush and a alloy wheel brush)
sponge
rags
plastic bags
scoosh bottles
Some people say warm engine but i never have a warm or hot engine this will cause any detergent you spray on to quickly evaporate.
Using plastic bags Cover/wrap any electrical component that might get wet while washing. Parts to cover include the distributor, alternator, fuse box (optional) and any exposed wiring connectors.
Spray the engine degreaser throughout the engine bay. Give any really dirty/greasy/oily areas a good dousing. Let the degreaser sit for a minute or two. It starts to break down the oil & grease on it's own. Now it's time to give the engine a good scrub. Easily accessable areas can be cleaned with the sponge. (underside of the bonnet, valve cover, exposed paint, etc.) The harder to reach and dirtier areas are what the brush is for. It's fine to spray on a little more degreaser on areas that you need to while scrubbing.
Now time to clean degreaser off engine using the mist or the setting just after mist spray the engine keeping the hose moving at all times ( you dont want to leave hose running on 1 spot) any bits you missed a bit more degreaser and a scrub then rince off (PLEASE DNT SOAK ENGINE OR LEAVE WATER RUNNING OVER ENGINE) i know its common scence but there are people out there that would do this
once happy that your engine clean and grease and oil free your nearly done
Drying your engine you should not turn engine on and let it dry that way... instead get a towel and individualy dry all components taking your time not to leave any pools of water and get in every nook and cranny remove plastic bags and with a damp cloth give the bits you covered a clean and dry making sure that you have cleaned and dryed every part and double checked engine is dry then you can move onto the pipes and rubber bits and plastics (fuse box air intake pipe ) using a rubber cleaning solution spray onto a cloth ( saves you getting it on your clean engine) wipe down and scrub the plastic and rubber drying them off when you finnish.
If your really keen polish the fire wall and sides with normal car polish and under the bonnet (i usually take bonnet off for cleaning and polishing)
after your happy everything clean,dry,polished stand back and admire your hard work and make people jelous you have a sparkling engine bay
take your time when doing this on a good day it takes me about 2 1/2 - 3 hours
I watched a boy presure wash his engine 1 night then using fairy up liquid and hot water started to throw buckets of this over his engine then got a brush scrubbed it all and used presure washer again and then wondred and asked why his car didnt start and when it did it sounded like a bag of nails lmao
P.S THIS IS GUID LINES AND DO NOT TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANYTHING THAT GOES WRONG
WASH AT OWN RISK
Heres my way how to
things you need
presure washer (that has a mist setting) garden hose that has the attchment for mist setting
engine degreaser ( your choice )
set of brushes ( old tooth brush and a alloy wheel brush)
sponge
rags
plastic bags
scoosh bottles
Some people say warm engine but i never have a warm or hot engine this will cause any detergent you spray on to quickly evaporate.
Using plastic bags Cover/wrap any electrical component that might get wet while washing. Parts to cover include the distributor, alternator, fuse box (optional) and any exposed wiring connectors.
Spray the engine degreaser throughout the engine bay. Give any really dirty/greasy/oily areas a good dousing. Let the degreaser sit for a minute or two. It starts to break down the oil & grease on it's own. Now it's time to give the engine a good scrub. Easily accessable areas can be cleaned with the sponge. (underside of the bonnet, valve cover, exposed paint, etc.) The harder to reach and dirtier areas are what the brush is for. It's fine to spray on a little more degreaser on areas that you need to while scrubbing.
Now time to clean degreaser off engine using the mist or the setting just after mist spray the engine keeping the hose moving at all times ( you dont want to leave hose running on 1 spot) any bits you missed a bit more degreaser and a scrub then rince off (PLEASE DNT SOAK ENGINE OR LEAVE WATER RUNNING OVER ENGINE) i know its common scence but there are people out there that would do this
once happy that your engine clean and grease and oil free your nearly done
Drying your engine you should not turn engine on and let it dry that way... instead get a towel and individualy dry all components taking your time not to leave any pools of water and get in every nook and cranny remove plastic bags and with a damp cloth give the bits you covered a clean and dry making sure that you have cleaned and dryed every part and double checked engine is dry then you can move onto the pipes and rubber bits and plastics (fuse box air intake pipe ) using a rubber cleaning solution spray onto a cloth ( saves you getting it on your clean engine) wipe down and scrub the plastic and rubber drying them off when you finnish.
If your really keen polish the fire wall and sides with normal car polish and under the bonnet (i usually take bonnet off for cleaning and polishing)
after your happy everything clean,dry,polished stand back and admire your hard work and make people jelous you have a sparkling engine bay
take your time when doing this on a good day it takes me about 2 1/2 - 3 hours
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