Product for cleaning engine??

rikkiphan1506

Hi all z members,
I am actually looking for a DIY way to clean all the parts under the hood. I think most of the dealers will charge us at least 200$ for cleaning our engines. I have been looking around the site but couldnt see any product. Most of the products that I found in stores or online require us to use water to wash it off after applying the liquid. Hope you guys have better ways (safer ways) to clean the engine. (sometimes it's tough for being too clean)
Thanks for reading

Ubetit

Nothing wrong with water under the hood. Been using water under the hood for 15+ years. I never met a pro-detailer that didn't use water under the hood, whether steam, pressure washer or just the hose.

Here's what I do....

1.Cover any sensitive electrical components with foil.
2.Spray engine bay down with Megs APC.
3.Let it sit for 10 minutes. Scrub with soft bristle brush on caked on areas
4.Remove nozzles from hose and rinse the bay with the waterfall flow
5.I spray CD2 engine detailer (many use Armor All Tire foam) and coat the bay.
6.Close hood and start engine.

After a few minutes open the hood and wipe down any spotty areas.

Many pro-detailers do it this way or a variation on this way with different products.. Many use a pressure washer instead of the hose though.

DCNISMO

Simple green, lots of rags, good gloves.....time and patience. I would never spray water or use a pressure hose in a modern engine bay with all the electronics. All it takes are a few drops in a connector or line or sensor and your screwed. I wipe mine down and detail it once a month...so it never gets all crudded up.

Ubetit

You should spend some time on the detailing sites. Modern engines are much better prepared to take water than older engines with distributor caps, points, etc. Water isn't going to hurt anything under the hood unless you have a short ram intake. I usually only cover the alternator.

shaun66

All I've ever used is simple green and WD40 with some shop towels.

bdavis89

Can anyone take a picture of what needs to be covered on our engines? I've wanted to do this, but I have no idea where the items are that need to be covered.

To the op, Adams polishes has a video and he's just using their general cleaner and a brush, then rinses it with the hose.

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Red_Z

I used plastic bag, plastic wrap to cover electronic parts and steps similar to Ubetit to clean . Perfectly fine with using a hose to clean the engine bay.

falconfixer

Walmart baggie over the alternator. Everything else is fair game under my hood. Simple green ftw.

Cmike2780

If there isn't a lot of grime, you can get away with a round soft brush and an air compressor. This is what I do...

Wipe down as much as you can with a very diluted all purpose cleaner and tower. You'll find most of the engine requires just using the brush and compressed air to knock the dirt and dust off. I finish off with Adams In and Out spray.

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[09][MB][6-Spd MT][Touring][Stillen Gen III][K&N][Borla CBE][Evo-R]

Cmike2780

intake, electrical/fuse box & the alternator are all you really need to watch out for. You can wash the engine safely with water, but just gotta make sure everything is dry before starting the car.

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[09][MB][6-Spd MT][Touring][Stillen Gen III][K&N][Borla CBE][Evo-R]

falconfixer

Oh and maybe someone can correct me but I wait till the engine cools a little bit. The whole thermodynamics and what not dictate that I'm not spraying cold water onto a 220+ degree engine. I'm guessing even hotter but I dont have a gun to check the heat signature.

rikkiphan1506

Thanks a lot. Thats very clear and informative.

Ubetit

Correct, don't do anything to the engine bay when the engine is hot. The degreaser will just evaporate away and obviously cold water on the hot engine block isn't recommended. However, I found the degreaser actually works better when the engine is warm. From a cold start you can let it warm up for a minute or so. If you've been driving, let it cool down considerably though.

athlon omega

Hey, guys. I'm new to the board. My question is in regards to what can be done to restore the shine if the engine detailer gets evaporated away. I had used an engine cleaner at a do-it-yourself car wash and hadn't rinsed off the detailer before I left. Some engine detailers don't require rinsing prior to driving. Anyway, when I got home, I noticed the front of the manifold now had a dull finish to it and the shine was gone. :-( Is there any way I can restore it to it's original shine? A friend had advised sanding the dull areas and then using an aluminum polish compound. I haven't tried that yet. I'm thinking if all else fails, I can paint those areas with similar color engine enamel? Thanks for the help.

Swindler

Where is the alternator located? I want to try this out