I was once totally Clueless as to how to do this, and im sure there are still many people out there who would like to Clean their motors, but dont want to Screw up! Heres What I did:

***I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE IF ANYTHING BAD HAPPENS***

1. Spray a *Mist* of water all over the motor
2. Spray everything down with a 1:1 Mix of Simple Green and Water

* Be careful of a few Electrical components (I.E. Spark Plugs) *

3. Let it sit till it ALMOST begins to dry
4. Rinse with a Trickle (no Nozzle) or a mist of water, at this time most dirt will just rinse away.

If You are not satisfied with the Results, repeat the steps, but use a brush after you spray with simple green.

5. Start the truck and let it dry out.
6. After the motor is cool enough to touch, Spray EVERYTHING with Meg's Tire Foam
7. Let it soak in for about 5 minutes and then start wiping to your satisfaction.


Again, This is What I did, I did not cover anything up when I did it, but I was careful.

Heres some Pics:

Before:



And Today:

 

wow looks great and was exactly what Ive been looking for. As soon as it gets warm, Im doing this. Awesome job man.

 

Looks good. I need to spend some time on my engine as well.

jrbhc8

 

looks awesome! what a difference.

 

you would think that it could take a cleaning with a fire hose being able to take that much mud haha

looks good

 

Thanks for posting both the advice and pictures. You certainly seem to cleaned up much more of a mess than most of us have.

If I could, let me add some color commentary on the "misting with water" part. I absolutely agree on this point. Although there are those that will tell you to simply blast away with a pressure washer, I can tell you from personal experience that anything more that a mist will just about guarantee electrical (ignition) problems. Even with a mist, I still pull out the Leaf Blower to blow off any major accumulations of water before I start the truck to finish drying it.

For those of you that still believe that you can use a hose or pressure washer to clean under the hood, I only hope you don't have to learn the expensive lesson I did. I've even learned to live with more dirt under the hood than I like.

 

Nice job! I'll have to save this for future reference.

 

Nice job

 

Holy 's!!! Looks like someone was having fun!!!!

 

You didn't cover anything at all? Just real cautious?

 

i think i am going to do that today while im detailing my truck

 

Do it first or after you do the wheels.

You don't want to be spraying Hyperdressing all over the engine bay AFTER have cleaned and detailed your truck. It's easily removed with QD but still. Save another QD step.

 

great job! really makes a HUGE difference in the appearance of your rig! Thanks for the thread Skrewd.

Maybe this could be a sticky? I have seen countless threads on "how to clean engine bay?" and they tend to go on for a long while with every single "what if" and "maybe" . This actually has a before and after pic and steps on what he took. Great post IMO.

 

agreed. let's sticky this post.

 

If this thread were to be stickied, it needs to be modified with more information.

Optional products, dilutions, techniques, tips/tricks, warnings, disclaimers from the Surgeon General etc. The last part was sarcasm.