I keep seeing peoples under the hood pics and how clean they are. I have washed my engine several times with degreaser and then a shot of water, but mine never comes out that clean.

What are you guys doing? Do you have to go through and physically wipe down everything with some kind of cleaner, and then wash. Even still I would think it would leave water spots in there when it dries.

Help!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I clean my engine in the sping and the fall. It absolutely sparkles in there You shouldn't have to scrub anything as long as you use something that breaks up the gunk.

Speaking of gunk; I don't like "Gunk engine degreaser". I think it's far too harsh and not the sort of thing I want on my driveway or running down to the sewer.

There is a great engine degreaser/detailing kit called "CD-2"http://www.partsamerica.com/product_.../TTL/45156.jpg It works very well at breaking up the dirt and grease and then you spray the engine with the detailer and it coats the metals and plastic and makes everything shine for a long time.

What I use now is a 50/50 mixture of water and Simple Green. You want a warn engine but not so warm that the water will damage the hot metals. Just get it warm enough to still be able to touch it.

The 4.2L is easy to clean because the spark plug holes don't collect water but you need to be careful with the 4.6L and 5.4L so that water doesn't get in the plug recesses or coils.

Parts that need to be covered:
-Coils
-Accessory drive belt
-Alternator
-Fan Clutch
-Fuse and relay boxes
-Computer connections on the passenger side firewall behind the battery.
Basically anything electrical.

Spray the cleaner on a warm engine and let it soak for about 10 minutes and rinse. Look for areas that are still dirty and spray them liberally and wipe as well with a cloth of scuff pad if necessary. After scrubbing, spray the engine again and let it soak for a few more minutes.

When rinsing with a garden hose, just let the water run off of everything. You don't want to force water into anything that could be damaged. You can use high pressure, but only if the water isn't going to get into any place it shouldn't.

When the engine is clean you need to wipe everything down and soak up as much water as possible. When the engine is as dry as you can get it, you'll need to go for a drive. It takes about 20 minutes on the highway for the hot engine and wind to remove all of the water.

Then you can wipe everything down with a vinyl protectant to make it shiny.

 

As for me, I just rinse it down around every 2 months. After I'm all done detailing the outside of my truck, I wipe the motor compartment down with a damp chamii (sp?) after everything is clean in the motor compartment, I wipe the rubber/plastic stuff down with the tire dressing. It stayes looking really nice that way. The only time it gets dirty, is when you drive in rain, and you can see some water marks on your hood. After doing the plastic peices with the tire dressing, you can see how much dirt you filter does actually get. Here is a pic,,,,

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I think I might need to clean the filter,,,

 

Do not clean a warm engine. It presents too many problems. One you can crack your engine block or anything else that is hot. Like putting ice cubes in water. Two, the heat make it easier for water to get into places that it shouldn't be. Water hits heat, turns to steam. Steam can get into places faster and easier than water.

First thing I do is spray the engine down with degreaser. I like Eimann fabrik natural degreaser and ProWax's Green Nitro. I spray it down well and agitate everything I can with a soft brush. Last thing I do is spray the bottom of the hood. Keeps the degreaser from dripping on your head.

Also, if you are using a caustic degreaser then it'll kill your paint!!!! Don't get it on your fenders or hood. If you are worried about it, then use your carwash and sud down the hood and fenders, then spray the degreaser in the engine compartment. The suds will keep the degreaser away from the paint.

I then let it sit with the degreaser for about 10mins. After that I use my hose nozzle and just shower the water in. If I'm using a pressure washer then I crank the pressure down and open my nozzle up all the way. With the pressure washer setup this way, then the water is just a fine mist about 1 foot away from the nozzle. It has no pressure behind it and is great for cleaning the engine. I then just make sure I hose everything down well.

After that I hit all the water I can get to with a towel. I then take WD-40 and spray it over everything that is sensitive to water. WD-40 offsets moisture. I then apply ProWax's S-92 Premo Dressing to all the rubber.

 

In order for the degreaser to work you need the engine "warm", definitely not HOT that will crack something but warm is the way to go, it will also allow your engine to dry faster if it is warm. Damn clean compartment though, Some how mine stays rather clean, I wipe off valve covers and plastic pieces that collect dust but all in all it stays really clean, a hellova lot cleaner then my 64 stays it gets dirty in 5 minutes.

 

Engine doesn't have to be warm for the degreaser to work expecially if you have a degreaser that is very caustic. Spray degreaser on, lightly agitate areas, wait, and hose off. I've never had a problem.

Also, doesn't matter if my engine is wet. I use a water-based dressing (like everyone should be using for their engine compartment). Having some moisture in there helps the dressing spread around without having me have to spread it around everything.

 

I use Simple Green to clean it. Then I use a 50/50 mix of Armor-All and water to coat everything. The armor-all is water based, once cut down with water, there is no residue to attract all of the dirt and crap. I do it about 4 times a year. Luckily, here in FL, it doesn't get too dirty. I will post a pic after I do it next time.

BTW, I clean it when it is warm. I run it for about 5 minutes to warm up if cold. I drive it after the cleaning to dry off the water, then when it cools, I coat the entire engine compartment with the water/armor all mix.

 

Thanks for all the info! Mabye I'll try it this weekend. I just got my truck back from the dealer ( they put a new door on becuase of crack. Under warranty, thank god ) so I will not be doing any major outside cleanup this weekend due to the fresh paint. It is pretty humid this time of year in kansas and I dont want to take any chances damaging the paint. So it will be a good time to get under the hood and do some scrubbing.

I'll let you know how it turns out.

 

I try not to let anything build up in my engine bay(or anywhere else)...actually to the point of my wife telling me i'm ****!
It's a daily driver, but also a show truck and racer. For the plastics I use Lexol...the metals I use Eagle One Never dull. The hoses i also use Lexol. then there's qtips dipped in degreaser for the groves around the injectors... I clean everything where a judge's white glove might fit. Detail brush cleans up the dust in the loom. Usually takes me about 15 minutes to detail the engine at a show, unless there's water spots all around from rain getting in through the ram air hood.


The Beast Of The East....my gallery