what do you guys do? just cover up the important components spray it down with simple green let it sit and then wash it down with a hose? or is there any special percautions with all the turbo stuff?


i know to cover the, dizzy, turbo, bov, wg and what else?

 

The distributor is the main one, and the air filter. I don't see why you would need to cover anything else. Well mabye the BOV, but only if there is a chance of it filling with degreaser, but if its pointing upside down or something it should be fine.

 

cover up:

Battery
dizzy
breather(if you have one)
resistor box
any free electrical compnents hanging out (3 bar map, connectors)

no need to cover the turbo, BOV (if closed when car is off) or anything like that since most are enclosed systems anyway.

I usually spend about 10 minutes using saran wrap to cover components then take the keys OUT OF THE CAR (no electricity). spray down with some engine bright degreaser/simple green. I usually scrub a little on some areas with a rag and stuff for 10-15 minutes then take a power washer and GO AT IT. everything get SOAKED and very clean. I let the car sit in the sun for another 15-30 minutes to air dry. Once I feel confident that everything is dry I can take off the saran wrap and start the car. Drive aroudn a little then apply C2 detail spray to make the bay and everything really shinny. Like this I'm good for another couple months.

Here it is:



Biggest thing to keep in mind don't insert keys into the car until you feel that everything is pretty dry since you do have a lot of electrical components

 

very nice

Just cleaned my engine yesterday (NA for now).
Used some plastic bags and covered up dizzy and intake.
Sprayed with Pressure washer, then with Simple Green
Let sit for 5 min, then washed off.
Let sit in AZ Sun for 20 min.

Going to spray some engine detailer today, to make it shine.

 

i really wanna clean mine, but i've been kinda scared. lol when i was stock, i just cover up the dizzy. i was thinking about covering the turbo since it's top mounted. i can't do it at home, so i'd probably wanna cover it....

 

make sure to check ur vacuum leaks!
last time i did this, the pressure washed pulled a vacuum hose off and freaked me out

 

no reason to cover up the turbo even the intake will take in some moisture when raining....hell people run water injection so they are shooting water into the engine/turbo. Why are people worried about getting the turbo wet. I guess I can see why if it really really hot because of the temp difference, but if it's for rust.....some water for 5 minutes isn't as bad as having the car sit in the rain for 5 hours

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by adseguy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">no reason to cover up the turbo even the intake will take in some moisture when raining....hell people run water injection so they are shooting water into the engine/turbo. Why are people worried about getting the turbo wet. I guess I can see why if it really really hot because of the temp difference, but if it's for rust.....some water for 5 minutes isn't as bad as having the car sit in the rain for 5 hours</TD></TR></TABLE>

I guess you want to make sure you didn't run the car hard before starting.
I always heard metal will crack if it is really hot, then gets cooled down too fast

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by igo4bmx &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
I always heard metal will crack if it is really hot, then gets cooled down too fast</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yeah expansion and contraction of metal....if it's too fast then crack. But when I'm covering up my stuff the hood is open for 15 minutes so it's not a problem

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by adseguy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Biggest thing to keep in mind don't insert keys into the car until you feel that everything is pretty dry since you do have a lot of electrical components</TD></TR></TABLE>

I feel like there is no way you can ever get every part dry, so I start the engine up and let the engine dry itself.

 

i will be doing it today when i get off or tom. evening. any other suggestions/hints

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 90blackcrx &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

I feel like there is no way you can ever get every part dry, so I start the engine up and let the engine dry itself.

</TD></TR></TABLE>


hey! that's not a turbo'd motor i usually just start up the car too. that's how we do it at the honda dealership spray that glossy stuff all over the place and baaam! shut that hood and move that car out of the way for the next.

 

i always start the car and let it dry that way myself

 

I sit there with my earplugs and my air line and blow air on it for about 5 minutes, makes it pretty dry after that, but damn is it noisy without those earmuffs.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Groovinator &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I sit there with my earplugs and my air line and blow air on it for about 5 minutes, makes it pretty dry after that </TD></TR></TABLE>

i believe in this method the most. i have detailed a lot of engine bays. typically i will cover open style air filters, distributors, alternators and anyother electronics i feel could be harmful if wet. NOTE: its a good idea to pick up some electric grease and grease all the connections and plugs on your cars harness and even sparkplugs and wires. the grease is designed to keep out moisture and prevent corrosion.

i like to disconnect the negative side of the battery just to be safe....now with everything greased and covered, and making sure the engine is COOL. make sure you dilute your cleaner properly. simple green and greased lighting work the best. engine brite is too strong IMO and would be better suited for an old greasy v8.

cleaning: spray engine bay down with a little bit of water, and then spray everything with cleaner of choice...i HAVE sprayed cleaner onto the harness and connectors directly and found it to work very well in cleaning the hard to clean grease between the wires. let the engine bay soak for a few minutes and begin to rinse off with your hose taking your time and making sure everything is rinsed.
i then go over and spray a again with cleaner and soak a few more minutes...now take a pressure washer and go at it. this will clean your 'frame' and fire wall very well. again make sure all soap residue is rinsed from the engine.
finally i will take a compressor with the attatchment where you can just blow air as mentioned above, and concentrate removing water from the harness connections and electrical plugs. its a good idea to pull your spark plug wires from your sparkplugs and inspect for water...this can cause miss fire, but is easially fixed by blowing air down there aswell.

once the engine is DRY, you can use scotch brite (i used red pad) and scrub off any metal/aluminum surface you desire. works well on distributors (watch not to hit the cap) vtec silenoids, blocks and trannys.

finally i will blow off the entire engine bay again with the compressed air (to remove dust) any type of engine shine will work well. i have found Stoner Trim Shine to work the best, it is for interior but comes out really really good and is easy to use. however if you have some armor all laying around you can spray everything down with that (more time comsuming), yes everything will look milky for a little while but start the engine and close the hood just to the secondary latch (so its not locked) the heat will help the armor all stick and evaporate and you will no longer have the milky residue.

note: even after you feel everything is dry it is normal to have steam for the first few minutes after warming up.

depending on where you live, weather and driving conditions i only do this once every 3-4 months it works that well

TIP: valve cover lettering is best cleaned with block of wood and wetsanding with 220-800-1000

hope this helps

note- methods mentioned above work very well and i have personally done this method for years but i will not be held responsible for any damage done

ps. the main thing is to make sure all your vacuum connections and harness connections are good to go BEFORE starting the engine

 

just wanted to bump this because its getting into summer now and we all gotta do this once or twice a season. i thought the last post in here was EXCELLENT.

 

excellent post and methods in here...

although i didn't read anything about covering the timing belt if its exposed? Like those who have the half moon cuts, or no cover over the timing belt at all, i'd assume you'd want to cover up the belts too? or will it dry off the belts?

tia