kar_the_terrible

So Im obsessive-compulsive about keeping my car clean. And was reading about steam cleaning under the hood. There seem to be strong enough arguments both for it and against.
Is it worth it doing this once a year or so? what does it normally run up to get it done by a pro, or are there some reliable how-tos to DIY it.

Thanks.

-Kar

_Cyclone_

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by kar_the_terrible &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Is it worth it doing this once a year or so?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yes. You're in New York, so they have salted roads in the winter. Salt is one of the worst things that can happen to your car. If you have to pay a few bucks to have it power cleaned off your engine bay components once a year in the spring, it will pay off IMO. You won't get as much rust, so everything will look nicer.

StoneGold

I'm against it unless its a show car. Som GUNKOFF and a watrer hose will do u just as good for decent clean and less price.

Marauder

If its not that dirty, or not much built of gease, just use simple green and a medium bristle brush. Hose off with water when you are done.

I've done that with my civic many times. When it was being shot for some magazines, I'd do it before every shoot, think I cleaned it like 10 times in 6 months and it runs like a clock!

wushubrian

Are there any other things besides simple green that you would recomeend using? Any other brands... plus how much would they cost me?

Marauder

On my integra, I used a can of Gunk since it was filthy! Lots of axle grease and other dirt. I think a can of it was only $3. Could have used another can but made use of just the one.

lil_civic

here's my " 2 cents worth"

when i first got my car i powerwashed it with the engine running. i DO NOT reccomend this more than once. just do it to start the ball rolling, and be warned, mine ran like a dog for two days after i did it.

once everything was dry i used t-cat (a gritted finnish restorer) on all painted parts, then polished and waxed. - this was bulkhead, inner wings, slam panel, engine mounts, strut brace & brake master cylinder.

i then sanded down the power stearing pump, metal half of the dizzy, rocker cover and inlet manifold. after this i used a metal polish (gritty paste, i used autosol, don't know what brands you have available) and brought them to a shine. This is not a mirror finish, but is a VERY desirable job, for a mirror finnish you will need a machine, no human is physically strong enough.

After this a replaced the hoses with blue, try and get ones with some kind of shiny finish, as these will clean up easier in the future.

all plastics (radiator, battery, fluid bottles inc. brake / clutch fluid, power stearing fluid fuse box) were cleaned using a strong degreaser, and then brought to a shine with plastic dressing.

with all this done, i now run a cloth around the engine bay once a week which take 15 mins, and re-aply the wax & plastic dressing about once a month - takes about 45mins to an hour.

do this, and your engine bay will gleam forever, and the rust will stay at bay.

the initial tidy up job took me about 8 hours from start to finish, including waiting for the engine bay to dry after power washing it.

next job - painting my exhaust manifold heat sheild using blue coloured brake caliper laquor.

alotawatts

Grease Lightning is like Simple Green / all purpose degreaser and I think it works better...
You can use rags and plastic to cover stuff but with all of the electrical connectors, ground points etc. on modern cars I think even steam cleaning is a mistake ......unless you're selling the car ! he he

CivicSiR

I use gunk to spray everything first and then rinse it off...that gets most of the crap off. Then i spray on Armor All foaming tire shine (has to be foaming) i put this on the hoses and crap...then start the car and let it pretty much burn off. It makes the hoses nice and shiny...the whole process doesnt take long either.

JDMlyfestyle

Screw Steam cleaning.. use my right up and itll make ur bay blingin

This is what i removed
Ripped out the AC system. pump, condenser, lines ect. everythings gotta come out.
Heat shields on the exhaust manifold
intake resonator

Wiring that was re routed. No wires were shortened or lenghtened. when extending or shortening wiring you can effect the resistance in that line. and could affect how your engine performs

Passanger side Headlight, horn, turn signal, ground box harness was taken and ran in the inner fenderwell gound box was hooked up to the 10mm bolt that held on the intake resonator.

Driver side headlight turn signal ground box harness was ran through the fenderwell and held up with a open 10mm spot by the windshield washer fluid resivoir.

Distributor wiring was taken off the clip and hide under the intake manifold

Driver side harness was removed and tucked underneath the battery/fuse box. and no i did not extend any of the wiring.

Passanger side harness was removed off the clips and tucked in the corner under the Slave cylinder and zip tied down

Fuel injector wiring. the box was removed off of the injector harness. the heat shrink was removed off of the wires. becareful doing this not to cut the wires. and the clips were ran up through the gaps in the intake manifold runners.

Cleaning
removed battery and covered all electronics.... dizzy, alternator, Harness clips with bags and zip tied them.
Sprayed the entire engine bay, engine, firewall with simple green 75 SG/25 H20. let it sit for 5-10 mins and rinsed off with garden hose. dry the engine bay with shop towels or shop rags.

i used 2 cans of gunk for the engine and transmission for the heavy grease. do the same steps as i did with simple green.

Enjoy guys..

JDMLyfestyle

Here is what we had to start with.





Me workin on TJ's wiring

Almost Done

There now it looks 100x better

djxtc65

i have a hotsy at my shop i guess u can call it a steam cleaner its a power washer that runs on diesel fuel and u can change the temp for 180 to 230 and i do clean my whole car with this once a month or when ever we clean my dump trucks at my work and it has a line that blends the soap right into the line so i clean my fake type r mats too and in the spring i will rip out my crpet and do the same but iif u have one of these of know some one who does be care full cause i blow my friend clear coat right off hit truck but i think its worth it

jlacoy82

Be VERY careful with pressure washers, we had one like the one you just described at where I used to work djxtc, and one day a guy got bored and used the pressure washer with a 0 degree nozzle on it and cut a 4x4" pressure treated post in half with it. So just think of what you could possibly damage being careless with one under your hood. Use your discretion.

_Cyclone_

Will Simple Green and other similar engine "degreasing" products work to remove built up road salt and dirt too?

Deemeetree

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by CycloneBlue_1.6EL &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Will Simple Green and other similar engine "degreasing" products work to remove built up road salt and dirt too?</TD></TR></TABLE>

There is nothing wrong with a little elbow grease and a sponge.

JDMlyfestyle

simple green and a lil elbow grease can get just about ne thing out.

jbell

simple green wont get oil stains that are burnt on, or oxidation off.

i say paint it.

we painted my friend's block while in the car and it looks great.
look how clean mine came out after some brakekleen to get the grease off, wire brush to get off oxidation and other crap, and a few coats of paint.
before:




after:




big difference :

JDMlyfestyle

i painted my block as well. paint is Dupli 1200 degree aluminum brush