I spent a good hour and half today taking out all my step dad's junk from the trunk and that compartment behind the seats. Washed, Vacummed, Windex'd, Fabreez'd. It was a bonding experiance for me and my new car haha. But then I popped the hood to see what was going down and it is veeery dirty.

How does one go about cleaning their engine without damaging anything. I know this may sound like a retarded question, but just please help me out folks :-D

Ill post pics up soon, I dont have a digital camera but I need to drop off an old disposable from Vegas soon and Ill get a new one to take car pics.

You guys have been very helpful, thanks!

 

i cover the intake, distributor, and alternator with plastic bags. i remove the alternator belt and disconnect the battery. Then i spray engine degreaser all over the bay let it sit for 10-15 minutes and rinse with hot water. Brake parts cleaner removes what the degreaser didn't. That's how i do it.

 

man i have always been afraid to spray my motor. I see these people at teh car wash just pop their hood and high preassure spray their bay....scares me...but nothing happens to them.

 

Yeah, about once a month I do the same: make sure EVERYTHING electrical
is covered (distributor, altinator, fuse box, etc) and of course your air intake.
I then spray the motor down with GUNK engine cleaner and let it sit a few minutes
then spray it down.
Once it has been thoroughly rinsed you must dry it as best as you can to get
all the water out. Then run the motor for awile to dry it all up.
Here in Florida sand gets EVERYWHERE so cleaning the motor is a good thing!

 

i use "simple green" on everything. un-diluted. works AWESOME!!

 

I've been told by numorous mechanics/teachers/shop owners that the only thing you really need to worry about water wise is the intake and distributor. You don't even really need to cover them, as you can just dry out the distributor cap with some wd40 or a cloth. Sure it's high pressure, but remember that cars are designed to drive in rain.