anyone one know of the best way to clean my motor and engine bay area? has anyone steam cleaned theirs? how was it? of just wait to do a swap and clean then?

 

i did mine while i was swapping and made it hellla easy.

 

How soon are you doing the swap? If it'll be a while just use engine degreaser and/or Simple Green to clean up and then Mother's on all plastic and rubber. I've heard on this forum that soaking the bay with WD-40 is supposed to be effective but I have yet to try it.

 

cold engine, full strength simple green, spray, soak for 5 minutes, pressure wash, done

 

Simple green is the best. I would use low water pressure and a rag.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by sleepinSI &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Simple green is the best. I would use low water pressure and a rag.</TD></TR></TABLE>

That simple green solves all cleaning solutions!

 

Do you guys cover up anything?

 

its either mothers or meguiars, they make an awesome engine cleaner that also adds some shine to the plastic parts, its pretty good stuff.

if your bay is filthy i'd go for the simple green first, follow it up with the cleaner/shiner stuff, and you'll be good.

just don't expect the metal to shine...

 

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

just don't expect the metal to shine...</TD></TR></TABLE>
That's when the polishing comes!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by EK_B &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Do you guys cover up anything? </TD></TR></TABLE>

When I do it I usually cover the battery, the alternator, and the fuse block with plastic bags just to be safe.

 

like everyone has said, just use simple green and let it soak in for a couple of minutes on a cold engine. you can just use your garden hose, pressure washer is not needed, but if you can get your hands on one, than why not?

make sure you cover up your:
air intake
alternator
distributor

 

In my 20 years or so of cleaning cars and engine bays I've never covered up anything in the engine bay. Never had a problem.

 

Engine degreaser, simple green, wire brush on some parts.

Distrupiter cap, battery I would cover

 

http://www.1017.org/nsx/Engine...k.htm


haven't tried it yet myself.. but seems to work awesome

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by slacks &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">http://www.1017.org/nsx/Engine...k.htm


haven't tried it yet myself.. but seems to work awesome</TD></TR></TABLE>
That looks like a nice before and after. I might have to try is someday.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by slacks &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">http://www.1017.org/nsx/Engine...k.htm


haven't tried it yet myself.. but seems to work awesome</TD></TR></TABLE>

It only looks good like that for a few weeks, and then the engine bay gets 10 TIMES AS DIRTY once it sticks to the Armour All tire foam, because dirt sticks to silicon much worse than non-greased up components.

My "trick" works great and lasts much longer than the fake, temporary greasy shiny look that any sort of silicon based product being sprayed everywhere gives you.

Get a wash bucket with standard car wash soap, or even dish soap.

Get a wash mitt that you don't care about if it gets nasty or not

Get a soft bristle brush intended to wash wheels/not scratch paint

Lather up the fenders and front bumper, and also the plastic cowl piece at the bottom of your windshield, and lastly the lower portion of the actual windshield itself

With the engine cold spray a solution or 50/50 diliuted Simple Green/Water mixture all over the entire engine, transmission, firewall, etc. etc. - liberally spray the entire engine bay and even under hood itself - allow this to soak on for about 5-wo minutes

Then grab the wash mitt and go to town on washing everything possible to reach, and hit any areas you can't get to with the mitt with the soft bristel brush

Rinse thoroughly with water hose with whatever pressure desired

Sometimes I crank the engine and let it warm up to sort of "steam" the water away as to avoid any spotting on the engine/transmission and other aluminum components

People always marvel at my engine bay even when it's been months since my last good bay clean, and because I don't grease **** up and try to make all the rubber and plastic looks "shiny" I never un into it being 10 times harder to clean my engine every time like the silicon spray method does.

Pics:





Aluminum gets CLEAN, but not ashy white and stained like harsh degreasers do:



My beater whose white paint and engine compartment were ******* NASTY before I cleaned it:

 

i agree with not trying to make your engine bay look "shiny". more dust will stick on, etc, etc.

also, by spraying things like engine dresser (products that they sell at auto parts stores to give the shiny effect) actually causes the rubber parts to deteriorate faster and crack.

 

Simple Green!

Spray it on, let it sit for about 5-10 mins, then spray the stuff off with a high pressure washer, or a waterhose with a pressure nozzle. Make sure you cover the battery/intake (if aftermarket or exposed) and the distributor (water can get inside the cap).

Try this a few times if needed, it works wonders without having to use the toxic stuff!

 

that sounds good guys, i think i'll try the simple green and test it out, thanks for all your guys help, and the pics, it's nice to see some of the after shots of what it looks like

 

Simple Green....and it doesnt smell bad like other degreasers.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by hondaz6lx &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Simple Green....and it doesnt smell bad like other degreasers.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yeah it actually smells good IMO.

 

-As far as cleaning the engine heres the steps i take. I have owned and operated an auto detail business for 3 years now and 3 trucks serving San Diego county

-Cold/Cooled engine to start
-Spray engine gunk degreaser all over and everywhere
-Let stand for 15-20 min.
-Make sure you try to avoid spraying dirrectly the alternator, fuse panel, and or distributor. with good seals on the distributor and fuse box you dont have to worry. The alternator i usually cover with plastic bag then wipe after washl
-Hose off but preferabley pressure wash
-After rinsing start engine to evaporate water.
-***Also get your hands on a leaf blower or high pressure air to blow out hard to reach areas
-After blowing engine off and engine is still runnning take a rag and wipe along hood ledges and hood itself
-Finally shut engine off and take a silicone dressing to the engine compartment. ***NOT ARMORALL***. Dirt will tend to stick to items that ar dressed on a vehicle but that dressing is a protectant or barrier and will clean off easier the next time you decide to clean the engine bay again.

PICS Chevy 2500
Before:


After:

 

What kind of radiator is that?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by IslandSi &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">What kind of radiator is that?
</TD></TR></TABLE>

I got it from http://www.radiatorbarn.com for like $90.00 - I ordered it for a 2000 Acura Inegra GS-R.

You have to relocate the lowe radiator "feet" mounts on the lower radiator support beam, and as you can see also figure a way to secure the top tank too. I fabbed that mount up out of a simple aluminum strap and added rubber hose around it to sleeve it so that it would not damage the plastic tank.

Also keep in mind you'll either need an aftermarket slim fan (actually Advance sells nice ones for like $70.00 believe it or not!!!) or a matching Integra main cooling fan assembly with shroud, fan blade/motor and everything. Ciic fan won' mount up to the Integra raiator.

You also delete A/C with this radiator.

 

Wow you did a great job cleaning that thing up looks sick