Sorry if its a silly question, but I have this oil leak, and the natural thing to do would be to wash it all and check where the leak forms. But. . . I want to know what is the proper way to safely wash my engine and engine bay! Thanks in advanced!!!

 

search is your friend.

cover dizzy, battery, fuse box or anything else you want dry. (Ive read that's not entirely necessary though)

simple green or equivalent on the engine, let it sit a minute, blast it away with some water..

 

I just spray mine down at the car wash. I try to avoid the distibutor and air filter but they always gat wet. Never had any probs.


Modified by nub at 4:19 AM 8/24/2008

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by EJ8_Enthusiast &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">search is your friend.

cover dizzy, battery, fuse box or anything else you want dry. (Ive read that's not entirely necessary though)

simple green or equivalent on the engine, let it sit a minute, blast it away with some water.. </TD></TR></TABLE>

thats the thing I did search a LOT, and I would get mixed results. From YES U NEED TO COVER all the way to NO U DONT NEED TO because its all waterproof etc. And I wanted to make sure I wouldn't make some stupid move on my engine just for wanting it to look clean. I'll try the simple green, plus bag EVERYTHING I see that I don't want to have get wet. Can I get this stuff EVERYWHERE? like around PS pump and around alternator? I seem to own a car that seems to have been flooded in some kind of gunk pool. Thanks for ur response!

 

please don't go simply based on my post, I am posting findings from what I have searched...

I am cleaning my engine bay tomorrow - and this is what I plan to do =D

Hopefully we both have some luck

 

Dont worry to much about getting stuff wet. This stuff was designed with moisture in mind. Do you think when you drive down the road or highway when it's raining your engine bay is dry? It's not. It's not soaking wet like it will be when you spray it down at the car wash but it gets wet. Like I said before the main thing to avoid is the distributor. I've had my car for 11 years and always spray my engine bay so I can detect leaks and I cant stand working on a greasy gunked up engine. Don't be scared, spray that ho down!

 

X2

 

i havent tried simply grenn, but i have tried A LOT of so called engine degressers, and only one i have find does miricles. Its called oil eater and the only place ive found it is at costco. But omg is it worth it, my **** gets pretty gunked and i simply spray that crap on, leave for like 5-10 min wash and presto its gone. I just did my motor and bay today and i didnt cover anything, sprayed and washed everything and no harm done, i have heard stories about stuff happening so you might want to bag just to be safe.

 

Wow guys you've been EXTREMELY helpful! I'm gonna do all that now, see if I can detect the damned leak! Thanks guys!

 

Just to post back... covered the parts I said in the previous post, blasted the thing with simple green.. let it soak.. blasted it away and detailed a few spots with a brush and started up about 10 minutes after I was done.. no problems.

I just used some saran wrap on the dizzy, battery. and fuses.

 

good to know

 

Water getting into anything shouldn't be a problem, but it can be.

Say it's been awhile since you replaced the cap. So the gasket on it is old. Water could get in and cause you some problems until you dry the cap out.

I usually turn the car on and spray Simple Green or whatever degreaser I'm using onto the engine bay. Focus on the especially dirty areas.

Let it sit for a few minutes and then spray it down with force.

Then I might let it dry if I feel like it.

The focus on any spots that might have not come clean. Spray the degreaser on and then scrub the area. Don't forget to use a toothbrush on top of the caps with raised lettering.

Then I leave it running and close the hood to let it dry. Then wash the rest of the car. By now you might have cleaner and water dripping down the fenders and bumper. Degreasers can strip wax, so this might be ideal to do right before you detail the exterior.

 

not intending to threadjack,

But NOFX, I've read many many post by you.
You're one of the more helpful people on this site,

So why did you ever get banned?

 

here's a DIY I wrote on how I do my Lexus Engine Bay...pictures wont be the same, but you get the general idea of what should be taped off and how to do it

http://my.is/forums/f90/new-en...85676