Sounds like the most Noob question but please read on..... I wish I had asked this when I first got my 1991 Lexus...

I'm brand new to the Honda world, with a 1991 Accord. About 300 000 miles.

Runs great....

Now back to the question at hand....

The first is how do I clean the engine (it's not bad, but cleaning it would be nice)

Now if you thinking... Hay just spray it with engine cleaner and hose off...

Well I did that when I first got my Lexus.... Big mistake... That cost 300 bucks to fix.

Lexus does not like water under the hood. You will kill you two coils and more.

So, most likely I can just hit the Honda with engine cleaner and wash of with a very light low pressure water hose...

But I'm looking to check first...

​​​​​​​Thank you to all.

 

I usually take plastic bags with me to a self service car wash. Cover the alternator, fuse box, and distributor with them. Make sure the engine is nice and warm. Spray on the degreaser and wait a bit so it will do it's thing. After that I just hit it with the pressure washer on the high pressure rinse setting, taking care not to directly spray any electronic items or plugs. Works well for a quick fix. If you want it cleaner you're gonna have to start scrubbing.

 

Like you, I watched someone hose their engine (literally) and hose their engine (figuratively), requiring some repairs to make it work again.

So...I tend to use this stuff:

and hand clean under the hood all the parts. Yes, very slow. But...no worries about damaging anything.

 

As someone who hates working on greasy engines/engine bays, I regularly clean my engine bay as well as any vehicle I am asked to work on.

DO NOT use any kind of spray on 'Engine Degreaser/Cleaners'. First they all wreak, and that stank permeates everything, especially soft plastics/rubber. Second they are usually fairly caustic on anyting that isn't metal.
DO NOT use any kind of purple cleaner(Purple Power). These cleaners will damage softer plastics/rubber components and will also soften and remove powder coating.
DO NOT cover, bag, seal up or otherwise contain any components. Doing so can cause a buildup of moisture and heat, this will cause steaming. Most electronics will be damaged by being steamed.
DO NOT steam clean the engine bay, this was a popular and great way to clean older engine bays, but with EFI there are too many sensors that can be damaged by steam intrusion.

Best way to clean an engine bay without doing any damage to components is fairly simple.
Warm engine is best, this gets any oils/grease/gunk on the engine flowing easier.
If you have a local DIY coin-op with the soap wand, this will be the easiest/best option to use. Otherwise a pressure washer would be the second option, no more than 2000psi, any more and you will risk physically damaging components. Third option would be garden hose with a variable nozzle.
Use a green cleaner(409, Simple Green, etc) If the engine is just grimey from years of use, cut it to 50/50 to conserve cleaner.
Liberally spray the engine bay down with green cleaner. Don't drench sensitive components, just get a good layer on the grimey areas, avoid flooding the alternator/distributor. Allow to soak in for a few minutes.
Fire up your preferred rinsing device, and hose down the engine bay. Try not to blast vacuum hose connections too hard, you may pop them off, depending on condition. Don't point blank spray stuff, keep a few inches away from components.
Don't flood critical areas(alternator/distributor) spray down the entire engine bay by constantly moving your spray, do not concentrate in a single area unless it is a heavy grease/oil buildup on a bare portion of the block. Spray the components down like you are spray painting, not too fast, not too slow, back and forth, work from the top down.
And make sure not to blast somethign that will shoot the water back at you like a spoon. Nothing worse than hosing yourself with engine goop.

Allow the water to drain down, any areas where water has pooled sop up with clean rags. Start engine with hood open for a few minutes. Take it for a drive around to help sling off and dry off any water.

It will probably take you two or three cleanings to get the engine bay properly cleaned. There are a lot of areas that can be overlooked, back side of the engine, corners of the engine bay, area around the battery, etc.
Let the cleaner do most of the work, use the spray to remove the heavy deposits and hose down the gunk.

 

Thanks for the responce!

Great info on what not to use. I most likely will do the DIY car wash way and keep the wand moving around and not at piont blank rang.