Gotta clean that dirty engine bay of mine......damn splash shields ripped off and the nasty winter rains got up in the bay and have made a mess.......I know i need to cover the distributor.....what other systems would you guys recommend to cover??? Should i blast off the loose dirt or use low pressure water? Is soap dangerous to anything in the engine?

 

Just cover your filter and your battery, I use simple green at the local diy carwash and steam my own engine. Haven;t had a problem...

 

yeah, use simple green and low pressure, u should be fine.

 

I use a degreaser called purple power. Spray it on when the motor is hot at a jet spray car wash. Let it sit for a minute and then spray it off. Take it home make sure everything is dry and sprayed black magic on everything. Then I proceed to wipe everything down. It turns out real nice. DO NOT do this if you have a ceramic coated header though. If you have one do it when its cold. If you do it when its hot it WILL discolor the header.

 

do u leave the car running while u spay the motor

 

I do. Learned the hard way about the header though. But they have a 2 year warranty on the finish so I got it replaced for free!!

 

Yes, do leave it running. Otherwise be careful and cover up the distributor, alternator, etc. I've washed mine while it was running many times without a problem, but 2 weeks ago when I washed it while not running, I accidently got water in the alternator and fried it. Actually I'm not sure if it fried it completely cuz when I took it out there was some standing water inside of it that may have caused it to short but not kill it completely, but it got really really hot and drained the battery. Luckily I found a fresh reman at the junkyard for $13.50

Oh yes, Simple Green, a scrub brush, and a toothbrush work wonders!

 

i just remove air filter and the battery, so i can clean under it. Also i just cover up the distibutor. never had any probs with the alternator tho.

 

I use engine degreaser and the car is running when I use it. I clean my engine every once in a while and then check for leaks so far no leaks

 

I'd also cover up the brake & clutch fluid reservoirs. Each cap has a tiny air vent, and you don't want water to get into the fluid.

 

Might be a dumb question but what do you cover up the distributer and stuff with? I usually just get under there with a rag and then with something to get everything nice and wet looking. It usually looks good but there are a couple of place I can't reach that a pressure hose would at the local wash.

 

i usually place a towel over them just in case any water does get in. then wrap the towel and part together in one or two plastic bags and tape it off.

 

I have detailed for about three years. Ive cleaned up probably thousands of motors. Never once have I covered anything up. You just have to be careful. Dont apply direct pressure to the distributor, around your filter box(if you dont have a intake), and brake fluid resivor(SP??) Its not very hard, just take your time. In the end youll be happy you did. Any other quetions feel free to ask me. My aim is H22Accd91 or just email me. Hope this helps.

 

Sometimes I'll just lay a rag over it, sometimes I'll just avoid spraying directly on it. It's not that hard.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by kasper &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Might be a dumb question but what do you cover up the distributer and stuff with? I usually just get under there with a rag and then with something to get everything nice and wet looking. It usually looks good but there are a couple of place I can't reach that a pressure hose would at the local wash.</TD></TR></TABLE>
I use a plastic bag...

 

last weekend, it was just me, the car, a bottle of simple green and an old rag.