What do you recommend to clean an engine bay. I might enter import showoff this comin oct. and i want to show whats underneath the hood.. minus the dirt and grime! haha

is spraying the engine bay down w/ water and simple green a good solution? if so, what do i need to cover up?

if i go and get professionally steam cleaned, any reputable business in the san diego area and will they take the necessary precautions?

TIA

 

I would recommend doing the cleaning yourself. You will save some money and learn how to clean it yourself.

I would start out by covering the battery, distributor, Exposed air filter (ie AEM), and any other exposed wiring such as the ABS fuse box. There are several things in the engine bay you can cover to be extra cautious. I cover these items with a small garbage bag.

Start off by spraying the engine down with the hose. Next apply Simple Green generously over the engine. I would recommend scrubing areas where more grime has built up. After your pleased with the cleanliness of the engine, hose it down getting all the Simple Green off. Be sure and spray the areas closer to the firewall more carefully because they are generally less water resistent. After hosing the entire engine down, wipe most of the water of reachable parts of the engine. Then turn on the car and let it idle for a few minutes. This will evaporate the excess water sitting in your engine bay.

Good Luck!

 

note - simple green will dull all the ruber and black items in your engine bay... just a friendly reminder, go to clubsi and ask in the show and shine section what you should do to clean your engine bay.

 

Simple green will rust out metals and leave a dull film on plastics and rubber. Avoid Simple Green.

 

What other option is there then if SG causes rust?

 

CD2 engine cleaner worked wonders on the CRX's engine bay. Now it looks like a totally different car just begging for a ZC to be thrown in. Just be sure you've covered your intake and electrical parts with aluminum foil.

 

I found simple green to be bad for stainless steel parts like headers, etc. All other parts like the engine, tranny casing, firewall, it works great on.