Cleaning the engine

I just had my radiator hose explode on me, and crap is everywhere. What's the best way to clean an engine? I've heard power wash at the car wash, leave car running and easy on the battery.

Any other ideas / techniques?

Cleaning the engine bay is actually REALLY easy. I do mine 2-33 times a year and never have to scrub it (you may have to do a little work w/ the rags as you engine bay looks terrible now).

I DID N0T COME UP WITH THIS PROCEEDURE. IT WAS TAKEN FROM ANOTHER SITE. I FOLLOW IT AND THE RESULTS ARE GREAT.

Start the engine and get it warmed up. Not hot or full operating temperature, but warm. Cover the alternator, air filter, and COPs (if you have them) with aluminum foil to keep them from getting soaked. Lightly spray water over the entire engine bay and it will steam (that's fine). Immediately spray the ENTIRE bay with simple green.

http://www.simplegreen.com/products_all_purpose_cleaner.php

Close the hood to the safety latch and let it sit for 15-20 minutes. Open the hood and look for very dirty areas. Wipe those with a rag and use more simple green if needed (this will only be needed if you don't keep up on your engine. I don't ever have to use a rag anymore). Rinse the engine bay with water. Then spray the entire engine bay with F-21 tire shine.

http://www.turtlewax.com/main.taf?p=2,1,3,5

This will foam up but coat everything. Again, close the hood and let it sit for 10-15 minutes. All the foam will disipate. Wipe up any areas where the water has settled. The simple green is for cleaning while the F-21 is to make everything look pretty. Make sure to remove all aluminum foil before starting the engine.

You CAN do it at the car wash , but the high pressure can getin where you really DON'T want it ...
A can of Foamy engine cleaner and a few quarters will yeild good results as well

^^Exactly.

Hey Kramer,since it looks like you'll be focusing around an area which is close to your distributor,I would definitely recommend that you cover the distributor cap. I would wrap it with a couple plastic shopping bags and use a rubber band to hold them in place. Oh and if after you've cleaned your engine and your car seems like it's missing/sputtering,you probably got a bit of moisture from condensation inside the distributor cap. This is a simple fix though,just remove the cap and spray the inside of the cap with WD40 to remove/displace the moisture.

I'd NEVER use WD40 as it's flammable and the sparks can set it off ... They sell special dryer type stuff for the caps

Thanks for the tips/ideas guys!

bad venge wrote:

I'd NEVER use WD40 as it's flammable and the sparks can set it off ... They sell special dryer type stuff for the caps

I've done it many,many times and never once ever had a problem. It's fine...really.

I think that upper radiator hose is in the worst shape of any cooling system hoses I have ever seen.

corvettecrazy wrote:

I think that upper radiator hose is in the worst shape of any cooling system hoses I have ever seen.

It does look pretty bad,although it appears to be super easy to change out.

corvettecrazy wrote:

I think that upper radiator hose is in the worst shape of any cooling system hoses I have ever seen.

I thought that but then figured it was the hose that blew b/c I don't know why someone would let a simple hose like that stay in that condition.

Check the tightness of the clamps on the new hose after a few warmups. Not sure if leave the part number tag under the hose clamp is a good idea.

poor d16


i clean mine all the time but i do it with the motor off and cool as cold water on a hot surface is bad i just scrub.

I would try to help man, but I can't see anything....the pictures are waaayyy toooo smalll.....

SickWitIt wrote:

I would try to help man, but I can't see anything....the pictures are waaayyy toooo smalll.....

Pictures are normal size for me. Maybe your computer needs to learn how to resize them.