Engine Bay Cleaning help!

Hi guys, I just wanted to know, im considering on cleaning my engine bay. Ive noticed that alot of build up is happening under my hood, and it looks really damn black. I wanted to know, what must i cover before i start spraying Simple Green,on all the componants? Second, Should i check if there are any wires that seem damaged or that show coil incase water goes inside, or i shouldn’t worry about it? and Thirdly do i really need a high pressure gun, or just a hose with a nozzle would do the job?

Thanks guys would appreciate your responses, Please post pics of before and after engine bay cleaning :slight_smile: " if u have " :baby:

dont worry about covering anything up. it wont hurt anything. be sure the engine is cool before you spray it on there tho! if its hot it will cake on there and kinda “burn” it to the engine, then its a BISH to get off haha. a high pressure washer always works better but a normal hose with a nozzle with work. dont worry about getting water anywhere either. jus let it set for awhile before you start her up n drive it. i take a towel and shove it down on top of the intake manifold to absorb all the water that sits there. if not, it will sit there FOREVER and not dry. same with the valve cover. good luck!

I wouldnt try it, you take a 50/50 chance, i was going to but after reading this thread i tossed the idea…

http://www.g2ic.com/forums/showthread.php?t=96114&highlight=running+rich

Also, dont listen to this asshat above…first the reason you wait for your engine to cool down isnt to prevent stuff caking on there, ITS TO PREVANT CRACKING IT DUE TO THE SEVERE TEMP. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WATER AND YOUR ENGINE!!

Second, i cant belive people dont get banned for saying things as stupid as dont cover anything up…thats the stupidest idea i have ever heard, you might as well drive into a lake and hope nothing happens…

Yeah, tell him to take a rag to his intake manifold, how the fuck is he going to get water in his intake manifold? OPening his air cleaner box, and spraying water up the intake??? Yeah that will do lots of good!

If you do want to try it, here are some tips.

-Cover as much up as possible, sensors, dist. cap, battery, etc etc.
-Dont use simple green, it leaves ugly marks somtimes…
-Again, dont do what asshat said, do NOT use high pressure water, spraying degreaser, and using a toothbrush and a garden hose is the best way, no nozzle on that hose either, just open ended
-Let it cool off completly, i would say overnight cold, because you WILL crack somthing if you dont.
-Let it dry, in the sun with the hood up for as long as possible, if needed use a towelle.
-Check all the important areas for water, like the spark plug holes

And last, dont do ANYTHING this other retarded dumbfuck tells you.

pirate…YES I KNOW LETTING IT COOL DOWN IS TO PREVENT CRACKING! DUH! first of all…being that everything is aluminum…its not going to crack that easily! aluminum absorbs alot of heat which is why it is used! :wink: secondly…about the water “in” the IM…did i say it gets IN the IM? didnt think so. READ CAREFULLY! whenever you hose the engine bay out, the water always sits on TOP! of the intake runners where it bolts up to the head, and on top of the valve cover. thirdly(is that a word?)…you tell me what will get hurt from getting wet??? come on…i wanna know…my dad works at a honda delearship…and guess what, AFTER EVERY CAR IS WORKED ON, IT IS RUN THROUGH THE CAR WASH AND THE ENGINE BAY IS SPRAYED WITH A STEAM CLEANER! NOW THEY HAVE BEEN DOING THAT FOR GOD KNOWS HOW LONG WITH NO PROBLEMS ONCE SO EVER! YOU THINK THE GUYS THAT WASH THEM TAKE THE TIME TO COVER ANYTHING UP??? NOT A CHANCE! jus a few words for ya! :wink: Integgy91…sorry man, didnt mean to hijack your thread!

I’ve been pressure spraying my engine at the car wash for a long time and never had a problem. The only thing I do sometimes is cover the intake filter so it doesn’t soak up water. I’ve never had a problem with the distributor or plugs getting water in it. Maybe my seals are just good or something. Hope this input helps.

hehe thanks for the hints guys, sg7300 its ok, u didnt hijack it, you were just proving your case :wink: so i shouldnt use any degreaser or simple green? just water?

One thing I’ve notice from prior mistakes is to always cover the distributor and if you have an aftermarket intake you want that covered also. Other then that I’ve always used a low pressure wash on the firewall, driver / pass. sides of the engine bay and a high pressure wash on the front of the engine bay, just because there aint much electrical up front.

I rarely worry about the block cracking if I run the car to the car wash because at the wash I go to warm/hot water comes out rather then straight cold water, but if im washing it at home I usually do it on a cold motor just to be on the safe side and towel dry what I can to remove hard water spots.

Just remove the engine, tranny, and have at it with engine degreaser and a high pressure hose… :shrug: what’s the big deal?

hehe

please no, i sincerely hope that is sarcasm. i will never take a hose to my engine bay. some never have had problems, many have. i choose not to risk it. our components are very old and brittle, disrupting them may cause damage.

for instance have you ever looked at the under hood fuse box? it flips right up. there is no seal. the distributor plugs - they have a rubber seal. how old is yours? is it dried and cracked? can it seal out water? sometimes people don’t put the seal in the distributor cap. how about all your sensors on the head? when i did a swap the ECT plug fell apart. have you ever had a distributor oil leak? the oil drips down and wears out the rubber hoses, looms, and tape. are your starter terminals sealed? what about the battery ground to chassis and to the tranny? that is not covered and the metal is exposed to the atmosphere. many more things i can’t think of right now to consider.

at best, spray onto a towel and wipe whatever you need. treat her like she deserves to be treated.

Yea i think im gonna do that… not gonna take a chance. Thanks for the hint.

Ok maybe i should have read more carfully, and i wasnt aware that honda doesnt cover stuff up when they do it, but hey, if they f it up, they fix it, and it is a risk on these old cars weather you belive it or not.

To the original poster, if you do it, just take all the precations that you can, why risk it and end up like arrmedferret? Did any of you read that link i posted??

At least i have somone backing me up…

Use those cans or foamy engine cleaner, I think Gunk makes them, and water. Dont use simple green, i just have heard bad things coming from using it…

yea i second the foamy stuff. we use “engine brite”. im not sure who makes it. in a bright white an orange can. just MAKE sure the motor is not hot in that situation because it will cause the degreaser to cake on the motor, altho any degreaser will do that! good luck. pirate…no hard feelings here :wink:
kyle

Yeah, thats the stuff im thinkin of, its a white and orange can, i think GUNK makes it…Works wonders :smiley:

I cleaned mt accords engine bay, and luckily had no problems, but i covered EVERYTHING up, so i guess it can work, but now that i have done some reseach i wont be doing it again after all the risks i have seen, im just gonna use brake cleaner and a towel lol.

i just use plastic to cover my distributor and intake filter. use degreaser and tooth brush and spary at areas and brish. when i use water i use opn hose and spray off the nasty stuff. i try not to hit directly my electrical sensors, distributor, and alternator. i mean, if water splashes on it should be okay, but dont drown it. lol… or else my teg woudlve died on first rainstorm if it couldnt handle a little water. then i take a towel and try to dry off areas where water will sit. especially where the park plug holes are at.

You know, this entire discussion was totally unnecessary… there’s a teg tip on cleaning your engine.

pirate, have you ever used brake cleaner on your engine before? i dont know if this is true but to me it seems it would make really bad “water stain” type marks. its got TONS of either which makes it dry so fast and also make those spots. i dunno, maybe it will work good, jus wanted to bring that up.

DO NOT use brakleen. it melts rubber/pvc/plastic

I haven’t had a problem with ‘Simple Green’ yet. The trick seems to be to just do small sections at a time. Don’t get too ambitious and spray it all over. Kind of like applying wax. Small sections at a time. I’ve been slowly working my way through the engine compartment with ‘Simple Green’, a toothbrush, and a bunch of rags/towels and I’m very happy with the results. I take the time to take stuff off if necessary, clean it, and put it back on, A good opportunity to visually inspect everything under the hood. Don’t be in a hurry.