Cleaning the Engine?

I use Meguiar's APC+ at 4:1 for very dirty engine bays and 10:1 for light dust. I usually just use the dressing I put on the tires so that would be with Wolfgang Vinyl and Rubber or Chemical Guys VRP. For the painted areas I use an AIO type product.

Any degreaser or strongly diluted APC will do the job.

Just did my diesel a couple of weeks ago with Amazing Roll Off diluted in a bucket and a terry cloth. Came out NICE!!!!. The layer of what ever is in that stuff left the engine and hoses with that just dressed shimmer plus it cut the oil and light grease with out using a hose.

Dave

I shoot citrus degreaser from Lowes in a foam gun and let it set for 10 min or so - then lightly mist off to squeaky clean results - follow up with tire dressing on the black stuff...looks showroom new after 3 years...

I use Megs Degreaser, spray and let dwell for a few minutes. Then agitate with various brushes and MFs, then rinse lightly with the hose. Obviously being careful and covering sensitive areas. Then dress with 303 aerospace.

When I received my liter of PERL and wanted to casually try it out in the engine bay, I lightly misted with UWW+ and then took a yellow costco microfiber also misted with UWW+ (or I may have dampened the towel with 1:16 ONR spray) and just wiped the dust and grime away. Engine hadn't really been cleaned before, so it was about 2.5 years and 36000 miles worth of grime. Not terrible, but enough to ugly everything up. In the past on beaters and newer used cars I've sprayed Pennzoil Steam Premium in a can on a warmed engine, dwell per instructions and brush agitation on the really grimy areas, followed by judicious use of the garden hose. Then run the motor until dry. Got the job done nicely and left things smelling nice a clean for weeks.

I really like the sound of that amazing roll-off diluted and applied with a towel. I'll try to keep tha one in mind if I ever get to adding a gallon of ARO to an order. :xyxthumbs:

APC + steam (when needed) = clean engine

Any degreaser will suffice.

I use megs ultimate protectant on all plastics/hoses in the engine bay.

I've always used GUNK engine degreaser, then lightly hose it off.

Spend a little time drying, and move on to the next step.

Take your dressing of choice, and lightly mist everything. Keep it off the paint if you can- if not just wipe it off afterwards. Close the hood, start the car up and let it idle for a couple of minutes, just long enough to heat things up a little.

Turn the car off, pop the hood, and you'll see that most of the product has evened out considerably. Go ahead and use a small towel to wipe down any "high spots", too.

The addition of the heat makes a huge difference, IMHO.

Cosmetic Engine Detailing


Start engine and run till just warm

Blow out loose debris
We used both the Metro-Vac Sidekick and the Metro-Vac MasterBlaster. Incredibly handy tools.


Cover and protect anything you don't want to buy the other guy, or yourself.




Mist engine and engine compartment with DP Rinseless Wash
This way the surface is wet and you're not introducing any APC directly onto a dry surface. This is a safety precaution to provide a little insurance that you won't stain any surface in the engine compartment. Maybe not important if you're only working on your own cars but if you're working on customer's cars then it's a safety step.


Mist engine and engine compartment with APC
Allow the APC to dwell for a few seconds and then start agitating it with a collection of brushes, towels, whatever you can find that enables you to agitate a surface to dissolve and emulsify the engine grime.


Rinse with Rinseless Wash or Water
Rinse off all the APC and loosened gunk. For our class we used the Nomad filled with Rinseless Wash and a Round-up 3-Gallon Sprayer mixed with APC at 10:1

The idea being to use low pressure for engine detailing so you don't blast water or other liquids into water-sensitive areas which can cause problems, sometimes expensive problems.



Dry Engine
If you don't have a Metro-Vac Sidekick get one. They are the handiest tools for all kinds of detailing related jobs. First we blew out any loose debris using the Sidekick before misting with Rinseless Wash. Later we blew all the rinseless wash off the engine and out of all the nooks and crannies while holding a waffle weave drying towel in the path of the air flow to capture the liquid being blown off. By using a towel while blowing the water out you capture the water instead of just blowing it around.


Apply Dressing
I shared about a half doze products for this but we used Aerospace 303 Protectant because it leaves behind a dry, anti-stick surface. You want something that leaves a dry surface so it's not inviting to dirt, dust and grime. It also leaves a non-stick and non-staining surface behind that will make cleaning in the future faster and easier plus it leaves a richer looking satin finish.


Start engineRun till dry and no odors or smoke from liquids and dressings is emitted. You want to do this before you return car to customer so it doesn't happen when they start the engine and bring it up to temperature.

You should be able to get some APCs from Autozone, Pepboys, etc. Meguair's and the like are all sold at those stores.

I use Meg's APC and to dress I use Sonus Trim and Motor Kote.

monito said:

Is this stuff good?

Simple Green/1 gal. all-purpose concentrated cleaner

Thanks,

p@

Click to expand...

I have used it and it worked well, just rinse thoroughly as I have heard it can eat aluminum.

Dave

I've used all kinds of degreaser's and APC's and some of those worked pretty good but once I tried Amazing Roll Off I will never use anything else. I use it at 1:10 dilution for most jobs and tougher jobs I'll use it at 1:1 or even full strength. ARO really shines on the painted area's under the hood and leaves them looking freshly waxed but it'll also degrease all other surfaces under the hood. Daytona wheel brushes work great for engines too. As for a dressing I use Stoner's Trim Shine which I put on kinda heavy and let soak for about 15 minutes then buff to a nice shine. I just bought Sonus Trim and Motor Kote for under the hood but haven't had a chance to try it out yet.