Help with Engine Bay cleaning

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aburgeson

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I read a couple of posts from other users about cleaning an engine bay. I want to clean mine but dont know what products to use and the proper steps. Some are saying simple green or purple power diluted as a degreaser. Any other products that work well? Also what do you do after you spray those products? Can you spray your engine with a hose? And what is a good product to put on the plastic and rubber pieces so they dont dry out? Mainly thinking of my timing belt since i dont want that to rip cause its too dry from degreaser
 
What kind of car you have???....first off before you dive in and clean open the hood look at your engine bay carefully you see anything that raises flags to you like belt, air box, spark plug boots, alternator etc cover those areas with plastic bags or aluminum foil as for cleaning you dont wanna use a strong jet of water just a soft stream thoroughly rinse engine bay then spray purple power diluted 1:4 over the whole bay then get a few different types of brushes and agitate the degreaser then you want to rinse the engine bay thoroughly after rinseing dry the engine with either leaf blower or by turning the vehicle on for a few minutes once removed bags and foil once dry pat up any water spots then apply a water based dressing to the whope engine let it soak in for five to ten minutes then wipe up any leftover dressing
 
what type of dressing do i apply? and what do i apply this dressing too? all the plastic in the bay? the belts? And I have a Subaru wrx if that makes a difference. So is purple power a good cleaner. Some were saying meg's degreaser worked pretty quickly on the engine bay. Just dont know what product to apply after to keep things protected
 
Cleaning engine bays are pretty straight forward and can be done with the following items.

Some like Simple Green, I don't. Simple Green corrodes aluminum and todays engine compartments are full of aluminum...




Spray all purpose cleaner on soiled areas. Using an appropriate brush, lightly scrub the soiled area then rinse with clean water. Preferably, warm water due to it's ability to dissolve contaminates and thoroughly rinse leaving the area clean. Use a garden hose and a black one will heat the water quickly on a warm sunny day..:props:

Do a section at a time until you're comfortable.

Engine Bay Products


Engine Bay Dressing


You need not worry about belts but shy away from electronics and items like alternators and relays.
 
aburgeson said:
what type of dressing do i apply? and what do i apply this dressing too? all the plastic in the bay? the belts? And I have a Subaru wrx if that makes a difference. So is purple power a good cleaner. Some were saying meg's degreaser worked pretty quickly on the engine bay. Just dont know what product to apply after to keep things protected
Click to expand...

For a otc cleaner yes its one of good ones, as for dressing I uses chemical guys silk shine on the plastic pieces of the engine(dont apply dessing to belts) and also you could most likely find YouTube vids of other people washing their WRX engines
 
Anything cheaper than hyper dressing that seems like a lot of cash to drop for some plastic pieces
 
BobbyG said:
Cleaning engine bays are pretty straight forward and can be done with the following items.

Some like Simple Green, I don't. Simple Green corrodes aluminum and todays engine compartments are full of aluminum...




Spray all purpose cleaner on soiled areas. Using an appropriate brush, lightly scrub the soiled area then rinse with clean water. Preferably, warm water due to it's ability to dissolve contaminates and thoroughly rinse leaving the area clean. Use a garden hose and a black one will heat the water quickly on a warm sunny day..:props:

Do a section at a time until you're comfortable.

Engine Bay Products


Engine Bay Dressing


You need not worry about belts but shy away from electronics and items like alternators and relays.
Click to expand...

I understand mate , I like Simple Green , as with aluminium corrosion , it aint going on engine since it has so much engine plastic covers on my ride & I spread it were I want it too , but it s a great warning if it can be told .
 
I use Purple Power all the time. Another great APC that's really safe is Optimum Power Clean but it's pricey. Make sure you read the dilution ratios on the PP and mix based on the lowest ratio for the entire engine components. It can leave a chalky residue on hoses which is reversed with dressing it.
I keep the my engine in great shape so I mix it weak and just put a little more elbow grease into the job.
 
aburgeson said:
And I have a Subaru wrx if that makes a difference.
Click to expand...


Yes it does make a difference. Cars, truck suvs, they are all very different and continually changing.

I don't believe anyone can be an expert for ALL cars ever made when it comes to cleaning and detailing an engine and the engine bay so years ago I wrote this article and I'd recommend reading it.


How to use a Discussion Forum to Detail an Engine



:)
 
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