I want to make my engine bay sqeeky clean. Its really dirty right now. I bought this arosal can that you spray on and hose off... Im going to wait til my engine cools down (3-4) hours just to be safe and then spray it on a pressure wash. Anyone got ahy tips? and How often will i need to do this to make it look like a "showroom" engine bay?

 

Theres a link to a detailed site about cleaning the bay, I'm sure someone will post it soon. All you really need to do is warm the engine up (not cold, not hot either) and then turn it off. Cover everything that is sensative to water with plastic bags. This includes your intake cone filter (if you have one), the stock intake snorkel (if you have it), cover the spark plug coils, any thing else exposed. Not a bad idea to cover the battery, at least the positive connection. Spray the engine cleaner on, follow its directions, then wash it off with water. I'd use a garden hose and no attachments. I don't think you need a high pressure spray. Immediately use cotton towels to soak up any puddles and dry large water deposits out. Remove the plastic. Then start the engine and let it warm up to evaporate the rest of the water.

 

eh i never would do this....so risky. There are so many electrical components, if you short one out or get loosened dirt in the wrong place u'll get CEL up the wazoooo! good luck let us know the results.

 

Follow the instructions in the cleaner can and use normal water pressure to rinse it. AS bb0ys said, cover everything (i'd add the alternator to the list) and dry the puddles, you should be safe. Then close your hood and start the car for a few minutes to dry the remaining water. There are products to make the engine components look like new after the cleaning. I used one that works similar to a protectant like Armor-All but for the engine, it even smells good.

 

Last time I cleaned my engine bay - I used a product I brought from walmart that was a combo of Orange Blossom and Greased lightning. It came in a orange can. Just spray it on - let it sit for about 10 minutes and rinse off. I used an attachment I have on my garden hose that sprays in a gentle low-pressure mist. It worked beautifully. Didn't have to cover anything.

 

I think the best thing to do is to get a bunch of diaper rags or old T-shirts, some carb cleaner (for solvent), armor-all (for shine), and a lot of elbow grease. The Aluminum parts corrode very quickly afte you clean them so they'd need to have some kind of clear coating on them to keep them shiny (after you use a wire brush and a lot of metal polish).

I'v cleaned engine bays before and that's pretty much all it takes. I'm very wary about covering a bunch of stuff with plastic and hosing it down as the engine cleaner cans tell you. It will look much better if you spend a whole day on it with a 6-pack and a lot of wiping.

Put the effort in to get a real nice look. A can of junk and a hose won't yeild nearly the same result. Not for show anyway.