i know this is a stupid question, but my engine is getting very dusty. What can i use to clean them ? will some chemical cleaners like windex mess up the parts ? haha thanks...

 

Lol this guy said windex LOL HEHEHEHEHE, just get a empty water bottle pour half bleach and half amonnia(I forget how to spell it) and shake it for about 30 secs and pour all over your engine bay that should bring a nice shine ( TO YOUR FACE!) Lol nah but for real though i think some people use some **** called seafoam. Go to autozone or some place like that and buy that engine spray clean and power wash your engine while you leave it running, den spray some oil **** all over it i forget what its called.

 

Engine Cleaner?? Several brands available at ANY auto store. Don't run your car while rinsing. Make sure it's cool. Spray, let it sit a couple minutes then rinse. Start car after rinse.
If you're washing your car, do engine first, then car.

 

or take tin foil and wrap up electrical parts, plastic bag to cover aftermarket intake and use the foil or bag to shield the alternator. also you can take your floormat and flip it upside down rubberside up and sit ontop of the USIM.

then spray down with water

then use castrol super clean 50/50 with water or something like simple green straight, and spray all over the place and get some brushes and rags and start scrubbing.

spray off and dry

then take armor all and spray all over the engine bay aiming at plastics and hoses.

you should be good after that, check around your upper intake manifold area for water, some places in that area will collect it. if so, soak it up.

 

What are talking about?! Seafoam isnt for cleaning your engine bay. Use simple green. Take out the battery and make sure the other stuff in your engine bay wont get affected by water. Spray on simple green (to a cold engine!!!). Wipe down, Wash it off and polish it down. Turn on the car and drive around to dry it off afterwards. Not when you're cleaning it....Pretty simple process if it's just dusty.

Still need to go back and polish the valve cover better but that was how mine came out.

 

most worthless post ever. if you don't know what you're talking about, don't post.

what i have done is take out the battery, cover the alternator, air filter, put a floor mat on the IM, like Ceasar said, and then wet it all down, use a grease remover, rinse it off, and then go at things that were missed or that you want cleaner. it's really not too bad.

 

GStrength, seafoam is not for externally cleaning the engine, its designed to clean the internal parts of the engine(ie..combustion chamber, fuel system...etc). Ive used simple green straight, get some toothbrushes either normal ones or the ones with metal brushes and just clean everything, make sure you cover up all electronics, for example altenator, battery, fuses, relays, afm, and etc, use your judgement, what wouldnt you want water to go into. ive seen people go straight in with a pressure washer and not cover anything up, well they learned there lesson after they went to start there car and it just cranked and wouldnt start. simple green and for harder spots were oil has been baked on i use gunk engine cleaner, it has a really strong smell so id rinse it off good.

 

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=453352

 

brake cleaner will clean anything and is super cheap.

 

what ive done once or twice is when im washing my car at the local do it yourself carwash, they have a setting called "engine and tire cleaner" i spray that all over my engine (cover up HAI and battery) and then rinse it off, it works great. ive also used simple green, and some high strenght degreaser on the tranny and bottom of engine block. to really make it shine, use some armor all as a final touch. heres a pic of mine Fairly clean:

 

just don't let it get on your paint

 

 

I just clean mine with a damp rag. To get grease off of stuff especially the valve cover, be careful, I used carb cleaner on the valve cover, but let it sit too long before wiping. It starts to eat at the zinc coating, down to the silver metal. It's better to use de-greaser. Also, I wouldn't spray the engine with water, that's a good way to cause the Knock Sensor to go out, as well as other problems. All metal parts, just rub alot with a medium-fine grit Steel Wool. That's what I did to all the metal/bronze I could get to. The outcome




My Hand Polishing With Sand Paper & Steel Wool.

 

^ now thats clean !

got a photo of mine below, not much under the hood but whats in there stays clean ! LOL !

 

yeah, like me
took me two days to get rid of the problem

 

head to autozone or any auto parts store, they got tons of stuff to clean an engine bay

 

CD2 engine cleaner and spray detailer is pretty good stuff. Pretty much one can of degreaser, and one can of shiny crap.

 

I've never covered ANYTHING. My car always starts.
This is usually an issue if it's an older car with a distributor.

 

Are you kidding?! You dont cover your battery? that's smart.

 

Well, please explain to me why the battery should be covered then.

 

Yeah the only time my engine was sprayed down, nothing was covered.

 

I was always told its not smart to mix water and battery. Maybe it doesnt matter, whatever you want to do.

 

well thats fine but id rather not take the chance of frying something, whether or not it wont break anything, but water + electronics usually isnt a good mix.

 

I hear what y'all are saying, and by no means am I saying that you shouldn't be careful. But from my POV, it doesn't hurt anything. I mean, it's not as if the engine compartment is waterproof. Stuff gets wet when we drive thru the rain, and depending the splash, some can get pretty far up there. All the electronics on most cars from the '90's have miltary/aircraft grade connectors, so the chance of water getting into the electronics is fairly remote. For me, the concern would be when stuff gets added to the system, like connectors for a stereo or some other stuff. I don't have anything that requires megawatts of power. For me, I also put some die-electric grease on the terminals every so often.

 

Simple Green Works Wonders not sure is someone already said this.

 

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=462762

 

Battery is waterproof. And as long as water dosent touch both contacts at same time, your okay.

 

engnie degreaser and a prssure washer....i leave the car runngin its fine...never had a problem

 

since it only takes about a minute to cover everything, I think it's a much safer practice than just hosing everything down.

 

yeah man simple green is your best choice FTW.. For some reason though, even when super clean my engine bay just looks kinda mediocre, the black just looks terrible in my opinion. The white looks amazing though.

 

a sponge, simple green and a lot of elbow greese:

 

Go to your car wash and use the tyre and engine bay setting. Don't hit the electrics too much or you'll pay through the nose to get it fixed. Or if you get keen use degreaser and brake clean and a rag and polish to your hearts content. I just read this article in a mag where this fella wanted to "clean" his engine in this old Corolla he had so he took his air cleaner off and sprayed 3 cans of carby clean down his carb. Long story short - stripped his bores, fried his rings diluted his oil and was up for a rebuild or a new engine. lol