Has anyone ever seen or used the "engine grime cleaner" option at those do-it-yourself washes? Mine could definately use a wash and I've always been hesitant b/c I don't want to fry any electronics.

 

http://forums.maxima.org/showpost.ph...49&postcount=9

 

I've used a degreaser on my engine, and this is probably the same thing. Take plastic grocery bags and cover up your intake if you have one, and harnesses up front. just wrap and tie the handles. O and for anyone else that has DDEs, cover up that ignitor. Mine blew out cause water got in it.

 

You beat my post.

 

I wouldn't do it at the car wash for several reasons.

1st - Your engine will be hot and spraying it with cold water is not a good thing. You will leave hard water drops all over the place that as hard as hell to get off.

2nd - The spray to rinse it is sort of high pressure and can get into places where it is not wanted.

That being said, get your self some simple green and do it at the house when your engine is totally cold. Spray it on, use a toothbrush to get anything that looks thick and wash it off with your garden hose. I wouldn't worry about the electrical wires as they are pretty well protected. Cover the intake if you have one. Then be ready with some towels to dry the enging. Don't start or drive the engine with the water on it. You will get calcium/hard water deposits all over the engine and the plastic. It can be ugly.

GOOD LUCK.

 

So sue me...

 

Oh come on people. I worked at a dealership and we would spray the hell out of running engines with a power degreaser, then hit it with the high pressure rinse. For follow up, you can spray a little armorall under the hood. Makes everything SHINY!

Just rev the engine once you are done rinsing. As always, be careful not to get degreaser on your paint or else.

 

how would you avoid that at a wash ha the thing automatically starts sprayin it would definately get on the car.

 

Mine could use a wash

 

Bingo. My boy used to do that for a Honda dealer and they just spray the hell out of those engines with the engine running and never covered the intake.

 

He means if you have an AM WAI or pop charger where the filter is exposed and therefore would get wet.

And on just sprayin down the engine. I've done in on many cars without a problem... Except one with a distributer. If you ge those wet, your car will run a bit lumpy for a while

 

how do you avoid getting this on paint if your at the wash or something? it sprays a ton and would be like.. un-avoidable

 

I dont even use degreaser. Soap and water work just fine. Either that or WD-40 works well too for the tough areas.

 

if you guys are worried about hard water deposits after the water dries, just use a filter like Mr. Clean car wash system which will get rid of that problem.

 

for precaution, i always use plastic bags over the alternator, battery and cone filter. i use it on a warm engine and cover the paint in surrounding areas with old towels. i just use engine brite degreaser and it seems to do the trick.

 

TOXIC and bad for the environment. Just use simple green.

 

i will stop when they outlaw it.

 

I found the engine brite to work better than simple green. Simple green is good to use on small tuff spots though. I think it is b/c engine brite is a foam and really spreads out over the whole engine bay. Another trick is after you are done spray foaming tire cleaner into the bay and it will brighten all the plastic and rubber parts

 

In the meantime, breath in deeply when you spray that stuff.

 

you would not want me to die. then you would have nothing to complain about. i simply prefer to spray all the small children and domestic animals running about the neighborhood.

 

Be careful... there may just be a stormtrooper lurking about during your next car wash....

 

I never had any problems. I spray engine degreaser all over my engine compartment and use high pressure rinse at a car wash. I do it once a year and my engine compartment looks new. I just start the car and let the engine heat burn off excess water in the compartment. I dont cover anything either.

 

I always use the high pressure wand at the car wash and in 20 years have never had a problem. I have never had to use de-greaser, just the normal "soap" setting on the machine. I keep the tip of the wand fairly far from anything that would be more sensitive to higher pressre. Look at it this way, in a heavy rain storm on when driving on the highway, the engine compartment is taking in a lot of water anyway.

 

Watch out with the knock sensor valley...



Also, beware of the small children around sloppy, you want to get it evenly in both eyes.

 

idk if i would man all those internals..

 

don't lie, you know senior citizens fall victim to your use of teh engine cleaner also.

 

I might have to get me some of that.... I hate some of the old people and cats in my neighborhood.....

 

i'm more worried about water collecting in the "V" portion of the block where the knock sensor sits

 

thats why i setup an autocross on my street and sling the water out.

 

parking cones and all?

 

2k2 owners - do you wash it with the engine cover on or off? if off, do you get water onto the coilpacks injector harness? do these have to be covered up as well?

 

i know you asked the 3.5 guys but i removed my ae cover and mine are completely open to the elements. i try not to focus the spray of the cleaner or the water but i do go over the coils with no issues. of course, i have only needed to clean mine about 3 times in 4 years.
i actually do not use parking cones but mutated midget children. they have no legs so they tend to stay put.

 

nice...I'll just stick to your original setup by covering intake, battery, alternator....and i'll try not to focus my water on the coilpacks and injector harnesses...

 

How about covering the HID balasts on 5.5th gens?

 

Isn't the ballast sitting like all the way down there? I dunno if you'd even spray water in that direction

 

I'll settle it all: I have a 5.5 gen (ballests) with an InJen CAI (or whatever Irish wants to call it....) that I've modified to make into a pop charger configuration and I wash my bay weekly with no problems. Yes, I actually wax my engine cover (painted) and armor-all my hoses and anything else plastic to make it shine. I'm **** like that.

 

Your engine bay looks atrocious. How can you live w/yourself.

 

I've washed my engine numerous times in the carwash bay. When I select the engine wash feature, I don't use the high pressure. It comes out anyway. And I try to work from the outsides in. And don't use heavy spray on the block/exhaust manifolds. You should gently work you way around them. Then let it sit for a few min. Then use the rinse. You can use the high pressure in CERTAIN areas but try not to direct it any connectors/intake etc....Comes out great. Yes you do get some water in the block valley but it evaporates when you drive around. I don't like using all the degreaser in my driveway so I use the carwash

 

Hmm, seems weird to me for some reason to shoot water into the engine bay, I don't know why. Next time it gets warm, I'm gonna have to do this.

 

I don't even take that much care. I just shoot the bay with the tire cleaner, pre-soak the rest of the car, put it on pressure wash, spray the carp out of it, and rinse it out. Never had a problem and I've done it around 100 times.