i wanna make my engine bay look sexy and clean. I was wondering if there is anyway to clean it simply using household items. any recommendations would help...even if its not household items

 

Try reading the How-to's next time.
http://forums.maxima.org/showpost.ph...49&postcount=9

Mooney

 

if you want it to look sexy jsut put me in your engine bay . nah i actually am trying to get my engine clean too.

 

For what it's worth, I've been stuffing a rag in my intake, spraying Simple Green, and washing the engine down with a pressure wand at least once every 6 months since I bought my GLE new. You can eat off of the valve cover. The engine compartment looks as new as the day I bought it.
I don't use Armor All for anything. Especially not in my engine compartment. I just cleaned it for goodness sakes!

Some of the advantages that I've noticed is that lesser mechanics don't seem as eager to try to pull the same shenanigans as they had with my previous Max. And quality mechanics seem to respect and appreciate my car just a little bit more. Well worth the extra few minutes every 6 months or so.

Simple Green also works well on wheels, the door jams, and fender wells. Just use de-ionized water in the door jams otherwise you'll get stuck with hard-water spots.

 

Id just use soap and water with a wash mit, its basically the same treatment you'd use on the outside of your car. Its painted and clearcoated, so you can wash it down and then put down a nice layer of wax.

 

damn, always something... I never thought to wax the doorjams. I would usually wipe them down while I'm washing, but never have waxed anything other than the outside surfaces. hopefully I can get one more wax in over thanksgiving...

 

The front doors are recessed towards the front fenders so it's hard to get in there. I also mit the pillars and areas around the kit plate along with the curve of the back well. However, the actual front door jab is hard to get into.

 

I did this last week, and afterwards my car won't start. It turns over, but doesn't fire. The check engine goes out while cranking and it has 1/3 of a tank of gas.

All I did was spray it down with simple green and rinsed it off with a garden hose. I didn't use a pressure washer or anything like that.

 

Is it working now or are you still having problems? Sounds like you got water into a spot where it shouldn't be. Let the engine bay dry out and check to see if the ECU is spitting out any codes.

 

Yep, the car's been sitting since tuesday and I haven't had much time to do anything about it. I wish I had a code scanner.

 

It is a good idea to plan on letting your car sit overnight after you clean the engine bay,this will give the water that got into the electronic components to dry out....If you are in a hurry and have access to a electric or gas powered leaf blower,then use it to dry the engine bay area quickly....concentrate on sensors,wiring harnesses and other critical parts when using the leaf blower...I have done this everytime i wash my engine bay and have never had any mechanical problems.....

 

I washed it on tuesday and tried starting it yesterday and it still wouldn't start. Are you suggesting I try a leaf blower?

Oh, one more thing, I checked all the fuses both under the hood and at the fuse box.

 

Naw.... it was just a general statement on washing the engine....It can't hurt though.....

Did you try to drive the car immediately after washing???

 

I tried to start it about 3 hours after washing. Everything looked dry and it was about 80 degrees that day.

 

You may have fried a fusible link.....

This thread may help you....http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....t=fusible+link

 

Hmmm. 3 hours of washing in 80 degree heat? Is it possible that you ran the battery below 25% charge? I bet all you have to do is replace your battery. How old is it?

Washing your engine isn't inherently damaging AFAIK. Neither is starting a with a wet engine (but if I am wrong in that idea, please let me know... maybe I've just been super lucky).

Running down an older lead acid battery on a hot day however is a different matter.

You don't need a lead blower to dry your engine. At least I haven't... yet.

I haven't experienced a no start from washing in 8 years but I have run through at least three batteries, perhaps more. I forget.

It is possible that running the battery on a warm day with the stereo playing -- or interior lights on -- for three hours pushed it over the edge. It is possible that it was going to die shortly anyway.

Have your battery checked before you do anything else.*

*I'm not a mechanic. Just a regular consumer.

 

Never mind. If it was the battery, not a whole lot would happen except for some clicking followed by nothingness.

Now I'm curious. Let me see what I can come up with. I'd like to know if I've just been lucky as heck for the last 8 years... which would be a first.

 

After exhaustive research... not really... I concur. Fusible link or a bad ignition switch. How would this be caused by washing the engine and how can I avoid it?

 

Water is a pretty good conductor of electricity....So when you wash your engine,water coats the engine,wiring,sensors,fusible links....Then when you open a positive connection when you try to start the car,the postive charge will connects with the body ground via the water...And buuuuzzzzzz...poof Hope that explains it for ya...

 

You do realize that because you've told me -- even after all the times I've done this without incident -- the next time I try to wash my engine, utter and complete frizzelation will occur, right?

Thanks for the info. Better to learn this way than the hard way.

 

Is the fusable link the big fuse on the + battery terminal? If that died, the starter would not work?? How could it be a bad ignition switch if it turns over???

 

Yes the starter will work even if it is blown....

This thread explains the location of them...http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....=fusible+links

 

crap, I checked all the fusable links and tried another ECM relay and it still won't start. I connected a OBD II scanner and there's no codes being thrown. I removed a spark plug after cranking it for about 10sec and there was no gas on the end of the plug. I can hear the fuel pump coming on. For some reason, no fuel is being injected.

It's been since last tuesday since it was washed. I'm pulling my hair out here, any more ideas?

 

.........I might be mechanic time...

 

That was a stupid thing for me to post. I apologize, foobeca. I wish I could have been of more help to you.

I hope you are up and running with your Maxima again soon.

 

followed your how-to, here's results sorry no comn pics

yeah and i got toyota red in my max

 

I found out what was wrong with my car. Don't know if it's a coincedence or not, but the immobilizer died. It wasn't covered by my certified warranty, but nissan did a goodwill on it. I'll get my car back on monday.

 

Since you have a newer car you should be fine using 303 aerospace cleaner or autoglym's engine degreaser. Just make sure you engine is warm and not hot, spray on your cleaner let it site for a couple of minutes then hose it off. Got rid of any excess water and start the car. Let it run for awhile as you will want to dry the motor off well, maybe even take a small drive if you like. Just dont spary allot of water on your plug leads and no heavy pressure and you should be fine.

 

I used to detail interiors for this one guy this past summer and he would always do a complete wash of the car (engine bay, fender wells, etc) with the power washer. I sometimes would aswell, but I would always let him do the engine bay because I didn't want to be at risk for something like this. Am I just being too paranoid or is my caution warranted? I'm going to be bidding on a 97 at an auction Tuesday and the engine is disgusting cause it's been sitting. All I have at the moment is a regular hose. This car was theft so it shouldn't have any engine problems. You guys think I can wash the bay? I really don't feel like ruining my engine in some way when I just got the car. And if I should, how best to go about it? What areas should I NOT wash other than the plugs? And how fast/slow should I go with the rest of the bay?

 

Everyone locally makes fun of me for waxing my engine cover, but as you can see, i have one of the cleanest bays around (if not THE definitive cleanlest bay on the .org...). Here's some pics:
About a year ago:


some updates:



Another angle:



From the front:




I have 137,000 miles on my car and the bay actually looks better now than when I first bought it. The way I keep it so clean is as follows:
When I'm washing it in one of the bays, I use the tire cleaner to spray the engine compartment. After that (and after spraying my tires), I rinse the bay and close the hood. After I dry the outside of the car, I dry the bay, wax the engine cover with Tech Waz, hit the rubber with black majic tire wet, and polish the chrome with chrome polish. At the meets, everyone has to look at my bay at least once, even the people who have seen it before.

 

let me be the first to say wow :wow: looks incredible. keep it up. it definitely says something about the way you treat your car.

 

"I have 137,000 miles on my car and the bay actually looks better now than when I first bought it."

137,000 on a 2003 Maxima! wow

 

i tried cleaning my engine bay with simply a wet rag a few weeks ago and the other day when i changed my oil i noticed the chrome nissan emblem on my engine cover is bubbling terribly and it feels as if i could peel the finish off w/ ease does anyone kno why this occured???

 

what i do is,

first cover my air filter and alternator with some saran wrap or plastic. Then i spray everything down with simple green. I let is sit for a few minutes, i cover everything. For the areas that are dirty i scrub a bit with a towel.

Then I rinse. I dont use a pressure washer as I dont want to force water into places that usually holds out water. I just use my hose and wash it down. I rinse until the bubbles are gone. Then i get a towel and dry everything the best I can and keep the hood up to dry. Once its dry i remove the plastic and spray the engine bay with engine detailer to make all the plastic and hose nice and shiney. Let it sit for a few hours and drive back in garage to make sure the water is dried.

 

[QUOTE=Mayhem King]For what it's worth, I've been stuffing a rag in my intake, spraying Simple Green, and washing the engine down with a pressure wand at least once every 6 months since I bought my GLE new. You can eat off of the valve cover. The engine compartment looks as new as the day I bought it.
[QUOTE]

this is exactly what i do, works great!

 

it could be a bad emblem and the heat from the engine bay is making it come off....