I'm looking for some advice on washing the engine on my 95 Max GXE. Never done it before. I understand you should somehow cover up some of the components such as electrical bits, but which ones specifically I'm not sure of. I'd hate to overlook one. What would you use, saran wrap? Any areas to be careful spraying? Thanks for any help.

 

Good question. Im sure this has been covered by the search is being mean. My engine is SO dirty. Im not gonna clean it till mud season is over, but still, i need to do that.

 

I wash my engine compartment every time I wash my car, and I have never covered anything.

If your engine is greasy, warm the engine up (not Hot), stop the engine, spray it down with Gunk and wait 15 minutes. If the grease is really caked on, you may have to scrub with a brush to remove it all. Thoroughly rinse with a garden hose. I would then wash again with a bucket full of car wash detergent. Rinse again, then dry with a towel to prevent water spots.

Once you've gotten it clean, it's easy to keep clean. I mix up a bucket of car wash and wash the engine, then the wheels. Throw that batch of suds out, then mix up another for the body.

If you really want to make the engine look good, wash it, spray it down with armorall, wait 15 minutes, then wash again.

 

Yup, this was answered before, but it was like 2 months ago. I wash my car's engine about once a month and all that I do is spray it down with the engine OFF, take Simple Green and spray it on the really dirty spots, wioe it down and then wash it off. As long as your relay box cover is properly seated and all of your underhood clamps are on, water can't get to anyplace that it isn't supposed to go in the engine. You may want to stay away from your battery though.

 

Keith, no wonder your engine bay always look so clean!

Speaking of cleaning engine, I need to do that soon. I probably go the old fashion way of just spraying the engine bay down and wipe it off with cloth towels. I tried using Simple Green and hosed it down with garden hose, but it didn't seem to get rid of the dirty residue. Didn't seem like it did anything.

 

if you're feeling lazy you could always goto the local carwash and ask for an engine steam clean

 

I've never been impressed with Simple Green (it does smell good, though). For spray-on cleaners, I've always used Formula 409 or Fantastic. They seem to cut thru the crud better.

 

Sorry to sound redundant but I have wanted to wash the engine bay for sometime now since it has gotten quite dirty. But unfortunately I haven't dare to do so since I have heard horror stories of the cars not starting after washing.
Now, I was just wondering, do any of you guys cover up the batter, air intake or the alternator (or anything else) before you wet the engine down and then spray simple green (or any other engine cleaner) and then rehosing it down? And this is for the ENTIRE engine compartment (from the firewall to the front grill?) I am just wondering because the last thing I need is to have my car sputtering.

I thought steam cleaning could damage some electrical components?

 

I NEVER cover anything on the engine. I soap everything down (COLD engine, remember) including the underside of the hood, the battery, etc. I've washed the engine on my Maxima at least 50 times and have never had any problems. It is 6 years old, has 70K miles and still has the original starter, alternator, cooling fans, etc.

I don't use the power washer at the do-it-yourself car wash, but I do use a garden hose with a spray nozzle on it. The car wash owners don't allow any engine cleaning at their establishment.

 

If you have a Stillen or a JWT intake you will want to cover up the air filter because it is exposed. You don't want water in your filter.

 

For the response. So I guess I can pretty much wet the engine (cold) and then spray either simple green or some soapy solution ALL OVER the engine bay front and back--and then just hose the entire thing down with a light garden hose. Light pressure--right...

alrighty--I am going to give it a shot since I see a lot of salt spots from the winter.

thanks

 

Good point, you definately want to cover an exposed filter. I have a CAI, so it's not an issue.