I just couldn't take it anymore.there was muck all over my recently purchased 98 SE. so yes the other day the neighbors weren't home and I sprayed four cans of Gunk on the hot engine and trans all over ( had it jacked up with engine undercovers off) and hit it with a pressure washer.

I had spread a pile of sawdust and kitty litter behind the car to catch the sludge runoff.

The results were impressive--just like she came off the showroom floor! Pics this aftrenoon. meanwhile lets see yours--dirty or clean.

 

i have never cleaned my engine. Im jus too nervous.

What did u use and how did u do it. Did u cover up sensors and Battery?

 

I do my own. Once a year, normally in the spring time.

 

yo NRW sup man, u gonna have to help me out on that one lol

 

My engine bay is the place where the car really shows it's 300k. It looks like ***. lots of little leaks and stuff... one day I'll get around to cleaning it up.

 

mine gots 295k miles and looks damn near brand new i armor all all the black once a month and purple power clean the motor and engine bay,


let me give a warning to some you guys keep the water away from the ac compressor cause the first time i cleaned mine with high pressure water my ac compressor bearings made noise well they still do but only with ac turned off with it on its quiet. my buddys compressor locked up a week after washing his maximas motor.

 

Nope never have it looks clean but not brand new, I don't want to risk damaging anything I don't know how you guys do it.

 

well, u not supposed to drown the engine in water right. All u supposed to do is one or 2 quick passes

EDIT:

I took a air compressor and a rag and wiped it down. It came out lookin betta but still dont shine

 

i used to be crazy about it years ago, haven't done it in a couple of years until last week. looked pretty bad from the neglect but cleaned up nicely.

Truth

 

Here is mine... Not concours, but not bad!

Every other car wash it gets I spray tire/engine cleaner in there, leave it a little while then rinse it off with the power washer - job done!

 

Lets see the pics! The PO for my 98 kept it in really OCD clean shape (Not floor-model clean, but enough) So I'm really hesitant to pressure wash anything under the hood.

 

I've halfway tried it a couple of times, by which i basically mean putting purple power on manifold and spark cover and scrubbing that off, but that's about as far as i feel safe doing...

 

I think I've cleaned mine once in my max and never cleaned my Z (it adds to the sleeperness).

 

funny u post this i just did mine for the first time i was always scared to but it started

 

Thats great now help me find my coolant leak --see my post from last night, otherwise I have to spend a beautiful day tomorrow in my garage

 

I've detailed it, but with degreaser, toothbrush, wet rags, and dry rags to wipe off the dampness. It took a while, but it was worth it, and I didn't have to worry about water damaging the engine parts.

 

yea only thing i cover up is my air filter since its open and on other cars i cover the distributor but we dont have one.

 

Wow with a toothbrush huh? I am very interested in seeing a pic of yours...

 

i used to clean mine with degreaser and armor all 3 times a year but now that i got an older max with more leaks....forget it

 

you can spray a engine down if its cool and you cover exposed wires, but i personally dont do that. i just soak degreaser on dirty parts, then once it works in just scrub off the nasties. afterwards, i just get a clean rag, soak it in clean water, and wipe over where i degreased.

i dont think my engine bay was ever cleaned up, my strut towers had literally a quarter inch of grease buildup and within a few hours of scrubbing i got my whole engine bay cleaned up

 

When I used to go to meets and car shows I used to wash mine every couple months. I was paranoid and wrapped or covered anything electrical with saran wrap. Alternator, connectors, battery, oh, and of course the air filter and maf. Used CD2 brand stuff that had a cleaner and then a shine product. Worked great, not sure if they still have it or not. Let the degreaser do its thing, then take quick sprays downwards at the engine bay. I tried to never spray at an angle. Leftover gunk gets brushed then wiped out with a rag. To dry you could follow the directions, which I believe were to let it run at idle for 15 minutes or something. I like to dry what I can with a paper towel then let it sit with the hood up for a few hours before I start the engine. Over the years I've probably washed my engine bay 30+ times. Never had an issue. Just have to put in the time to prep. It also helps to have a good place to do it. Don't want to stain your driveway up, for those of us with **** like HOA's.

 

ive got small leaks in all my gaskets and a friend told me theres a chance of haveing a real leak if i clean it off. i just dont bother. its not like i got anything fancy enough to show off haha

 

After you've got the engine compartment all cleaned up, soak it down with Armorall and let it sit over night. The next morning wipe off any excess and it will look like a concorse detail.

 

I wash it and sometimes do a little scrubbing if there's caked on stuff. I don't detail it.

 

Don't you have to be careful when using degreaser on the underside of cars?

I heard that it can also clean off all the rubber that is underneath the car like on the frames. Then the rust comes.

 

no.
I have a life.

 

nope. its a mess.








oh yea, this is in the wrong forum

 

and i take it to the max with my detailing...super cereal!

 

I've never "detailed" or even washed my engine or under-hood body paint. I did wash my front valve cover before I got around to doing the gaskets. I used Fast Orange hand cleaner and a tooth brush and sprayed it pretty good with the garden hose. Besides that one spot I've never cleaned anything under the hood. Didn't even clean parts as I reassembled the VC gasket job, just gasket surfaces.

 

doing this to my 300ZX right now

 

I don't remember when this was, but I think it's from about 1.5 years ago, now the CAI couplers are all black and I've taken the rad. shroud off. But I think this is after I detailed it.?

 

Everybody that has a pic of their engine, they all look good. As someone stated, I used to be into it but am not going to go out of my way anymore. I do however, keep it clean. I find if there is no leak, one can go a couple years (at least 'round here) with it just getting dusty. In the old days I would hammer engines with hi pressure car washes or pressure washers (careful), and really that's the way to go for initial grease removing cleaning. But once you get there, a garden hose is all the pressure you need & even then, less is more.

 

i did once or twice, but i find that even if i dont really clean it, it still looks pretty clean because of the bling. by that i mean the polished parts. the shiny strut bar, the polished valve cover, the shiny radiator cap, and now the polished blower make it look clean no matter what. the 00vi makes it look cleaner also. so u wanna have a "clean" engine bay? accessorize!

 

pshhh...narrh !