With the warmer weather I am interested in cleaning the engine bay of my car. I am wondering what are some of the best tech. for doing this without disturbing the electrical gremlins. I thought this would be a great thresd with all the cruises and shows coming up.

 

Water and soap, It always works for me. Just dont blast the engine bay.

 

So if you spray it with low pressure at the car wash will it ever run again? B\G

 

For the first time I would use water and soap in a bucket, and just spot spray the areas after you clean them. Just really look around and try not to get any of the clips/electronics wet. After you are done, use a leaf blower to dry it. Then go over the plastic and hoses with some armor all, and itll look better than new.

 

Definately use a leaf blower or airhose if you are going to use water. That's what I have done with everything I have owned except the vette ... it just hasnt gotten anything more that dusty.

Also, make sure you have a front hood seal and that your fender seals are in good repair. That will help it stay clean. gl

 

If you look on the Adam's polishes website there is a good video of how they do it. It looks really easy and they don't use water or anything so all the electronics would be safe.

 

when i did mine, i used hose with soap and water. I disconnected the battery before hand.

 

I would use a gentle cleaner on a sponge and brushes. Water spray can cause electrical problems as well as corroding the knock sensors (located under the intake manifold, there is a TSB on this which builds a dam of RTV when replacing them to keep water out).

The Adams video on engine cleaning can be found here:

http://www.adamspolishes.com/t-Videos_DVD5_5.aspx

 

Got a link to this video?

 

https://www.adamspolishes.com/t-videos.aspx

 

this is just me, doing it my way, on my car.....so don't yell at me if you don't like the way I clean MY engine compartment.

first, i only do it with the engine dead cold. second, i have a steep driveway that i do it on so that water runs back and doesn't sit on any flat surfaces.
then i blast the whole thing with the a spray nozzle on the hose to get all the dust and little junk that gets in there out, being careful not to blast any connections directly with water.
once everything is nice and wet, i spray everything (except connections) with Simple Green Engine Degreaser. i let it sit for a while and then blast it clean with the hose. wipe down with a towel, then blow it all dry with the compressor making sure not to force water past any weather-pak seals. after it's all dry, i wipe everything down with Meguires tire shine.....hoses, air bridge, vararam, fan housings, shroud, innerfenders, coupler, intake, etc.
after that i fire it up, get it into the garage and leave it parked overnight with the hood up to make sure that any residule water can evaporate before driving so that engine heat doesn't cause any steam to get into the water-paks.
hope that helps

 

I do mine about 3 times a year and use CD2 cleaner and spray off with garden hose- I cover the alternator and my K&N filters with plastic. Then I use normal hose pressure and spray off the cleaner. Start up the leaf blower and dry everything, Fire up engine and let it run a few minutes untill just slightly warm. Then I spray everything with the CD2 resin.Looks Great, Has worked for 94,000 miles with no problems. My neighbor has a C4 and I told him don't even think about putting water under the hood of that car.
OGC5

 

Anyone use the Adams cleaners that were listed above. I like the idea of no water being sprayed. Anyone with a review of how it worked????

 

a couple times a year i clean my engine bay. start w/engine slightly warm or cold is fine. cover all electronic connections & alternator with aluminum foil, squish it nice & snug. squirt some simple greeen or fantastic on the dirty parts, let soak for 10 min., then rinse with hose, blasting some sections and light spray others. remove aluminum foil. let air dry for half hour. squirt a light coat of rubber protectant on hoses & sections i'd like to have coated. turn on engine for about 5 min. until i see a little steam from motor. wipe down any excess water and rubber protectant.

been doing this method for years on all of my cars. guaranteed to look sparkling clean!

 

I just did my engine bay last night in preperation for doing some shining and painting of some under the hood items. I ended up blowing it out with an air hose (don't forget the radiator area I found tons of crap loaded up in there) The used the simple green method and let it sit. I did this 2 times then lightly hosed off. I dryed with the air again. Turned out nice, can't wait to get things painted !

 

What is the best way to get the radiator?

 

I unbolted the top shroud (since its being painted anyway) I unhooked the intake and peeled back the front black shroud to get to the front of the front radiator. I used air to blow them both out you can get a long curved attachment for your air hose to get deeper betwwen the 2 radiators. It takes time, but you would be shocked how much stuff comes out. (I thought my engine bay is fairly clean)