Cleaning the Engine Bay

[Broaders]

I want to give my engine bay a good clean but I don't want to go down the route of steam cleaning due to bad exsperiences. Is there any products out there which peeps would recomend to give it a good clean...

Cheers

[blackbooty]

I want to give my engine bay a good clean but I don't want to go down the route of steam cleaning due to bad exsperiences. Is there any products out there which peeps would recomend to give it a good clean...

Cheers

hi, ive seen garages brushing parafin about to degrease and you also have the "Gunk" product in a liquid and a spray on foam.
gunk is ok but you need to brush it into the heavier areas of oil/grease build up. and you still need to wipe or wash down afterwards.
id go for parafin unless someone on the forum advises against it for some reason.

wayne.

[Waxworks]

I have had bad past experiences using steam cleaners or pressure washers on engine bays so i wont use them, however I did my engine bay on Friday and i used some engine cleaner and engine laquear all in one spray can.
It's so easy to use all i did was get the engine at a warm temperature, spray the engine cleaner onto the engine, airbox, anything really. I did the back of my radiator, backs of the headlights everything in the engine bay.
Leave for degreaser to work, any stubborn oily deposits and just lightly agitate using a soft brush and leave for about 5 mins.
Start the engine and let it idle. Get your normal garden hose with a jet attatchment on the end and just simply spray off taking care around the distributor cap and coil. Once you think that all degreaser has been washed off leave the car to idle to dry off the engine bay.
Once dry under the bonnet simply spray around the whole engine bay making sure that everything gets a good coating and just leave it ticking over to dry.
If you find that you have a missfire simply leave it ticking over some more and hopefully everything will dry properly.
I can't remeber the name of the all in one degreaser and laquear but i'l have a look at home and post it on here.

[Broaders]

Thanks Waxworks, sounds like a trip to Halfrauds is on the cards.

[Waxworks]

Thanks Waxworks, sounds like a trip to Halfrauds is on the cards.
Yep it's Halfords that do this stuff, i belive it called Detailing or something.

[Waxworks]

Forgot to mention you might want to cover up your wings and windscreen as the stuff goes everywhere.
I was lucky when i did it the car had 3 layers of polish waiting to be taken off.

[poochingaround]

Be very careful when hosing down hot engine components with cold water i have personally had a radiator header tank fracture and serious damage COULD be caused by the rapid cooling of aluminium components.ie cyl head.

[Babybadger]

Be very careful when hosing down hot engine components with cold water i have personally had a radiator header tank fracture and serious damage COULD be caused by the rapid cooling of aluminium components.ie cyl head.

Warm water tap looks like the right one then! Also helps remove the gunk stuff. Maybe that's why it's called steam claening as opposed to cold water cleaning.

[Bigpunter]

see below, double post. :dunce:

[Bigpunter]

Broaders,

I usually clean my engine every 2 months or so. Just cover any wires (that don't look like they should get wet), ignition leads going into the spark plug area (water tends to sit there) and anything else you think should be coved. However, everything in the engine bay should be waterproof its still best to cover electricals.

My process is as follows; I let the engine heat from cold for about 5 mins then shut it off. Then spray AG Engine & Machine cleaner everywhere or similar degreaser. Agitate it, then hose it off with a spray (constantly change the direction of the water, never point it in one are for too long). After that I just dry off the essential parts with a towel, remove plastic baggies/tin foil and start the engine again. The heat of the engine dries everything very well anyways.

This bit is optional but is worth the bother; once everything is dry however, apply a vinyl & rubber dress/protectant on plastic parts and rubber hoses as this will extend their life, and improve the overall look. Then stand back and admire :B_blite: .

[grumpybob]

....or have a look at this site for plenty of "how too" guides.

http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/acatalog/guides.html

HTH

Bob

[T5ER]

i did my engine bay on monday at our valet bay used there wheel cleaner neat(good for the alloy parts)and then a goodish doseing of undiluted tfr got the steam cleaner wacked it round to 200 degrees centigrade and washed the lot off,Did get a toothbrush on some stained areas and now she shines like a dream.Today she had 3 coats of polish just to protect the paintwork while she is sat about

[Andrew]

i did my engine bay on monday at our valet bay used there wheel cleaner neat(good for the alloy parts)and then a goodish doseing of undiluted tfr got the steam cleaner wacked it round to 200 degrees centigrade and washed the lot off,Did get a toothbrush on some stained areas and now she shines like a dream.Today she had 3 coats of polish just to protect the paintwork while she is sat about
:worthless

[T5ER]

i know might pop up tomorrow and get some pics of lunatic now he`s clean still got a bit of detalling to do on him got the tatty alloys to sand down and respray in anthracite they will then be my summer sset and the silver ones will be my winter set annd i know :worthless but will try and sort some,got the inside to do aswell

[fireclown]

a good wipe down with a cloth. spray with duck oil. then wipe off. silcon spary is good on plastics and rubbers too.

[Waxworks]

This is the stuff, at a halfords near you now!!!!
Engine degreaser and laquear all in one.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/Steve250371/PHTO0028_edited.jpg

[T5ER]

i have used that stuff b4 and it works bloody well

[Broaders]

Did mine on Monday with a similar product from Halfrauds. One can was the engine cleaner/degreaser, the other can was the engine detailer.

[Waxworks]

Did mine on Monday with a similar product from Halfrauds. One can was the engine cleaner/degreaser, the other can was the engine detailer.

I've used the same too, same excellent results, but easier and cheaper if in one tin.
Got any piccys????
:)

[Broaders]

Not yet, I don't think the engine bay is up to picture standards yet. I think I will need to give it another go to get it super clean. My engine bay looked like it had not been touched or cleaned since it was new.

[Straker]

So what's wrong with steam cleaning? I was thinking about having mine done that way...... What bad experiances have people had? :frown:

[Broaders]

I would say it would be fine if you take the right precautions, covering the vunerable ignition parts. I once had a car steam cleaned and it was never the same, I don't want to risk that again with this car.

[Waxworks]

I would say it would be fine if you take the right precautions, covering the vunerable ignition parts. I once had a car steam cleaned and it was never the same, I don't want to risk that again with this car.

Me too, i had my peugeot 205 gti steam cleaned by a reputable valeting company and afterwards it refused to start. Even towing it home it wouldn't fire on all cylinders properly.
Left it to dry out and it eventually ran ok but it was never quite the same after.
:(

[Straker]

Humm not glowing endorsements. Maybe I'll take the elbow grease route. Thanks.

[T5ER]

i have allways steam cleaned my engine bays and never had any problems at all (apart from the odd fan belt screech) i start the car pull it up to the valet bay steam cleaner lift bonnet cover in wheel cleaner and tfr get toothbrush on bad areas turn heat all the way up and give it a quick bast over just enough to remover said cleaners then leave it running still for about 15 mins then shut bonnet

[fireclown]

trouble is there are lots of electrical connections under the bonnet. and steam gets everywere. if corrosion sets in. which it can. it causes problems.

[Andrew]

Tried the stuff waxworks suggested (NGK was it ?) - got rid of a fair bit. You really need several sized stiff brushes through everything from the wheel type down to the baby bottle cleaning type to do a really good job.

Despite a liberal doseage everywhere though the engine still started no problem.

Ac.

[Matt30462]

I tried some NV after visiting Waxworks the other week. I was suitably impressed. Andrew's right, it's not some miracle concourse quality provider but, if you don't have hours and hours to spend on the bay and your engine is not totally obscurred by grease and grime it does a pretty good job. Mine looks 100% better.

[Dacvolvo]

http://www.freewebs.com/dacvolvo/enginebay.htm