Cleaning my engine bay... any ideas?

**Vendetta** · 01-12-2004,ï¿½11:36 PM

I just want to say sorry that I didn`t do a search, I`m sure this was brought up a million times, but I`m very tired right now....

I`d like to clean my engine bay and make it look all shiny. :p Some people recommended degreaser and Armour All tire foam. Then I heard the tire foam contains silicone which can eat away at paint and other things. So I`m curious, are there any other applicants I can use to make the bay look nice? All help would be appreciated, thanks.

**quamen** · 01-12-2004,ï¿½11:53 PM

Damn man i cant give you advice right now other then that looks like one very hard and tight engine to work on. I was yelling when it took me 3 hours to chage wires on my truck, cause i had to actually remove a wheel and go from the bottom to top.I dont see any spae in there!!

**Scottwax** · 01-13-2004,ï¿½12:54 AM

I`ve had real good results using Greased Lightnings Orange Blast Degreaser.

**Mantic6t9** · 01-13-2004,ï¿½01:08 AM

What i use.

-Simple Green

-Water

-Tooth brush

-Mothers Mag and Aluminum Polish

-Wire Brush

-Sythetic Steel Wood

-Various Grit Sand Paper

-Dressing

-QD

-Plastic bags & Rubberbands

I`m sure there are things i`m leaving out but every job is different. I try to take my time and do a good job the first time that way it`s easy to keep up with. Good luck.

**imported_turbomangt** · 01-13-2004,ï¿½07:29 AM

After you clean it up, spray water based dressing in the compartment, It won`t harm anything, and will give "life" to the engine. Don`t use solvent dressing for obvious reasons. I use auto magic super dress it. Gary

**togwt** · 01-13-2004,ï¿½08:58 AM

Quote: Cleaning my engine bay... any ideas?

~One manï¿½€™s opinion / observations~

As space is that tight you might want to try using aluminium foil or saran wrap on anything you donï¿½€™t want to spray cleaner/water in, and maybe an angled painters brushï¿½€. Oh! And good luck, engine bays are hard work but look amazing when there finished.

PS: The silicone thing, itï¿½€™s what they mix with it that does the harm (petroleum distillates) silicone itself is an inert material.

~Hope this helps~

Experience unshared; is knowledge wastedï¿½€/

justadumbarchitect * so i question everything*

**kpounds** · 01-13-2004,ï¿½09:09 AM

Here`s some good info with tips on what to cover before starting.

http://www.diynet.com/diy/ab_detaili...276903,00.html

**Joe K -- 01 Green** · 01-13-2004,ï¿½10:22 AM

Spray it all down with simple green direct--maybe brush off some really nasty grease/oil spots; drive to a DIY car wash--apply either the engine cleaner/tire cleaner option to engine bay and under hood, spray off in quantity, drive out--stop; spray whole areas with armorall tire cleaner foam spray--close hood, drive home, wipe off any excess--20 mins tops; spend the rest of the day working on scratch removal and contemplating whether to Zaino or not.

**Accumulator** · 01-13-2004,ï¿½11:04 AM

Welcome to Autopia. Some of us have had (permanent) staining from Simple Green, so *I* use solvents (PrepSol, CleansAll, etc.) and citrus degreasers instead.

Long-handled swabs are VERY handy too (Griot`s and other places have them).

If you use Engine Kote or something similar, be careful not to get it on places where you DON`T want it.

**tom p.** · 01-13-2004,ï¿½12:44 PM

Mix up your Meguiar`s Citri-gel (1:1) with water and spray on. The stuff clings pretty well. if you have access to a power washer, that tends to give excellent results and uses much less water than your garden hose. Just be cautious where you direct the spray..they are very powerful.

**Vendetta** · 01-13-2004,ï¿½04:31 PM

Thanks for all the great information so far! I`m going to wait untill the weather gets warmer before going out and spraying down my engine. Right now, what I`d like to do is polish my plenum. What would you recommend, as an applicant, that I buy? I`d like to get something to put on the plenum and then use a toothbrush to clean it up.

**Accumulator** · 01-13-2004,ï¿½06:07 PM

First, find out what kind of finish it has. You don`t want to get all aggressive if it`s anodized, for instance.

**Mr_Bill_P** · 02-03-2004,ï¿½02:18 PM

I`ve got the same engine as you do (91 VR4) and the only real solution I`ve found for cleaning it the first time is to take your time and clean the nooks and crannies before degreasing. Also, for polishing the plenum, people say it takes 10-20 hrs for a nice mirror shine... otherwise, to clean it, I use a nice bristle brush and soapy water.