Engine cleaning ????

Hi all, This is my first time writing a topic. I dont know if this topic is here already but, I wanna clean my engine but I'm nervous that I'm going to harm something. I know i have to cover the alt. and i have the stock air box on the car.What is the best way of cleaning it? And what type soap/cleaner should I use? And can I use a pressure washer on it? I just don't want to mess up any of the electrical stuff.

My mechanic who is a well known subaru mechanic in the bay area sprayed a mix of simple green and water, let it sit them lightly pressure washed it all without covering anything. He's been doing this forever btw.

Just don't get any soap on the intercooler or else it will melt.

 

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y42/OCDetails/meltedintercooler.jpg

 

And please don't tell me you searched for "engine detailing" in this forum and found nothing. There have to be at least twenty threads on that topic. Most of them have the exact same content too, so I know you can find it.

 

Cover up the intake snorkel with some rags and water down! I wash my engine every time i wash my car. I use the same soap as i wash my car with to clean up the engine bay. Your belts may squeak a bit at start up because of the water and it'll go away after awhile.

Engine bright once a year in the spring. Local do it youself car wash to wash it off. After word hit all the electrical connectors with wd 40.

If you want to be enviromentaly friendly/ budget friendly...use a 1/4 cup of dawn dish detergent and 2 cups of white vinegar and the 2 cups of water...in a spray bottle shake well spray it on, wait hose it off...then armorall on everything with engine running. close it up, wait for 5 minutes shut engine off, let cool then open up and wipe down. It will look brand new!

i use tin foil to cover up electrical components, simple green for a few minutes then hose off w a light water spray. if you can use an air hose.

Thanks guys for ur input. And OCDetails ur right I have not searched for this. I was kinda being lazy. Lol

its so much easier when they just tell us though :O

http://ocdetails.com/engine-detailing/

 

There you go then. I'm all about making it easy.

http://ocdetails.com/engine-detailing/

 

There you go then. I'm all about making it easy.

 

Thanks for this. I've been following your website since I've owned my car in 2009. I must say, great info and keep up the great work.

http://ocdetails.com/engine-detailing/

 

There you go then. I'm all about making it easy.

 

I appreciate you shared your site as well. Motivating me to do this.

A clean engine is a happy engine. I could motivate you further with some before/afters if you want. These are done following the normal process that I write about everytime I discuss engine detailing.

 

- Spray the perimeter with degreaser

- Rinse with water (low pressure)

- Dry with towel

- Use a brush or towel to get anything the degreaser missed

- Spray with CD2 and let the engine run for 15 minutes before wiping it down again.

 

Presto! New engine in 10 minutes or less.

 

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y42/OCDetails/van1before.jpg

 

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y42/OCDetails/van1after.jpg

 

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y42/OCDetails/DSC01412-1.jpg

 

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y42/OCDetails/DSC01417-1.jpg

 

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y42/OCDetails/DSC05304.jpg

 

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y42/OCDetails/DSC05306.jpg

 

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y42/OCDetails/DSC07335.jpg

 

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y42/OCDetails/DSC07338.jpg

Wow that subaru engine bay is shiny...That has to be still wet, right?

Yup. That's what it looks like before you close the hood and let the engine run for a few minutes. I give it at least 20 minutes to make sure it sets really well. Then you go back and sort of dry buff it with a towel to get rid of any drips or spots. The result is something more matte. More like this:

 

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y42/OCDetails/Engine%20Covers/Engine-Covers-1.jpg

 

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y42/OCDetails/Engine%20Covers/Engine-Covers-4.jpg

Too bad CD2's not available in Canadaland.. sounds like an amazerling product.

Can't you order it from there?

 

Too bad CD2's not available in Canadaland.. sounds like an amazerling product.

The stuff is like crack, only more addictive. I went nuts when it was off the shelf for a couple years. I had to buy it by the case off a retailer on Amazon. Instead of paying the $5 or $6 bucks a can it costs locally, I was paying upwards of $10 to $12 bucks a can AND I had to buy six of them at a time. It kind of sucked.

 

You can still find it on Amazon if you really want some badly. Just search for CD2 Engine Detailer and you'll find it. I haven't found anything else like it out there and it is worth it. Even when I was paying $12 bucks a can I still gladly paid it just so I could have some. Nothing else makes engines look this good and protects them this well. Tire shine and crap like that just cause problems after a very short time and I'd rather not have to deal with scraping brown sludge off my hoses because I decided to use some tire foam instead of something meant for engines.

i've been using aerospace 303 on all plastic stuff under my hood which has worked pretty well so far but i might give this cd2 stuff a shot.

CD2 is definitely cheaper than Aerospace 303. And it is designed for high temperatures under the hood. It works a lot better on keeping things black and shiny than any other vinyl/rubber protectant I've used in the past, so I think you'll be happy with it.

sorry guys noobie here just confirming, i can take my car to the car wash, turn it off, high pressure wash it, and dont need to cover anything besides the intake snorkel? just got my legacy and the engine bay is dustyyyyyyyy

I would strongly advise against using a high pressure wand at a car wash to clean your engine bay. Especially on a car that is nearly ten years old. I don't know if you realize it or not, but that water coming out is strong enough to peel the skin right off your hand as well as peel the paint off your car. Imagine what it could do to a loose connection or corroded hose. It is not something I would suggest using on an engine bay regardless of how many people say they have been doing it that way for years. They have been doing it wrong for years is more accurate.

 

Its not about covering things. It is about avoiding things. You don't spray high pressure water directly into your alternator (or anywhere on the engine for that matter). You can do the perimeter of the engine bay and that is fine, but stick to the painted areas. And it is more than just turning off the engine. It should be cool as well. If you shoot cold water on a hot engine you risk cracking things. Try putting a hot plate into cold water sometime and see what happens. It is dangerous as hell and I wouldn't risk it. I don't care how many people say the steam helps clean the engine or how they have always done it that way. Again, they have always been doing it wrong.

Is it OK to apply CD2 to a hot engine? For example, using the modified lazy-person's procedure below:

 

1. Spray the perimeter with degreaser

2. Rinse with water (low pressure)

3. Drive car until engine compartment is dry

4. Repeat 1-3 if required

5. Spray with CD2 and let the engine run for 15 minutes before wiping it down.

For a lazy person procedure, that sure seems like a lot of work. I thought lazy people were supposed to find the fastest and easiest way to do things. That sounds like a process for someone doing everything they can to avoid getting their fingernails dirty. Don't be afraid of a little dirt on your hands. Your engine will not get clean unless you get in there with your hands a little bit. Rarely do I come across an engine which doesn't require me to reach in under the hood with a towel or a rag at least a couple times.

 

This is the only process you are going to see me endorse:

 

1. spray perimeter with degreaser

2. low pressure water to spray off the crud the degreaser took care of

3. Wipe down the engine with a towel to remove anything that didn't rinse off.

4. Rinse again

5. Dry the engine compartment with a towel. The important parts to dry are the plastics and hoses because those need to be dry for step 6.

6. Spray CD2 on plastics and hoses.

7. Let engine run for 20 minutes with the hood down while you do something else.

8. Pop the hood and dry buff the plastics with a towel, but leave the hoses alone. The plastics will spot and have runs, but the hoses will actually just get shiny and you don't want to wipe that off.

9. You are done.

 

Time invested: Maybe 40 minutes tops. And that is including the 20 minutes you let the engine run. Probably less time if there wasn't a lot to clean up that the degreaser didn't take care of.

 

There is no need to drive the car around in order to dry it. That just wastes time and gas. Dry it with a towel and save some work. Don't be afraid to touch your engine with your hands. If you are looking for perfect results in a bottle or a can, then keep looking. It isn't out there. Everything is going to require a little elbow grease in addition to the contents of the can. If your engine is super dirty then you may need to get in there with some brushes and rags to get it clean again. A well maintained engine will clean up a whole lot faster than a neglected one, so stay on top of it and your engine detailing will take minutes.

 

As far as applying CD2 to a hot engine goes, I wouldn't recommend spraying it on one. If you are doing the job right then the engine is cold when you start detailing it anyway, so there shouldn't really ever be a reason to spray it on a hot engine. You are only spraying it on plastics and hoses anyway, so I guess it doesn't really matter. I still don't know why you would be spraying it on a hot engine. Even if you washed the hot engine you would think it would be cool by the time you got to the CD2 part.

OCDetails, is this the same CD2 engine detailer? I take it they must have been purchased by Blue Coral? http://www.autozone.com/autozone/accessories/Blue-Coral-12-5-oz-CD-2-spray-engine-detailer/_/N-25zb?itemIdentifier=238559_0_0_