spring is here....and its almost show time.

My engine is dirty. reel filthy and crap....

I wanna get every part under there a reel good cleaning so that it looks new again!
last year i "cleaned" (didnt look real good) the engine by hand and with a steam cleaner....but i didnt get the results I was looking for..

I WANT to just spray simple green on EVERYTHING (besides the air filter, fuse box, and battery) and then spray it all down with a light pressure garden hose spray....but I am nervous the water will *** suttin up....even though the car manuel has this technique to clean the engine...

my question is....
Wouldnt the water/degreaser *** up the injectors, or coil on plugs???

anyone clean there engine this way? im sure if I did it this way the engine..and all the parts will be clean the way I want it...
and then i can spray the engine detailer on and make the valve covers and black platis parts nice and shiny.....

 

Do not use simple green on some plastics it is known to have issues with it.

 

Last time I did it I used CD2 Engine Detailer. Two part kit, degreaser and detail spray. It involves using a LOW pressure spray of water on your engine, but I've had no problems with it.
This is the stuff...

And this is the result...

 

oh snap
When we got my old V6, we used a good deal of "Foamy Engine Brite" on it...

(His stuff looks better)

 

Ive also used the CD2 engine stuff and it works great. When you clean your engine cover any electrical stuff with aluminum foil. Use as little water as you can. Once everything is rinsed off use a leaf blower to dry, then turn your car on and continue with the leaf blower for a couple minutes. Then take your car for a little drive.

 

Does the CD2 leave any residue? I remember back in the days of a product that would look good but after a while it would start to crack and peel like a sun burn.

 

haha ...thats the same exact stuff I would be using to detail it after the degeasing..

 

so..i can pretty much spray the spark plug area with degreaser and water (not a whole lot) without that electrical plug connecting to the top of the spark plug getting damaged?

oy ..im so scared..lol

 

I wouldnt spray directly into it. Like I said, cover all electical things with aluminum foil. So wrap the wire harnesses with aluminum foil.

 

Is there any particular reason why use Aluminum Foil?

 

Its easy to mold around parts and itll stay there.

 

I just take a bottle of polish, put it on a rag and wipe down the wires individually.

But apparently I'm doing it wrong

 

u only got six to worry about lol

 

as opposed to 8? yeah big difference. Anyway I used that "Engine-Brite" **** and it got all the grease off and stuff... but it knocked off my polish, so I had to polish the engine a second time even after I de-greased it.

 

why would u polish before de-greasing?

 

Because I polished first, then decided to degrease what I hadn't polished... which to my surprise took all the original polish off as well, so I had to do it all over again.

Plus I painted the engine block so, i'll get some pictures of that in here somewhere.

 

hey dsdaddy, i saw the pics of your cleaned up engine bay, nice. I was wondering what you did to clean to the painted parts under the hood? I've never cleaned and detailed my engine so I'm unsure exactly how to go about all of it. I have read threads on it so I know all about using foil on electrical components, but im not sure how to handle paint under the hood. I dont want too use degreaser and strip any paint off. but from what i could see in your pics it was cleaned up, what did you use

 

Same stuff. It was a two part kit, cleaner/degreaser and the detail spray. Only problem is you have to wipe down the painted surfaces pretty good after you use it...the heat from the engine helps "set the resins" in the detailer, but it doesn't set as well on the painted surfaces. Hope this helps!

 

yeah it does, i bought the both cd2 cans, cleaner/degreaser and detailer. ive read the directions on both. Its just that so many people warn about getting the degreaser on the paint on the outside that i was worried that it would ruin the paint in the inside. but i guess i'll just use less of it on the painted parts and rinse it first.

 

I used it on mine with no problems!!!

 

I used DC99 which is a local heavy duty degreaser, let it sit for about 3 minutes, and went to town with our pressure washer with 45 degree tip at work. Worked great. As long as you dont soak the alternator and fuse box, you will be perfectly fine.

 

I use the CD2 Kit all the time and its great. The water wont hurt anything as long as you dont spray TOO much on it. Cover up the filter and the alternator. Spray that degreaser all over the engine and soap down the painted parts of the bay with a brush. The detailer spray make it look great but it will attract a small amount of dust and dirt. You can spray some water on it to clean the dust off and the detailer will stay on.

 

thanks guys, i'm really greatful for all the advice. Now i just have to wait for a nice enough day to do it

 

All i ever use is greased lighting along with nylon brush and brass brush. than detail with armor all

 

I have a car show Sunday and need sumthin. Not a big fan of spraying a motor w/water (no matter how little or how fine) in the engine bay. Been doing it by hand w/diluted simple green and a rag, but my back hates being bent over for two hours. There's gotta be a simpler way of doing this. Im gonna be competing w/guys that have alot of "bling" so I have to be as clean as possible.