Ive seen people post pics of the aftermath of a cleaning of the engine bay and it looks amazing... some say they let purple power sit on a warm engine for 5 mins then hose it off... well i have no clue what i need to cover so it doesnt get wet!.... heres how dirty mine is...








as you an see on the first pic the little area I cleaned with a rag and engine degreaser.

 

you have to cover the main electrical things like the battery, alternator, air filter if you have a ram air intake etc... You need to be careful how warm the engine block is because hot engine + cold water = a nice cracked block.

Look in your owners manual it lists everything to cover and the steps to clean it

 

batt yes, alt i get, airfilter is stock so its pretty sealed up... wut about Spark Wires and ****? and distrib caps? it would be nice if i had a pick of someone with all the **** covered up ready to be cleaned so i could see.

 

I normally drive around untill the engine is superhot so all the stuff comes off easily then i pee on it. Strips the dirt right off.

 

whoa... i thought i was the only one.

 

Me too

 

I don't cover any of the above never have never will. Think of all the trucks that go off roading and ford threw rivers etc... with the motor in the water. I think a little lite misting of water isn't going to hurt it. Trust me I have taken trucks threw water where 90% of the motor or more was under water same goes for all the electronics. Your car is gonna be just fine.

I just do it with a cold motor, spray water on the motor (not a direct shot just a nice heavy sprinkle) and then put degreaser on I dilute it to different amounts depending on how bad the motor is and then let it sit. You can then after a few mins go in and brush any areas that are very bad and have heavy build up. Then just use the hose and again don't just open the hose full blast but use a shower of water to rinse away the grease etc.. Then I start the motor with the hood closed and wash the outside of my car while the motor warms up and drys itself. Then apply whatever dressing you like. Being an avid Poorboys fan I use there Trim Restore and Natural look products on all the rubber hoses, plastic parts etc...

Its how I have always done it and it works great.

I just took these in my garage its night time and this is with my garage lighting so its kinda dark. I also detailed my car over a week ago and it still look good in there.

Edit: Man those came out dark. I will grab better ones tomorrow in the sun for you. Also once you clean it up its very easy to keep looking nice like that.

 

As a precautionary measure wrap aluminum foil around your air filter, the exposed wires on the cops, battery terminals, alt. Just like Spike said it probably doesn't matter but i do it anyway.

Theres plenty of engine degreasers at autozone. Pick one up. Spray on warm engine. Let sit, rinse, let it run a bit. Leaf blow the rest dry! Shine.

 

thats an automotive detailing secret that doesnt get around much. Works wonders. and its the cheapest.