Engine bay cleaning

[Chinapino]

I haven't washed my engine bey sence i got the car. Its looking very dirty right now. Anyone got suggestions on how to clean it?

[iceman]

no hose, no pressure washing.

[Dad's72Mach]

Originally Posted by iceman

no hose, no pressure washing.

Why would you say that iceman?

[iceman]

ohhhh no reason

[JonW]

I think Grabber needs to weigh in here with some of his detailing secrets. I'd like to clean my engine up before ShelbyFest.

[iceman]

I know Grabber uses ICE on the hoses etc. in the bay.

If the car is stock you might be able to get away with steam cleaning but with all of the computers etc. I would not suggest it after what I went through with the hose and water getting in the computer and MAFIA/Meter.

I would do it by hand and use a nice cleaner/degreaser on the engine and the ICE on the hoses if I were going to do this myself. You could e-mail the detailer I am using now and ask what he suggests as he is familiar with mine and does a nice job. He is very careful in the engine bay too. web page for his stuff is www.mypersonalautodetailer.com

David is a fantastic detailer, good guy, and loves mustangs even though his hands are many more expensive cars a lot of the time. He is a member here (Fergnation I think) but it's probably easier to e-mail through his site. Just tell him you got his info here and ask away....we have been talking about a "Detailers Corner" here for him but just have not gotten to it yet.

[VaporDude]

Here are a couple of articles I found.

Show-N-Go: Cut the Grime and Bring Home a Trophy

How To Clean Your Late Model Car's Engine Bay - Hot Rod Magazine

[GRABBER]

I never use any water on my GT500 engine. I blow off the dust all the time with my air compressor and then I use the Ice on the hoses so it never has been too dirty. It's much easier to just keep it cleaned. I wipe my motor down every time I wipe the outside of the car down....which is after every ride or 2. It takes me all of 2 minutes to do a once over on my motor.

On older cars I do use water and degreaser cleaner, but I cover up the electrical parts as best I can with plastic and try to not spray directly on those parts.

[JonW]

My underhood is dusty, but not dirty. So what's the best thing to do to detail everything under the hood, and not use water? Can you use Ice on everything?

[VaporDude]

I use whatever car detailer you use on the engine and all around. I usually use the interior detailer on all the hoses. It gets them nice and shiney. I do use the air compressor to get all the dirt out of touch close areas. The only problem I have is around the AC hoses up by the firewall. They seem to always get real dirty and is hard to clean. Does anyone have a solution for that one?

[frydguy79]

i wash lots of vehicles under the hood here at the dealership, and only on the older 4.6 and reg 5.4's do i ever have a problem with water in the coil holes

[ItalianStallion]

Originally Posted by iceman

no hose, no pressure washing.

I get the feeling Ice you tried this already.....give us the details

With other cars, I have done the Engine degreaser. But, I had covered all the
electrical components with plastic or any other meduim to avoid soaking them with water. Still not a good Idea ??

IS

[Joe G]

Originally Posted by ItalianStallion

I get the feeling Ice you tried this already.....give us the details


IS

There's still a poor kid hiding in north Indy thinking that Iceman is going to put him in the hospital.





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[Johnny Dangerously]

Originally Posted by Joe G

There's still a poor kid hiding in north Indy thinking that Iceman is going to put him in the hospital.





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Sometime the anticipation of pain is worse than the pain itself.



`

[gr8snkbite]

i always love a good story...

[iceman]

There was an incident where my car went to the local Ford dealer (who I really like actually) and they were to clean it all up. I drove it in and then a few hours later went to check and they could not start it. Seems theyhosed down the engine bay :but didn't use a pressure washer or anything" and water got in the Mafia (which admittedly is modified a bit and has had some silicone removed etc) and also in the mass air meter and the prongs for the computer.

The really irritating thing was I had said to this poor bastard as I dropped it off in no uncertain terms "no water under the hood". this was not water going in the vents. This was hose down of the bay. Needless to say I was a bit irritated and may have suggested something about bowling his head through the service bay very softly when no one was around.

Anyway we had to take all the wet stuff out and dry it with blowers and let it sit and then put it together again. It made the average at best detail not nearly worth the $ or the stress. Now that is all in the past....he quit working there and i quit taking my car there for cleaning so we are both happy.

[gr8snkbite]

and you still paid....no way i would have....

[iceman]

I paid for the materials - not the labor. It cost me nearly nothing. I was so happy to drive out of there i would have paid full price. The service advisor I work with there actually wouldn't let me.

[Chinapino]

This is the reason why i only clean my car. I took some degresser and sparyed down the bay. My car is stock so i'm thinking its not going to do anything bad. thats why i want it clean because me and my dad are going to start moding soon.

[TOMMY GUN]

My engine bay is amazingly clean at the moment.



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