Clean under the hood?

[bongono93]

I see so many old cars with engines that look brand new due to being washed out. I want to keep mine looking this good but with all the electronics in side of it I dont know how. Anyone have any tips on keeping it looking great?

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[jravenfan]

http://youtu.be/Jlhvgtp_6vk

[myold88]

I've used Simple Green With a soft brush on the left and right wheel housings and
front tie bar area. Then hose them down with a light spray- No direct wash on the
engine. I just wipe the engine cover and components down with a damp cloth.
My Camaro still looks good/near new after 5 years. I do the same with my Antique cars.
I have seen a video here where they flush the engine itself, but not something I will do.

[pickwithaustin]

I keep the motors on all my cars spotless. "You could eat off of them." How? I use the pre-moisturized wipes - generally not the Armour All type, but the wipes you can buy in a regular store for general household use. Some aerosol glass cleaner on a microfiber rag is good for chrome parts. Rubber hoses wiped down with vinyl/rubber spray (not sprayed on... I spray it in my hand and then massage it into the hoses).

Example is under the hood of my El Camino (still working on her, but is a good example of a cleaned up motor without sprays, water, or power washing!):

[skipinminn]

My trick is to never let it get dirty enough were you'd have to wash it with a power washer

[maddoggyusa]

Try this as I think this works great. Make sure engine is cold. Leave engine cover on to protect electronics, spray everything with Formula 409 (sorry not WD40).

Let it sit a few minutes and hose it down. Then dry off with compressed air. It will look good as new if you do this once a year.

I find engine degreaser is way too strong (unless you have a nasty oiled engine).

[Evergreen6]

Moisturized wipes wouldn't last a single day at my house. I do 30k miles/year on a car, so the engine bay gets trashed pretty quickly. If it's not road grime from the rain in the wet season, then it's dust and dirt in the summer. Yet the engine bay remains mostly spotless. Here's how. You'll need access to a pressure washer or a coin-op carwash sprayer.

Soak the area with water.
Spray on Simple Green (full strength, undiluted). Let soak for a minute or two.

For real nasty areas (cars that haven't been cleaned often) use a soft bristled brush to really work it in. Sometimes I'll use a car wash mitt specifically for this purpose with a little soap, to hit the underside of the hood, the aprons, radiator support area, plastics, hoses, etc.

High pressure rinse, working the gun from all angles.

Let it drip for a few minutes. If you have an air chuck, now's the time to blow out all the nooks and crannies. Otherwise, just let them dry. I'll sometimes use a towel to dry the underside of the hood and the major visible areas. When that's done, since I have a garage, I'll leave the hood up so the bay can dry out as an extra precaution.

NEVER hit the alternator, fuse box, computers, serpentine pulleys, or electrical connections directly with the spray gun. Also, don't soak them in Simple Green. It's okay if they get wet, but try to keep Simple Green off of them, and never hit them directly.

When you've got a good technique, this whole process should take maybe 20? minutes max. It should leave the engine bay and visible aspects of the engine itself bright and clean.


As an extra precaution, before you start, make sure all fluid caps are tight and that things are buttoned up as they should be, close the windows, and remember, water will really fly everywhere. Give yourself room to work, wear eye protection at a bare minimum.

At minimum, follow up with an exterior wash as well (to get any crud or leftover simple green that may have been blown out of the engine bay).

if I'm doing the engine, I'm probably also doing wheels, tires, fender wells, and visible aspects of the underside, and maybe door jambs too. Same idea there-- soak with water, Simple Green, and then high pressure rinse. Improving technique and efficiency will really cut your time, knowing how/where to spray to get maximum effect.

[SuperSport2011]

Water, microfiber cloth and a lot of labor. But like stated above juat keep up with the xleaning and dont let it get to a point where it gets dirty. The engine bay stays surprising clean for a long time. I've had my car for 3 years and it still looks spotless. I just gave it a wipe once a month and had no problems.

[Evergreen6]

Originally Posted by maddoggyusa

Try this as I think this works great. Make sure engine is cold. Leave engine cover on to protect electronics, spray everything with WD40. Let it sit a few minutes and hose it down. Then dry off with compressed air. It will look good as new if you do this once a year.

I find engine degreaser is way too strong (unless you have a nasty oiled engine).

WD40 is flammable and also degrades rubber and certain types of plastics. I don't know that it's something with which I'd douse an entire engine bay. It also collects dirt. It doesn't attract dirt like some people thinks it does, but dirt does stick to it.

Originally Posted by SuperSport2011

Water, microfiber cloth and a lot of labor. But like stated above juat keep up with the xleaning and dont let it get to a point where it gets dirty. The engine bay stays surprising clean for a long time. I've had my car for 3 years and it still looks spotless. I just gave it a wipe once a month and had no problems.

I think the point is that this should be a quick and easy (light labor) exercise. That's where a pressure washer or coin-op sprayer really comes in handy. If you're digging dirt out of crevasses with a microfiber towel and using water as your only cleaning agent, well, that sounds like punishment

[TommyTheCat]

Originally Posted by maddoggyusa

Try this as I think this works great. Make sure engine is cold. Leave engine cover on to protect electronics, spray everything with WD40. Let it sit a few minutes and hose it down. Then dry off with compressed air. It will look good as new if you do this once a year.

I find engine degreaser is way too strong (unless you have a nasty oiled engine).

Unless she's your daily driver and you live in the middle of the desert where it needs to be cleaned once a day or else it looks dusty, not to mention that the car is black so it's hard enough keeping the outside clean

sigh

[thkfast]

As others have said, the key is just stay on top of it. Engine bays that look bad have been neglected - I mean IGNORED for years!

If you pop the hood once a month, pick the leaves out, wipe the bug guts out of the gaps, clean the painted surfaces and slap a little dressing on the black parts, it'll look good for a long long time.

[Bulldog3071]

I wash mine being carful with the water trying not to do a direct spray, use a very lite mist. I then use my leaf blower to blow out any water. This is all done of course when the engine is cold. My car is over 4 years and the engine looks brand new, of course my Camaro is not my daily driver so it's stays very clean.

[ChevyGirl661]

I just stay on top of it. Every wash I wipe it down with a towel (its usually not bad enough to have to do much).

[Denis]

i use GUNK spray when it gets bad.