Engine Cleaning..

[crowd00control]

Now that summer is here, I'd like to clean my engine compartment and make it all pretty like so I can put some pictures up, I've done a lot of nice stuff under the hood, but it's just too darn dirty to even bother taking pictures of any of it.

So my question is, what kind of cleaning supplies should I get to clean under the hood. (material for wiping, cleaners, tools ect.) Thanks in advance.

[Mr Josh Zombie]

Yea, you do need to clean it... haha

All I do to clean my engine, is drive to the car wash, spray it with a high pressure hose. Ya know, water, soap, rinse. Drive it out, leave the car on and spray most of the engine down with armor all, avoidind anything that I have that's polished. Leave it running, pop the hood 10 minutes later, and take a rag and wipe it all down.

If you go around that, just avoid your filter on your CAI, and you should be good.

[hansken_yo]

I wash mine by hand and then I have a shamy to dry stuff off and that gets it pretty clean.

I have a special rag for the engine as well as the shammy

[sullygully]

Any engine degreaser works best. Spray down the engine, then spray the degreaser on, start the engine, let it run for 5 - 10 minutes, turn it off, let it cool down, and rinse with warm water. Let is dry, then Armorall it to keep it shiney

[GaboXNeoN]

Make sure ur engine is cold.
buy engine degreaser and the product used to make black interior shine.

spread the engine degreaser product everywhere u see oil or w.e, everywhere till ur empty. let it stand for a about 15 min, Then clean it with a high preassure hose to get it done. it should look clean but not shiny.
with the shine product n a lil piece of cloth spread it over the head cover, hoses, lids, ect... i promise u wont regret it.

[03blackrt]

Make sure your engine is cool to the touch before cleaning.

I would start with a degreaser that uses orange concentrate which is good for removing gasoline, coolent, auto oil. Spray it on and let it sit for a while. If you can find a foaming degreaser thats even better than a spray liquid. Steelwool is good for cleaning rust off of the chrome fuel rail (if you have one of the chrome ones). Then I would move to Armor All Multi-Purpose Auto Cleaner (spray bottle, not wipes) to deep clean any plastic parts. Use a nice soft, yet firm brush with this to really get deep down. A brush is great for removing dirt from around the raised lettering on most of the fluid fill caps. Then rinse off the engine bay really good, let dry and apply a liberal coat of Armor All Tire Foam to all the plastic/rubber parts, including the plastic valve cover if you have one. Don't use Turtle Wax brand, it leaves behind a thick slime. The Armor All brand dosen do this in my experiance. After letting the foam sit for 20 min litely rinse the whole bay. Wipe as much water a possable off of the engine bay. Then start the engine and let in warm up with the hood closed. These two steps help prevent water spots.

Rise off the engine bay as needed to remove cleaner/grease/oil

If the paint inside the bay/hood is dull start with some paint polish before cleaing the engine.

I have yet to find a good way to clean the under hood silencer. So I typically remove it completly. Most factory hoods are painted underneath the silencer.

Armor All Protectant (original formula) is good for touch ups of the plastic/rubber parts after your done.

Make sure to cover your air filter if its exposed.

[dgodard]

I used a karcher pressure washer, simple green and a little brush. Cold engine of course...everything looks nice now

[Midnight_Rider]

Good suggestions and timely since I have to do this before Carlisle. I used to just use the hose at home to spray the 1GN and '02 and '04 but I think that it will be a little more tricky with the SRT. Wish me luck.