Cleaning Engine Bay - Topic

After a recent wheeling trip I figured I would clean my engine bay. I have used several products in the past and pretty much none get the results I want without old fashioned elbow grease. So bottom line if you have a caked on dirt/muddy engine bay their is no "magic formula" that will allow just spray on and wash off IMO. (Please let me know otherwise if you know of one).
Anyway I don't try to get my engine bay 100% spotless, I just wanted to clean it up a bit.

First I wanted to try something new.
This product I have heard about but had never actually tried.
Gunk


Engine Bay before cleaning. This is the monster that needs to be tamed.

https://vimeo.com/135966829



First thing I did was throw a plastic bag over the fuse box. I hear you can cover the alternator also but I didn't bother as I knew I would leave my engine bay to dry out for 2-3 hours while I cleaned the rest of my truck.

Second I sprayed away with the Gel can of Gunk.....then eventually I decided to go ahead and spray some of the foam can too. Let sit for 15 mins.
https://vimeo.com/135967080https://vimeo.com/135967109

After I hosed it all down, there was still plenty of caked on dirt/mud and grime so I got a bucket of soapy water and a microfiber cloth. Honestly nothing will clean that extremely dirty engine bay like elbow grease. I think the chemicals just "loosen it up"

https://vimeo.com/135967344

Then after washing it down again I decided to spray the rest of the foamy can and see if that helped.
https://vimeo.com/135967472

Finally I did a little more scrubbing and wiping down with the micro cloth. Then got a clean dry microfiber cloth and wiped down all the water spots and just left the hood open for 2-3 hours to dry while I cleaned other parts of my truck (wheels, coil overs, lots of mud and dirt so this took awhile).

When it was time to wash the body of the truck I went back to the engine bay first now that everything was dry. I covered the entire engine bay with Aerospace 303 protectant (nector of the gods) and wiped it down.

Done, my results:


https://vimeo.com/135967768https://vimeo.com/135967798



This is just one technique of many I am sure people have.

 

Damn! Looks like new...

 

Whoa.
Nice work. After seeing those first pics I thought you were going to have to light it on fire.
Came out great.

 

up close it is not as clean as many I have seen on here but considering just going through a mud puddle here it would get dirty again I just wanted to "maintain" it and not let it get so bad again. That was just 2 wheeling trips and I avoid mud as much as I can (not a fan) but those engine bays just seem to get dirty no matter what you hit in FL.

 

Proving that the cleanliness of what you see on the used car lot is not an indicator of the abuse the vehicle might have lived.

(Good job with the clean up!)

 

EXACTLY

 

I'm glad you did this thread because I was going to ask after I saw the pictures in the other thread.

 

I've found a good general purpose citrus cleaner sprayed on everything, let it sit for 10-15min, then rinse does a good job of getting a lot cleaned off.

But as you said, nothing replaces a little elbow grease.

 

I have been skeptical to use anything acidic or citrus based on the metal parts themselves as I didn't want any etching of the metal. HOWEVER I have heard some folks use them so I guess there is no problems there. elbow grease is key for sure

 

S100 Total Cycle Cleaner is what i use.Great product!

 

Wow. That looks great.
I normally use the "regular" Gunk cleaner. It works great.
What is Aerospace 303?
I never heard of it.

 

It's a protectant. People use it on plastics, and rubber (even their tires). Has a nice matte shine. And doesn't leave a bunch of residue.

 

Cold engine, Simple green or Awsome from Dollar Tree and pressure washer. [use medium spray] or just take it down to the self serve car wash and use their engine clean setting.

 

Niiiiiiice!!

 

Oh Rick BTW. Took my Icon covers off after this trip, so they have been on for awhile now and a couple wheeling trips. I am very pleased with how clean they have kept the coil overs. Makes maintaining them and cleaning them so much easier.



Pretty clean IMO considering everything else

 

Uniball covers too. They have been on almost a year.

 

I also use Simple Green diluted in water. Have the 303 protectant at home so will try it on the engine bay.

 

Simple Green and 303 is great stuff. I use both the regular

$20 Simple Green Industrial SMP11001 Clean Building All-Purpose Cleaner Concentrate, 1gal Bottle

green kind for my general cleanings, and the

$28 Simple Green 19128 Crystal Industrial Cleaner/Degreaser, 1 Gallon Bottle

degreaser kind for dirty/tough jobs.


(Excuse the explosive diarrhea in the engine bay)


I cover this box, just in case.

I spray it lightly with a garden hose (using

$29 Bon-Aire Original Ultimate Aluminum Hose Nozzle ( Colors may vary )

this attachment, for the curious). I then spray it down with SG (1-1 ratio), let it sit for 5 minutes, and then wipe away what I can with a blue shop towel, or pipe cleaner brush. If it's still stuck on, then I do it again.

Crisp and clean with Simple Green and 303.




Worked wonders for my girlfriend's 01 TJ, which had never been cleaned.


TL;DR 303 is the tits.

 

Looks great Simon!

 

so I can just spray everything under the hood with a garden hose except the fuse box?

I don't need to watch out for anything else?!?