Anyone else not care about having a clean engine bay?

Is this an ok time to ask about oil change intervals?

 

^^^

It's a "PTI" (Pardon The Interruption) move/reply. lol

This thread is fun to read...thanks to those for your humorous replies.

 

Yes! The only correct answer is "have you done a Blackstone analysis?".

 

Any clean engine is a happy engine......

 

I’ll occasionally clean the bay, but I don’t use a pressure washer. That can get water into places you don’t want it to go. I just soak with an engine degreaser and use a garden hose. Doing this every so often prevents grime buildup. I wipe hoses with a conditioner to keep them from drying out and to keep them looking new. Ya, it’s mostly cosmetic.

 

Don’t get me wrong my bay be dirty but it needs a good cleaning. I just need to cover all the electrical I have there. Likely not all weather proof

 

If you must, soak it down with a can of engine degreaser before hot pressure washing as it will cut down the time needed and reduce the chances of water getting in where it shouldn’t go.

 

I like to clean it from time to time just because working on a cleaner (not actually clean) engine is much much better than a filthy one.
I don't do a very good job but just enough to make working on it a little nicer.

 

@DuckDiggler THANKS!

My DCSB/AT Sport is clean because I only do street driving at the moment.

She's what they call around here a "Street Queen/Mall Queen".

Right now it's easy to just wipe the dirt/grime on the occasional time I open the hood.

I bought hood struts so opening the hood at least once a week ensures usage.

My recent installation of the Vintage Grill/Garnish from EmpyreOffRoad & Raptor Lights gave me a chance to do wipe down too.

EDIT: You should see the underbelly! Pics are posted on my intro thread.

 

I care.

Dear ole dad taught me how to keep the bay of my '64 GTO fresh.

My first paid job wrenching at an indy, the owner would charge more to work on a filthy motor. Or send me to clean it, before we started working on it and add it to their bill.

Most of my plebian rides over the years have received modest annual cleanings.

A handful of spiffier rides were clean enough to be presentable, and trophy, at local shows.

The Tacoma gets at least a 2x a year spritz. Once just before a major detail, once with the annual oil change.

Ziggy says it's more presentable than 98.273% of the '13 year model vehicles on the road.

Of course I wipe out my door jambs, door edges, tailgate edges, gas filler area and keep them waxed as well.

 

I clean/spray my engine bay with plain old Windex and Lemon Pledge once a year in the spring. It cleans off the dirt and grime, leaves a nice finish that gradually evaporates off so no build-up over time. I use misc rags and small paint brushes to get into all the tight spots. It comes out nice. Pledge works nice on the dash surface too.

 

@Williston WOW!

That is impressive. Do you use the paint brushes first? Since it probably kicks up dust that resettles elsewhere.

Just curious about your method/process for cleaning.

 

I shower once a day and yet have never cleaned under the hood on my '02.

Your argument is invalid.

 

I pressure wash it, on my 93 land cruiser after wheeling I hit the inside also, dash and all. They stare at me funny

 

Scotty Kilmer says never worry about cleaning the engine bay. The oil and grease actually help keep rust at a minimum and blasting it with a spray could force water into the electrical connections.

 

Thanks! For all the plastic and vinyl pieces under there I "dust" everything with a small paint brush with just a little Pledge or Windex on it first: it picks up the grit and dust. Then I spray a clean rag with Lemon Pledge and wipe down everything. The hardest part is the accordion tube to the air cleaner so I spray that directly and "paint" it with the brush to spread it around. If something has an oily build-up (like the power-steering reservoir and the oil filler area which always do) I spray it with Windex and use a clean brush to clean. Finally, I give a final nice spray of the Pledge to everything and give it all a final wipe and/or brush down. The nice thing about it is that it eventually all just evaporates away: it doesn't keep building up to a sticky mess that just attracts and grabs all the dirt and dust. You just eventually end up with dry dusty surfaces again. It lasts for 3-4 months. It's made for wood surfaces so I think it's formulated to clean as well as shine. I have been using it on the original interior of my antique car for 45 years and the vinyl dash, seats and clear plastic still looks almost like the day it was made. (65 years ago). You have to be careful with old plastics, especially clear: like the gauges, because some products will turn it cloudy. Apply and come back later and everything is opaque! Some other products will instantly remove the silk-screened printing on switches, stalks (like the blinker, cruise-control and wiper ones) so steer clear of them with anything! Don't experiment! Plain water and a pure cotton scrap but go easy. (don't ask me how I know)

 

Like this?

 

The joy of keeping it clean are real