Best way to clean the engine bay.

[Bmachine]

My engine bay has probably never been cleaned since it was new. So it has the usual collection of oil, dirt, spilled coolant, leaking PS pump fluid etc...

I would imagine that bringing the car to the do it yourself car wash and using the engine steam clean setup would be a pretty bad idea, with the likelyhood of water entering places it should not.

I did a search on the forum and the main points I got were:

- Avoid Super Clean or Purple power bc they can eat some of the paint and set aluminium to oxidize

- Simple Green seems to be liked

- Painting prep degreaser or mineral spirits work well

- Cover all stickers and VIN plates as those products may "erase" them.

I think something in a spray bottle would be ideal so it can get to hard to reach places. Paint prep stuff usually comes in a bottle (Can you put it in those water spary bottles from Home Depot?).

I have used this product called Spray9 which was recommended on another forum to remove the yellowing cosmoline from my e30. Has anyone used it to clean the engine bay?

What are some of the successful techniques you guys have used for a full engine bay cleaning? (Note that this is without removing the engine which would be a whole different situation)

Thank you

 

[Arde]

The best engine bay cleaning was when I drove the Cabrio to Tucson and took it to an open air car wash where they used chemicals and elbow grease at will. By the time I gave the car to my daughter at UofA it looked like it just came out of the factory.

Do a weekend trip to Tucson and be done with it.

 

[Bmachine]

Thanks Arde. A bit further than what I had in mind but interesting nonetheless.

After more searching (using the word "Cleaning" instead of "clean"....) I found two interesting threads:

http://www.e9coupe.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1745&highlight=cleaning
("Steam cleaning if fine as long as you protect the carbs and the dizzy")

and the more recent

http://www.e9coupe.com/forum/showthread.php?t=13792&page=3&highlight=cleaning

This last one talks about dry ice cleaning. dQ asked where and how that can be done but got no answer. Does anyone use that method? How does one go about finding this?

 

[dang]

If its been years of build up, you can plan on cleaning it up really good with whatever you choose (I like Simple Green), then wait a week or two to let your body heal and clean it again with more detail. Layers....

 

[MPowerE9]

I've only heard about/seen the dry ice method with cleaning floorboards and removing old "caked-on" sound insulation material. Eliminates the need for "elbow grease set to 10" and reduces the chances of busted knuckles.

But I think the dry ice method only works on flat surfaces for it to "sit" on. Versus the verticals and curves of the engine bay.

Most other articles I've read have just suggested Simple Green.... Spray it on, let it "work" for a few minutes.... high pressure spray to rinse.

 

[HB Chris]

Steam cleaning is fine but use someone like Doctor Detail in Costa Mesa. Any Orange cleaner also works but lots of elbow grease needed! You can use soft bristle brushes or soft pan scrubbers too. The only cosmoline you should find is on the subframe and such, underside usually has undercoat, EasyOff works but still lots of scraping needed. Let it sit too long and it will also soften the primer, not good.