hi i was just wondring how you guys clean your engine bay. if its really durty

 

first spray degreaser on it then use a pressure washer on it. try not to hit any components with direct spray and make sure the engine isnt hot

 

And beware that degreaser will quickly (and almost permanently) stain a porous concrete driveway, so clean the engine somewhere where a stain won't matter.

 

i have a water blaster (you can adjust the pressure) if you need it yushi

 

NO!

stray from the the oily types of engine degreaser if possible. those leave a mess.
u can use a automotive brand cleaner thats biodegradeable called simple green.
it won't stink up ur cabin like those greasy type of engine degreaser. and its also pretty multi-purpose as i find it.

with simple green, u can clean ur hands with it, ur rims, tires, and its not harmful to u.

 

^^^ He is right. I used it on my engine bay and it looks great!

^^^Can you use Simple Green to clean cross drilled/ slotted rotors?

 

don't use a pressure washer. water DOES get into the electronic stuff in there, and **** goes haywire

 

on my previous car i used oxy-clean to clean my engine, no smell, cheap and leaves no oil residue

 

i sprayed my engine bay down with a water from a garden hose and some degreaser just fine. just shielded some of the electrical wiring with aluminum foil.

 

just be careful if you're spraying water in there. it's not worth saving yourself an hour by spraying water if it's gonna cost you hundreds of dollars and hours of time fixing the electrical problems down the road

 

very true, i was pretty scared doing it, you really need to protect all the electricals.

 

Why the 3 month thread bump?

An OEM engine can handle a light pressure wash without a problem. Don't go crazy and use a full pressure - just light pressure closer to a garden hose with a finger over it. OEM parts are water resistant. They have to be since water can come up from under the bay when you hit large puddles.

Aftermarket parts are generally more sensisitive so be especially careful with them. They're not tested to nearly the specs required for the OEM parts in terms of reliability. If you've done anything like removing your HVAC to install a RB duct/intake and that wire is sitting out make sure you cover it up with a tightened baggie before any washing.

Also worth noting that people with hood scoops would have problems in rain if engine parts were that sensitive to water.

I used simple green, a hose, and a rag and it worked fine. Shiny new engine.

 

also, it's best to do this when the engine is COLD.

 

i've seen the damage, personally, on multiple cars. i didn't see this thread before, as i don't look all around the forums all the time. I pretty much stick to a few specific threads that interest me. do what you will, but if your car starts freaking out, don't say i didnt warn ya.

 

Multiple RX-8s? Because 'cars' is a pretty broad description. Older engines used to have tons of problems with water in the bay especially when applied at high pressure. Frankly there are cars with engines where I'd be scared of driving in the rain.

I've seen a few notes here or there of modified cars having issues but don't recall anyone saying that they have had problems with a stock RX-8. I would never use a pressure washer since it's unneccessary overkill and definitely a higher risk but I do know someone with an RX8 who has used the do-it-yourself car-wash coin operated pressure washers on his bay several times.

Again it's not something I think people should do since it adds at least some risk and gives you nothing that you can't get with a little elbow grease.

 

No, I haven't seen it on multiple RX-8's. Or one RX-8, for that matter. But multiple cars up through the late 90's. There is no point to using a pressure washer, or using large amounts of water. If you're going to use water, I'd suggest using a bucket or glass of water so you can pour the water exactly where you want. Water is very damaging to anything metal, electrical, etc. It's stupid to subject your car's electronics, engine, etc to water, rust, etc. The amount of water that gets into your engine bay from the rain is pretty minimal. Also, a few RX-8's in NJ were damaged pretty severely(fried ECUs) from driving through somewhat flooded areas. Hosing the crap out of your engine bay is essentially the same thing. The question is: Why risk it?

 

garden hose without a high pressure nozzle and you'll be fine

 

^what about the alternator?

 

RX is right everything under our engine bay that is OEM is designed to be waterproof to a certain degree.

 

yup, just dont' blast it with high pressure and use only the amount of water necessary and you 'should' be fine

 

The problem is that when you spray water all over everything, then run your engine later, it boils and makes steam. The steam fills up your engine bay (since there aren't vents, and even if there were, it would still fill it up pretty bad) Then, the steam penetrates the stuff that's "Waterproof" but not "steam-proof". Rust, corrosion, etc etc...

failure

 

simple:

- spray diluted simple green
- lightly hose off
- use rag to dry / clean
- start engine with hood open. Let idle for a few minutes, just about everything should be dry by now

all done.

 

I have used simple green and purple power and both are great. I used degreaser in the past but it leaves a oily film.

I've don warm engine cold engine and never a problem.
Did all of the above on my 2000 civic and 2000 s10.

Spray the cleaner all over and let soak for a few min. Use a normal hose and keep the water moving. Repeat till satisfied.

Afterwards just keep the hood open a while(good chance to wash the back half of the car or detail the inside). Or let the engine run till it all steams off(at least till it warms up)

 

I never let my engine bay get that dirty lol. If it does get dirty though i use a steam cleaner and the baked on crap just melts away.

 

I had to replace a throttle body after "rinsing" my engine with water. I took apart the TB and discovered that there was no rubber seal in between the electronics plate and the metal.

Installed used TB(thanks mazmart!) and car ran good as new again.

Go ahead and spray water in your engine bay. I got away with it twice. Third time was the charm.