I was searching for a way to keep my engine compartment clean. I talked to a state trooper in Kentucky and asked him how they cleaned their crown vics for weekly inspections. He told me about the heasiest way to keep a shine on your motor. Get a can of Armor All tire cleaner... you know the kind that cleans and shines in one step.......... spray the foam generously on your entire engine (it wont hurt anything), close the hood and let your motor idle for about 10 minutes. It works fairly well, and take no effort. I figured I would just share this quick tip with you all, even though you probably already know this. . . . .

Yeah I've heard of people doing that. I've never done it myslef though, but if it works and doesn't harm the engine then more power to you! If you try it ,or already have done it, let us know how it works.

I tried it on my mom's 2005 corolla. I was amazed at how well it worked. Made the engine look show room clean. . .

Oh sweet i gotta try that. You jsut spray it on everything?

When I get the time to do it... I use a 20% solution of Simple Green, a parts washer brush for the stubborn stuff, and a garden hose to rinse.

There is this stuff called LA Awesome sold at Dollar Tree. When I owned my detail shop I would spray this all over the engine, let it sit for a while then hit it with the hose. This would leave it really clean and after it dried I would just spray it liberally with Armorall. It left it looking great.

I'm not a big fan of Amor All. Do you guys think any tire cleaner would work? I usually use No-Touch tire cleaner. Works great on tires, but does not leave the shine, simply black appearance.

i use the no touch tire shine on the plastics on my atv's and it makes em shine like a mofo, i need to clean my engine soon thanks for the tips guys

Will the armor all work on really greasey engines?

Is there anything I should be careful of spraying with water like the wiper motor or something. Just wondering cause this sounds like a pretty easy way to clean under the hood.

What about getting the dead bugs 'n gritoff of the top of my intake manifold, that's probably the dirtiest and toughest to clean for me.

so spay everything under the hood ? is there any things this would damage ?

Cover up your alternator for sure; I had to learn the hard way to find this out. Or you can spray everything down but I would pull the negative cable off the battery and wait 24 hours until I connect it back up and start the engine up. Or you could just wing it and take the chance and most likely nothing will go wrong such as other fortunate people have been doing.

I have used the black magic tire shine spray many times in the past just cover up the battery terinals as well the alternator and you should be fine I havnt had any problem and it looks so clean.

I've been just putting plastic over the altinator and the fuse box, and spray the bay with simple green, wait about 15 to 20 minutes and hose it down with water, then just dry it all out... and it all comes spotless. Never heard of the other way. interesting idea tho!

Ok gonna ask again does this work on Engines that have yrs of dirt n gunk build up? I need to clean the Mazda's motor to find oil leaks and help out to who does the Clutch replacement.:)