i just bought my 03 ls
it had alot of problem and one thing was a busted radiator and no thermostat so the engine bay now has a light orange tint to everything
what would you recommend to clean it up back to resonable looking conditions?
any advice would be appreciated

 

i would try some purple power or bleach white with a medium sized medium brissel brush and scrub the crap out of it. Use some kind of light acid cleaner.

 

thanks man. ill try it out. im about to head to O'Reillys to get that purple power

 

Be careful with the Westley's bleach white. That stuff is really good for cleaning tires, but it can mess up rims and painted parts if left on too long. That purple power stuff is pretty good. It might take a couple of times at the car wash, but I'm sure that the antifreeze stain will clean off.

 

I recently acquired a nissan that I've been meticulously cleaning, to do the engine bay I mostly just used a couple cans of brake cleaner and a few rags. Also tried engine degreaser but the brake cleaner does a lot better at quickly removing any grime. Just spray the affected area, soak the rag and start scrubbing from the top down. Shooting brake cleaner and then hitting it with compressed air is good for caked on grease and grime that would use up a whole rag. For harder cast metal stuff I used brake cleaner and a small wire brush, polished the transmission right up and it looks like a brand new drivetrain. Taking it a step further, for plastic parts I used something equivalent to armor-all that NAPA carries, and for rubber parts I used a tire-wet spray that leaves a good shine. You've never seen a 97 look so much like it just rolled off the assembly line

This mostly applies to oil/debris grease buildup but im sure brake cleaner will take antifreeze right off too

 

Another question, is there anything that needs to be covered up before you wash it?

 

Covering the alternator would be a good idea, as well as just avoiding all electrical areas with the water.

 

Okay thanks yo

 

yes..you should cover the part of the throttle body that the intake goes into...the coil pack where the plug wires plug in...pretty much anything electronic too

 

LMAO...... have you guys seen under the hood

Seriously though, careful use of a pressure washer and your cleanser of choice, and you'll be fine ( I usually just use the 'SOAP' function (Engine Clean if available) at the car wash, followed by the 'RINSE' one )

Brake clean sounds like a good idea, but you'd have to check the can. I seem to remember a 'rubber' warning on one of my cans.......