cleaning engine bay
 

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 :icon_doh:

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 :D )

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.......

yea i have seen under the hood...ive seen cars get f'cked up from just sprayin liek crazy... be safe and dont risk it 98chevyblazer

I would think using brake cleaner on a really dirty engine bay could become quite expensive in a hurry. Simple Green or Purple Power does an excellent job on grease. Spray it on, agitate the heavily soiled areas with a brush, let it sit for a minute then rinse it off with a free flowing garden hose. That way you prevent the spray from going where it's not wanted. As previously mentioned, cover the alternator, throttle body and distributor. Soak the water up from pockets on the engine with a rag.

Before and after pics anyone?

im not exactly sure what its called but they got spray at autozone you can buy specifically for that.. you just spray it let it sit and wash it off, after you cover your dist. cap, alternator, etc..

Not sure if what you guys call purple power is the same as castrol super clean
I oversprayed the windshield with super clean and it etched the glass

For stubborn greasy areas I use a good brand of oven cleaner,Easy off works good.Dont use on painted surfaces unless you want to do a touch up paint job.I let it soak on a hot or warm engine for about 15-20 minutes then use the power sprayers at the car wash.I have been using this method for years.

In the "dollar store" by me they sell this stuff thats called (AWESOME) it's orange in color. This stuff is great on everything. I have used it to get stains out of carpet, oil stains on the driveway, I sprayed the whole engine bay, let sit for 10 min. then respray again. Then hit it with the hose, all washes away. I just noticed walmart is starting to carry it to. But for more $$. It's only a buck at the dollar store.

electronics
 

I used the car wash a few years ago, after covering the distributor, coil and throttle body, then drove it dry. Everything was fine the whole day. the next morning it was missing real bad.:icon_doh: I did a quick tune up, plugs wires, cap and rotor, and everything was fine. I haven't attempted to was an engine since. I was thinking about one of those steam clean services. Anybody ave an opinion on that.

the whole thing is electrical parts... can I just turn a garden hose on it? Everything in my engine compartment is covered in a layer of mud.

I myself don't worry about getting the whole thing fully clean in 1 wash But i do run the truck till warm/hot and head over to Canadian Tire / Auto zone / pep boys any auto parts store that sells engine degreaser and get a bottle of it head over to the car wash and spray it on till its empty then close the hood wash the outside of the truck 10 mins later i hit the engine bay with soap and water Never had a stall issue i would say i washed it 2 times the first week then 1 more time the following week and grabbed a rag and baby bottle brush and got all the nooks and crannies now its a wash once a month She looks showroom new under the hood Don't know if the pic below will up load but this was just after the 2nd wash i did ..I later had sanded and buffed the A/C lines. Painted the A/C front plate and ALT, housing and face