Tips On Cleaning Your Engine Bay

[Blue Bomber]

Yesterday at the NJ meet, I had a ton of people asking me how I got my engine bay so clean, particulary the cylinder head and intake manifold. I use this stuff called Greased Lightening on all the metal parts of the engine (sorry for the small pic):

http://www.barb.net/assets/images/Prod-Grease.gif

Just spray it on and let it sit for like 10 seconds (sprays out as a foam). Then just wipe it off with a cloth. The dirt and grease should come off easily in one or two wipes. The intake manifold is slightly harder to clean since it's surface isn't as smooth, but is still relatively easy.

For the plastic and rubber, I use Vinylex (http://www.lexol.com/vinindex.html) (made by Lexol):

http://www.lexol.com/media/Vinwheel.gif

It removes dirt and grease easily and leaves everything nice and glossy, without being smelly or greasy. I also use it on all the plastics and vinyl in the interior, all of the weatherstripping, and all of the window moulding on the exterior.

In addition to cleaning the plastic, Vinylex also restores its plasticizers, which extends the life of both rubber and plastic. It prevents discoloration and cracking by keeping the rubber/plastic flexible.

Vinylex also works well as tire gloss. It doesn't splatter off onto the paint or wheel wells, either.

The end result:

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid19/p833b62e67bafefe4a98ea5853e68394b/fdc6ebf7.jpg (http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4291870561&p=4257672183&idx=26)
Click for full size pic.

[bunnylust]

Awesome engine detailing job. I second Vinylex as well, it's great for interior and tires.

Laurence

[Jesse IL]

In a pinch, ammonia works good for cleaning and degreasing. It does a great job cleaning porous surfaces. I've gotten good results and compliments after cleaning my engine compartment with Endust.

http://www.ameritech.net/users/trdcelica/engine_2.jpg

[iCyBLuEFiRedGTs]

hey blue, where'd you get "greased lightning"?

[coOOlcelica]

Originally posted by iCyBLuEFiRedGTs
hey blue, where'd you get "greased lightning"? just about anywhere household products are sold.......

[t2000gts]

what kind of greased lightning is that?

i saw it at pepboys. it says don't use with aluminum. i used it once a long time ago and it left marks where i sprayed it so now i got a small black mark on top of the engine.

is the manifold and the top of the head made of aluminum or what?

[Blue Bomber]

Yeah, they're made of aluminum, but the Greased Lightening won't hurt it. I was cleaning my mom's oven hood with the stuff on my dad's old aluminum table, and when I picked the hood up to turn it, there was a stain on the table. Apparently our engine uses a different type of aluminum, and it doesn't stain. I let the stuff sit on the manifold for a few seconds, just to make sure it would sink into all the dirt, and it left no stains at all. I didn't really wash the stuff off either (just wiped it with a cloth), and no stains appeared.

The Greased Lightening I used was for kitchens, bathrooms, etc. I didn't know about their automotive line till I checked their website. I'm not sure if there's an actual difference in the formula (kitchen stuff is very potent) or if it's just for marketing.

[swift 21]

hey how about pressure washing your engine bay will that hurt any??

[Pinoyspd17]

pressure washing is pretty much just for removing loose dirt particles and light stains....

id say use that Greased Lightning stuff for the hardcore stains...

so we can get Greased Lightning & Vinylex from pep boys?...

[dee5330]

i've got some crazy burned stains on my valve cover from spraying the car wash degreaser on there while the engine was hot. i've tried using engine cleaner products, but none have worked so far. is there anything i can do to get rid of it? or should i just invest on powdercoating?

[7THSIGN]

i got the Greased Lightening for cars and it worked good. its a Purple spray

[SleekSilve2]

Originally posted by dee5330
i've got some crazy burned stains on my valve cover from spraying the car wash degreaser on there while the engine was hot. i've tried using engine cleaner products, but none have worked so far. is there anything i can do to get rid of it? or should i just invest on powdercoating?


:werd:

[Blue Bomber]

Why would you spray any cleaning liquid on a hot engine? It would dry up before you could clean anything.

[DopeCelicaGT]

What about for the firewall and the all the other metal, painted parts of the engine bay? Are you guys like hand washing these areas with a mitt or what? I haven't gotten to clean my engine bay since I bought my car and it is roughly 1.4 years old so it is now time to do it. I used to just scrub the whole compartment down with a mitt on my old car but I was trying to fogure out what everybody else does on their cars. Do you guys take all the engine plastics off first or what? Let me know something?

[GT-S Celica]

where can i get some greased lightning?

[blkcelica01]

wal-mart, target, autozone, etc.

[Jusone36]

i've been using the meguiar's rubber/vinyl cleaner for the past couple of years, and my engine looks darn clean for a 2000 GT. i don't really clean the CAI so it just looks spotted. but good reading above.

[Blue Bomber]

Originally posted by DopeCelicaGT
What about for the firewall and the all the other metal, painted parts of the engine bay? Are you guys like hand washing these areas with a mitt or what? I haven't gotten to clean my engine bay since I bought my car and it is roughly 1.4 years old so it is now time to do it. I used to just scrub the whole compartment down with a mitt on my old car but I was trying to fogure out what everybody else does on their cars. Do you guys take all the engine plastics off first or what? Let me know something? For everything else, I just spray it down with Simple Green, let it sit for a few minutes, then wash it off with a hose. Good idea to cover your alternator, but that's about it.

[DopeCelicaGT]

Cool, thanks for the information.

[TRD2000GTS]

yes good info.....can you get these products at any auto parts store such as advanced auto parts, autozone, etc.??

and ive seen the greased lightning at the store before im gonna use this next time...

thanks again
-Dustin

[aZnTrD2k]

this thread is almost 2yrs ol:confused:

[DopeCelicaGT]

Wow, your right, I never even noticed that.