Cleaning engine bay, who does it?

281pony

Active Member
Aug 31, 2003
2,681
2
46
Oly, WA
when i went to look at my 2000 gt, the engine bay was pretty dirty. when i picked it up from ford after i bought the car, it was spotless, looked brand new.

i am going to be in the same situation with another car im looking at. this car is just coming from a private sale. i kinda dont want to do it myself and mess anything electrical up. im thinking they steam clean the engine at ford?

is there any kind of shops who do this sort of thing? im not sure where to start looking. looking for a good starting place to ask and get some estimates, thanks.
 
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all u need to do is get a can od degreaser, spray it on and hose it off with ur garden hose. or go to walmart or somthing and get some castrol super clean, its in a purple gallon container, use it full stregth and it works PERFECT.
theres no worry about electrical just dont keep the hose running on it for long periods of time.
 
dude,no joke,let you car idle for 5 min,,shut off,,cover alternator,,spray down with water and spray the hell out of it with Simple Green cleaner,,let it sit for 10 min and rinse it off. You do this twice and I guarantee your by suprised as hell on how well it works. Save yourself some cash.
 
My motor was filthy when I purchased this thing and look at it now..Simple Green works the best
 

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i may go get some of that then if nothing else comes up.

im just paranoid, the last time i tried cleaning my engine bay it resulted in the starter solenoid taking a dump. with very minimal water use as well.
 
Always clean engine when it is as cool as possible to avoid cracking.

I just clean mine at the spray and wash, some people have had BIG problems after cleaning their engines.

Do a search on this subject.
 
Another vote cast for a good saturation of mildly diluted (I'm a cheap ass) Simple Green, light scrubbing for stubborn dirt, and a light pressure hose rinse down.

You might also go over to the Shine shop, as this topic comes up there, too. You may have to modify the thread time range to get more threads or perform a quick search, but there are some good tidbits there, too.

The Shine Shop on StangNet
 
I cover the alternator and make sure I don't get the MAF, battery and fuse block behind the battery wet. I dampen the engine, spray diluted Simple Green on it, wait 5-10 minutes and then hose it off with a low pressure setting so water isn't forced anywhere it shouldn't go. Then I break out the wet/dry vac, put it on the blower setting and blow out the water. Start the car and let it idle for a while to vaporize the rest. Done it numerous times with no harm.
 
i use simple green and one of those plug-in canister steamers. it works well and with the steamer wand you can pinpoint where you want the water to go.. then i just wipe it with those blue shop towels (aka glorified paper towel) you can pick up at any autostore.