Purdy engine bay...

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Be careful with liberal applications of Simple Green on aluminum. It's an accelerant for oxidation of aluminum. If you're rinsing right away, you'll be fine, but don't do like I did, and spritz it on and wipe it off. You'll sit there wondering next week what all the white crap on your shiny aluminum parts are!
 
Well i tried the Simple Green today, and was impressed by how easily it got rid of the grease and grime. However, it really didnt make my engine look like the one up top. This just might be cause i clean my engine more often that normal people do:D Its a great product and i recommend it to anyone.
 
Actually i did get some white residue. So dont feel lost. I just had to scrub it off....which sort of dismisses the whole fact of it being a "spray on" job. But oh well, if anyone does know what that white crap is, let us both know please. lol
 
huskerpower02 said:
Actually i did get some white residue. So dont feel lost. I just had to scrub it off....which sort of dismisses the whole fact of it being a "spray on" job. But oh well, if anyone does know what that white crap is, let us both know please. lol

Heh, thanks.

I think I'm gonna give my '82GT a try tomorow. But I'm not gonna run the motor, its gonna be a cold motor..I just don't wanna crack my block...I'll just be super carefull of the alternator and distributor.
 
MSM0075 said:
Heh, thanks.

I think I'm gonna give my '82GT a try tomorow. But I'm not gonna run the motor, its gonna be a cold motor..I just don't wanna crack my block...I'll just be super carefull of the alternator and distributor.

You may end up with a rough running engine, afterwards. All of those type of problems have been caused by cleaning cold engines with water. It pools up where it shouldn't and causes problems. Not every time, but sometimes. The instruction to leave the engine running is to maximize the heat to prevent this from happening. Unless you start dumping buckets or large, fast streams of water on your engine (this would be dumb, BTW) you will not be cracking your block. Prolly not even then, really.

I got the results above with a running engine, nothing covered (remember it is fuel injection, carbs would need more care, I think), and a simple "spray on, spray off" application (except for the protectant, that was only "spray on").

The comment above that mentioned that they did not get the same results as at the top, left out the protectant step at the end. That makes a big difference in overall impact.

I did not experience any "white residue" in my application. Nor did my friend with the Prelude. Both of us applied simple green to a hot engine and removed it with a water sprinkle (no scrubbing, all while engine is running). I suspect these cases are caused by something besides the simple green itself, for that reason. We would have experienced the "white residue", otherwise.

Sorry, this thread had not show up as having new posts in it for me. I opened it to get the URL to link to and found it had new posts, anyway. :shrug:
 
Perhaps I was unclear in my first post.

The white residue is the result of a chemical reaction between Simple Green, and the bare aluminum. This is ONLY a problem if you spray the simple green on, and just wipe it off without any rinsing, or let it dry on the aluminum without wiping.

The procedure mention above, with the hot rinse, is on the directions of every engine cleaner can. However, I have to disagree with one part...

You should turn your engine OFF before dousing it with water. If you have a 5.0 engine, cover up your distributor with a plastic bag, and put a cover of your battery and electrical wiring harness on the right side of the engine bay (where the coil is at). Electricity + water = bad.

If you have an exposed air filter element, you should cover that as well.

Then soak and rinse to your hearts content, the engine is designed to get wet. After you've washed and scrubbed, start the car again, to let the engine heat evaporate all the water.

If you get white residue, and did NOT use Simple Green, it's probably just from heavy particles in your water. No worry, just get an air gun and dust it off.
 
It is true about aluminum and Simple Green. It is an akaline based cleaner. This is awesome for removing grease and grime. But it reacts to aluminum. I used it on my Harley and it left that white film on the heads. You can buy an etching cleaner from Eagle One that is called Mag Cleaner. This stuff is potent and will foam on contact with the aluminum. This is a chemical reaction. The stuff works great on bring back the factory look. It is not worth using if the aluminum has been clear coated. Only works on those cast type products. A great product.
 
madams74 said:
It is true about aluminum and Simple Green. It is an akaline based cleaner. This is awesome for removing grease and grime. But it reacts to aluminum. I used it on my Harley and it left that white film on the heads. You can buy an etching cleaner from Eagle One that is called Mag Cleaner. This stuff is potent and will foam on contact with the aluminum. This is a chemical reaction. The stuff works great on bring back the factory look. It is not worth using if the aluminum has been clear coated. Only works on those cast type products. A great product.

Awesome advice dude! :nice: I'm going to try this tomorow, beacuse I just cleaned my engine bay AGAIN with simple greeen, and i got white crap where its never showed up before, on the valve covers, the alternator/powersteering supports, and TB and Intake.....I tried scrubing it but it wouldne't go away, you can't dust this stuff off beacuse its a residue...i was real upset!!! So hopefully the Mag Cleaner bottle will help me out!!! :)
 
madams74 said:
Stay clear of the fumes. They get to ya. Also have you a wet rag and just start with a small area. After it starts to foam let it sit for about a minute and then wash off. I use the rag on hard to get places.

Don't understadn the whole prosses..Just spray on directly and wait to foam, the wait a min and whipe or rinse off???? Can I spray everywhere and then rinse off???
 
Just start with an area you know that you want clean. Dont over do it, YET. Make sure you like the results. I used this on my rims on another vehicle. After a minute or so I sould wash of with a hose. Sometimes I would use a wet rag on areas that I could not get a hose to. You will see what I mean after you use it once or twice. I wouldnt spray everywhere until you test it. But basically use it on some aluminum, then wait a minute and spray or wipe depending on where you can get a hose to.
 
madams74 said:
Just start with an area you know that you want clean. Dont over do it, YET. Make sure you like the results. I used this on my rims on another vehicle. After a minute or so I sould wash of with a hose. Sometimes I would use a wet rag on areas that I could not get a hose to. You will see what I mean after you use it once or twice. I wouldnt spray everywhere until you test it. But basically use it on some aluminum, then wait a minute and spray or wipe depending on where you can get a hose to.

aw man i made a mistake...I sprayed a lil bit on the intake, and it cleaned up alot of gew, so i ****in sprayed the whole thing not caring what else i sprayed, all my plastics are now bleeched :( :( :( im real upset... not even the Meg's Shine thingy in the red bottle gets rid of it :( But on the bright side it did a job on my Turbines.... im still upset though! :(

bleachedTBC.jpg

:(