My engine bay is completely dirty and I was wondering how i could go about cleaning up the block and head...like removing oil. and cleaning up the whole engine bay.

 

I used a bottle of Greased Lightning from AutoZone, and you simply spray it on all the parts (cover your alt. and CAI filter) and let it sit for a while. Coat everything pretty well the first time, let it sit until everything stops bubbling, then spray it off with water. Spray on another coat, and use a toothbrush to scrub the tough spots and let it sit until it stops bubbling, then rinse it all off with water again. Once it's dry, you can do the polishing DIY (check the forum) to get a super shiny bay. Use Armor All on the radiator hoses and other similar hoses (coolant, various other rubber hoses, etc) to get them really shiny.
That's what I did, and it turned out pretty well, but I haven't done anything to my intake manifold or the exhaust cover...

 

this is from a local site
Before you even think about washing your engine bay some pre-cautions have to be taken into consideration.

On a warm car you have just driven into your garage, Your going to pop the hood, look around for any exposed wires, open caps, etc.

Grab a rag or terry towel, or plastic bag, or someone's hat, whatever. Cover the distributor and / or coil packs. Cover the alternator also, I always cover the air box and or air filter also, I don't care what K&N says.

Now that you have all of that covered, it may blow off, if it blows off, your using the pressure washer and or garden hose wrong. Your rags at any time should NOT blow off the object placed on, yes! they are going to get soaking wet, that's what keeps them there. Don't avoid them, Spray them. Get’em wet.

Okay, so everything is covered, your horny to use the pressure washer, your going to spray down the fenders, bumper, windshield, hood, and then start rinsing underneath the hood.

Now that everything is wet, Your going to use a multi-purpose *non* acidic cleaner your going to mist it over all hoses, Loom’s, wires, anywhere under the hood. Be generous. Do under the hood too.

Now that you have that done. Your going to use a de-greaser, Engine De-greaser, De-tar-err, even yes paint thinner if you have nothing else (professionals only). You’re going to spray this on the greasy areas only. Like where under-coating or an oil spill occurred, etc.

Now you have chemical all over the engine. Don't panic but grab the pressure washer / Garden hose. Begin with the underneath of the hood, Rinse that. Now move on to the fenders and front bumper, Rinse those, then move onto the engine, Rinse that.

If you’re creative enough you can get the pressure washer into those hard to reach places. DO NOT let the pressure washer come any closer then 5 inches to any object under the hood. Trust me, I've cut myself open with a pressure washer on many occasions. So be careful, don’t let the stream too close. You can shampoo an engine with a garden hose guys. So keep this in mind. Pressure is cool, but keep it distant.

Now you've got the engine clean. Time to detail, remove all of your rags, You now need them to rub out any dirt and or grime you couldn't get rid of with the pressure washer, (Depending on how dirty your motor is you can shampoo it again before this step) Alright, So take your rags. You can use your Multi-Purpose cleaner and or tar solvent to spot remove these areas. Once that’s done give the engine a quick rinse. Now your ready for a dressing.

Dressing. Critical guys!!! You’re going to want to use a WATER BASED DRESSING! DO NOT USE SILICONE!! And I’ll explain why…

Silicone cakes on heavy, and sticks like oil, the entire purpose of you shampooing your engine is to gain performance, I've seen a clean engine bay give nearly half a second in the quarter mile, your engine needs to sweat man if you will. Keep itself cool and Cool it self off. If you have a thick coat of dressing all over the place, your engine is going to heat up and not perform as well. You might as well take 4L of oil and dump it right on the motor.

So guys use water based dressing, there are tons on the market, if you can't find any, Use tire foam, it comes in non-synthetic formulas.


Once the engine is dressed, close the hood, wash the car, and let it dry on it's own. You can touch it up after with a clean terry towel, rag. Etc.

 

If you use silicone lube on hoses basically you're renewing what's already come off of them through normal oxidation. Use silicone.

Do not use silicone compound. It is very thick and will add bulk.

Silicone lube is a different animal alltogether. It will clean and restore all plastics. It is good for your plastics. It will also dry quickly and not leave any oily mess after about a minute of sitting.

 

http://thedetailinghandbook.com/default.aspx

Even though it's written for S2000 owner's, there's still alot of good techniques that you can use on any car.

 

just buy a can of black magic engine degreaser, spray on where you want to clean wipe off. That stuff is awesome. Made my engine bay look new again.

 

or you could learn the hard way and accidentally forget to screw on the hose to the top of your power steering pump... start the car and watch a 12 ft gusher of hydraulic fluid splash all over your ceiling, engine, car, etc. After cleaning it all up though, the engine friggin SHINES! lmao.gif

 

hey guys thanks for all the help..i decided to get some cd2 stuff...now just gotta wait on alextib to get my valve cover....

 

This is how my engine looked



So I decided to go out and buy this stuff...



So I did what the instructions said and never liked the rinsing with water part but it said to do it generously and and i was carefull of how I did it but some water did get on the alternator.

In the instructions it said to let the car run at idle for 10-15 minutes to speed up the drying process. So at about 10 minutes I slowly reved it up to only about 2k. Then I tried to rev up fast and it was sputtering alot, like close to a stall feeling and it is still doing it. I don't know whats wrong, and its not actually my car, its my moms ha, so shes pissed i screwed somthing up. Is it because I got water on the alternator? How can I fix this. Just wait with the hood up for an hour or so maybe just to let it dry?..PLEASE HELP ME!

Great. Now I tried actually driving it and it went to about 25 kph and couldnt go anymore because it was sputtering so badly and now I have a CEL!!! DAMN IT. God i'm dead, my mom is gonna beat my ass.

 

The first time I cleaned my engine with Gunk engine brite citrus cleaner I had the same thing happen. Well no CEL but I had it like sputter and sound really weak. I let it run for a while slowly giving it gas and after awhile everything just seemed to run normally. Just let your engine bay dry up and see how things turn out. Also get that code read and see if it actually has something to do with this situation. lol

In the mean time get us some pics of the cleaned engine bay fing02.gif

For anybody else trying to "rinse generously" with water, please dont drench everything with a hose. I use a mr clean auto dry or sometimes a very fine mist spray from a watering garden hose nozzel. Just go over the engine with a fine spray and gently get all that stuff off. Dont use too much water and try to speed up the whole process. Its just going to give you a head later lol.