My engine is filthy!!! What to clean it with???

[Birvini]

Don't flame me, I did a search.

Search came up with mineral water. Anything harsh seems to screw up the red paint, but mineral water does not seem like it will do the trick.

Any tips??

 

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

Naptha.

 

[Birvini]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Chuck 98 RT/10:
Naptha.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

HUH???

 

[TOOOFST]

I've been using foamy engine brite for years,haven't had any trouble,are you coming out to the viper nat's sept.13,14th?

 

[Jeff Torrey]

Not Mineral Water, Mineral Spirits. Go to the hardware store and get a gallon of Paint Thinner, just make sure it's not laquer thinner. Thats why people are calling it Mineral Spirits.

 

[Mr U-2]

I also own an old Jag XJS as a DD and there's a guy on the Jag owners club web site who published a "how to" detailing paper for the V-12 engine on the Jag. The Jag V-12 is a nightmare of tubes, wires nooks and crannies....talk about skinned knuckles...anyway he recommends Dawn to cut the grease...I use it...full strength..rinse with a hose or spray bottle for little spots...works good on the grease build up. I'd stay away from anything harsh and steam cleaning is risky. You can use a good stainless steel polish for anything that needs it....believe it or not Martha Stewart's works great. For other underhood body work...non engine.. a good cleaner like Maguires followed by a good polish brings up the body work.

I just got my Viper so I'll learn from the guys here on the detailing tricks for Mr Viper but that's what I use underhood on the Jag. If you'd like I can send you a copy of the Jag guys paper on engine cleaning...Good Luck...Paul

 

[Dixter]

This might help you...
http://autopia.ws/forums/showthread.php?s=aa581748131adf33b92d3e6496d5ae9c&postid=125596#post125596

 

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

We used Naptha in H.S. and in the USAF to clean tools and machinery. It's like paint thinner, mineral spirits, etc. except I believe it's non-flamable. I've seen it at Home Depot.

 

[red98GTS]

Birvini....try what I use for dirty engines...K&N air filter cleaner in the big white spray bottle...you can find it just about anywhere including speed shops, auto parts places that sell K&N filters, etc. Spray it on cold engine and parts around it that are dirty, but have a water hose ready. This stuff MELTS grease and grime. You won't even need a brush&gt;&gt;&gt;just hose it off after 30 seconds or so. Really grimy spots will require a soft brush. I posted this some time ago and somebody said it leaves white residue on some aluminum. This can be avoided by following the rinse with a wipe of DAWN and water suds in a bucket.
Then hose it again. I prefer no nozzle on the hose....water and junk goes everywhere if you blast it....just hose it and avoid the peripheral damage! You also might want to have some clean rags ready to dry the larger areas....this also helps keep the spots to a minimum. pete the ex glass guy and hot rodder

 

[Tom and Vipers]

Assuming you don't have 1/4" of build up greese, I use Gunk however Dawn or anything should work just fine.

Here are the 2 tricks I know:

1) Blow dry the engine compartment with an electric leaf blower.

2) Soak the cleaned and now dry engine down with Armor All (original formula.)

You might want to soak up any pooling areas of the AA, but that is it. Let the milky liquid "dry" where it lays. It puts a nice semi gloss on as a result of the oil or whatever that stuff is in the milky suspension.

It looks just like those photos of the shiney engines.

Tom

PS. I suppose you could "blow dry" the AA with the blower to get the pooling areas...

 

[King GTS]

Tom:


I've been following this thread because I definitely need to clean my engine! Are you saying to dry the engine with a leaf blower after you're finished cleaning with dawn? And forgive my ignorance (this will be a 1st for me) but is it safe to get the engine wet?

And finally, after I'm finished cleaning, soak my actual engine with Armor All?

I just wanna make sure I'm getting all this right before I do it. Thanks in advance.

 

[MadMaxx]

An engine can get wet no problem... just avoid spraying water directly into the TB's or filters (which will wash out the oil on your K&Ns). The only other caveat is let the engine dry COMPLETELY. Distributor parts, when wet, will arc and the car will either run like crap or not run at all...

Do your best, and lay into it!

On a simmilar note... how does one clean the inside of the hood area? Areas not coverered by hood pad, and those that are?

MM

 

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

I'm not a chemist but I've heard that Armor All is not a good thing to use. It has something in it that decreases the life of rubber. Just what I heard.

I don't like Armor All anyway - too slimey and shiney.

 

[Bonkers]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by TOOOFST:
I've been using foamy engine brite for years<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Ditto. I love that stuff. Its called GUNK Foamy Engine Bright and comes in an Orange and blue aerosol can. You can get it at any good auto parts store and it'll cost you less than $5. You spray this directly onto the grime, wait a few moments, hose off with the garden hose.

Chuck, I've heard the same thing about ArmorAll. Great on Vinyl tough on gaskets..

 

[jgfurr]

Armor All? For the love of all that's HOLY!!!! Don't most of you guys use Zaino to wax your car? Ever try their rubber/tire gloss? It works wonders on all rubber, silicone, and textured plastic. You can wipe down any grime in the engine compartment with Dawn, wipe again with clean water, let everything dry, then go over the non-metal stuff with Zaino rubber/tire gloss.

You really shouldn't have to hose down the entire engine compartment. All the components SHOULD be able to take it, but I'm not willing to take that chance. I already spend enough time waxing the body. I don't mind taking my time and spending an hour to clean the engine.

 

[Flexx91]

Water shouldn't affect the engine at all. Castrol Superclean is also a good degreaser plus it has many other uses around the house/garage. Be sure to blow or dry off the ignition wires, coil packs (who said "distributor"???) and sensors before starting the car. A wet sensor can short and affect the resistance reading to the control module. The result can be a check engine light but if so, it should reset in about five or six starts and the sensor dries out. Armor All (the original formula) is oily and will only attract more dirt.

 

[Tom and Vipers]

Armor All has come out with garbage tire gloss like all of its competitors.

Those produces are for people who like their tires to look like they are soaked with brake fluid from leaky wheel cylinders. (Before all of these gloss products, people actually put brake fluid on their tires to make them glossy. Where did this glossy tire fetish come from anyway?)

These same morons put gloss on their dashes too so that glare from sun makes looking out the windshield impossible.

The original armor all is not shiney and when applied to tires, gives them just the slightest hint of a shine - they look pretty close to a new tire.

For tires, Westley's Bleachwhite produces a completely ****** rubber surface which for me is the most desirable finish - only problem is that it attacks aluminum.

As far as Armor All damaging rubber - I've never heard of that one. I have heard that it preserves plastic used in dashes.


The reason for the leaf blower after you wash your engine is to get rid of the water spots! This is a BIG problem w/o a blower.

Then the application of AA is simply a dousing. The only thing I do is sop up all the pooling AA.

 

[Qualitywires.com]

I use dawn (very diluted solution)...wipe it down with rag and spray lightly some water and then Blamm! 125psi air gun to get all water and dust off. It works for me and it simple!