Is it same to use a pressure washer?
Is there such a thing as steam cleaning?
Is armour all a good idea?
Etc.....

 

To keep the engine bay clean, do not put any oils on it since they attract dust quick and later it'll turn into mud. Spray some simple green on there and let it soak for a couple minutes, then go at it with water(pressure washer is better). Just don't aim directly at any wiring and don't spray any armor all on it. After a couple times of washing the motor and getting all the oil and dirt off, it should look good.

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Erik '89 Formula 350 TPI
14.10 @ 98 on motor
12.83 @ 109 w/NOS
http://www.geocities.com/formulal98/

 

Hey if you are gonna do it, becareful....Ya gotta cover the distributor. Unless you like your car to be clean in the drive way.

 

The best way I found to clean the engine compartment (or any grease/oil laden area) was with my hot pressure washer. It puts out 3000PSI at 200°F. If there were areas that would be sensitive to a lot of pressure, I just backed off the lance or reduced the pressure to 1500 or so. You have to be careful when using that much pressure since it can take paint and undercoating off if you don't know what you're doing.

A steam cleaner will put out steam (over 212°), but at a lot less pressure, like 400-600 PSI. These are not too common. I prefer the higher pressure (3000psi) pressure washers using hot water.

I could make the engine compartment and steering linkeage free of all grease and oil with it. It'd only take about 10 seconds to throughly clean brake drums.

Car washes have pressure washers, but they are much lower pressure (1000-1500 PSI), and warm, not hot water due to liability reasons - afraid customers will get burnt, so they are not nearly as effective.

You can rent pressure washers, but unless it has a burner for hot (over 180°) water, you won't get nearly the cleaning power using a hot unit. But it will be better than using a garden hose...

[This message has been edited by Stuart Moss (edited October 13, 2000).]

 

Hey if you have a regular pressure washer without a burner, you could always run a garden hose from your hot water heater or from your washing machine hookup to the pressure washer. Just a thought.

 

The problem with running how water to the input of the pressure washer is that the packings are generally not rated for hot water. I'm not sure exactly how hot, but I wouldn't wnat anything more than about 100° going through it.

Some washers are rated as hight as about 160°, but they are fairly rare.

If you do, it'll work for a while, but I guarantee the packings will soon fail (it will not be able to develop pressure).

FYI, there is a lot of difference in cleaning ability between 160° and 195°. Generally, the lower temperature will require a lot longer time to do what the higher temperature does.

Nevertheless, if you washer is rated for the higher temperature, it definately will help.

 

If you are very afraid of pressure washing it, just use some simple green and a rag. Lots of scrubbing and elbow grease will give you a very clean engine. Use some mother's polish on any of the aluminum looking parts to make em shine

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91 rs, convertible, K&N, Edelbrock open element cleaner, 3.73, B&M mega-shifter, goodmark cowl-induction hood

 

Simple green over armorall, huh?! I've used armorall and yes it does collect a lot of dust, never new there was the "un-greasy" version of armorall... heading down to the store, now By the way, does simple green give a shiney/satin look on the hoses and wiring?

Brian.
'91 T/A 305TPI flowed.

 

Go down to your local deparment store and head over to the house hold cleaning isle. Buy an assortment of brushes, long ones, skinny ones, etc. Usually brushes with small heads on them work the best. Try to find one that is on a long wire with a brisel end. I think you can find it where they sell wine making kits, it's for cleaning bottles. Oh yes, and a few old tooth bushes will help.

Now, if your engine is REALLy greasy, you should take it to a car wash and pressure wash the BIG stuff off. This is usually on the front of the engine, or the oil pan. These are safe areas to clean with a pressure washer.

Next, mix up a pail of water and a degreaser. I like to use CAstrol Super Clean. At full strenght it is amasing, but it will strip the wax off your paint and discolor aluminum. So dilute it or becareful. I have heard that TIDE works well, but I have never used it on a car.

Then get to work with your brushes and soapy water. This may take some time, but it will look great when it is done. Use a garden hose to rinse it off ... often.

Next step is to detail things. You know, repaint chips, clean the hoses, etc.

Try to avoid armour all under the hood. It will attract the dust. Some people like the shiney look, I like the clean look.

Mark.

 

I'd also say to stay away from aluminum with that chrome polish. Going at rough cast aluminum with a polishing paste will make a mess. That stuff is designed to keep polished aluminum shiny. For the cast parts (plenum, runners & manifold) the Eagle 1 Mag Cleaner works really well. Just don't let it sit there too long.

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The IROC Homepage
<A HREF="http://www.rit.edu/~jli4307/camaro" TARGET=_blank>
View the restoration of an 85 IROC</A>
"I didn't know a bored out Ford could go so slow" -Shenandoah

 

Well here's my $.02... IF your engine bay isn't too awful dirty, as everyone prior to me has said, you basically have quite a few methods of doing it. Here's another one... If you're not into the high pressure stuff, as I'm not but have done it, another idea is to use one of those pump sprayers (like for garden stuff, etc.) and put your simple green or whatever degreaser you choose and apply it that way. It comes out low pressure, you got a wand on it so it makes it easy to direct the spray and control it, and then you can rinse it and put rinse water in there or use a garden hose to hose it down. This is what I do - my engine bay is pretty clean, not spotless, so it's pretty easy to maintain that way. Also, if you have an air compressor, you can get "spray guns" for those, as well, to use with degreasers and a spray nozzle to blow the standing water off the engine when you're done.