I just used wal mart degreeser and a garden hose to clean mine. Didn't exactly do it for me. I didn't use anything powerful for fear of ruining the delicate electronics. Any advice?

 

Simple green, used on a dry WARM but not HOT engine. Asst of toothbrushes, and larger brushes. Then rinse. Just cover most of the electronics plastic bags and spot clean them before. Do this a couple of times a week after 3-4 times you should be pretty squeaky.

Protectant helps also. Collinite insulator wax #845 keeps the paint in the engine bay nice and protected through the heat cycles.

 

I'm not a fan of using degreaser and what not (just a personal preference) or that shiny stuff that just makes the dirty pretty.

But

Once you get it clean, just take a large sponge or terry cloth and squeeze it over parts of the engine while obviously avoiding soaking electrical connectors. Once everything you want cleaned is soapy, simply squeeze clean water over everything and you're good to go.

I had a 02 Camaro I did this with at every wash and at 100k miles it still looked brand new.

Post 333! Lucky day?!? Maybe I'll find an answer to my relay post ::cross fingers::

 

I take out the battery, put a plastic bag over the alternator and distributer, hose down the engine bay and the spray it with simple green or purple power dereaser, let it soak for 10-15 minutes, then I take a pressure washer and set it to gentle (still sprays really hard but wont strip paint and break things) and spray away! I try not to spray the elecrtionics and wiring directly but i still spray them gently.

Never had an issue so far, did it all the time on my truck after i went playing in the mud

 

Thats fine for a brand new engine, or the way my bay/motor is now. But for the common dirty bay, this will not cut it. You can use soap and water every day for a year, and it will still look the same.

 

just cover what electronic you can. distributor and alternator and try not to spray directly on anythign else and you'd be fine. Might even wanna take the distributor cap off after your done and dry it off inside.

 

To protect the wiring/relays etc., go to a dollar store and stock up on some aluminum foil. It's extremely flexible and whatever you cover should stay protected.