Ok, to start off with, I HAVE cleaned engines to "show" quality before, but these engines were not dirty at all compared to a daily driven car because they were basicly show cars. So I do know how to keep an good looking engine in shape.

But how would I got about cleaning my old, oil ridden, dirty engine that has probably never ever been cleaned? I don't want to get it show quality, but I'd just like to take all the grime and oil off everything, and make it look decent, and so I don't have to get my entire body covered with grime everytime I put my hands on anything under the hood.

My dad told me to spray some "Greased Lightning" on the engine and rinse it with water, then take a rag to it, and maybe do that a few times (if it needs it, which it does, trust me.) I usualy take his advice for Gold (because it usualy is worth about that much), but this seems a bit much to swallow... Greased lightning is a strong cleaner with degreaser stuffs in it. Would this be ok to spray all over the engine!?

How would you guys go about starting to tidy up the engine?

Thanks a ton!

 

I usually start with Gunk "Engine Bright" or the like, which is basically diesel fuel in a spray can. Take it to the car wash, let it cool down for a little while, then dose the entire motor in detail; let it soak, maybe repeat a couple of times where it's really thick; then wash it with the car wash.

The Greased Lightning thing works extremely well on a motor that's not quite so bad; but anything that involves a towel is going to be real labor intensive on old caked-up oil filth and sgrease and such.

 

The way we clean 'em up at work is:

Spray cleaner on it (not on the alternator, or ignition)
Steam clean it
Hand Wash it
Let Dry
Take silicone (or Armor All) and spray on all plastic and rubber pieces.

 

simple green and water.

that's all you need.

and some patience

anything harsher than simple green would start taking off paint along with it.

 

I would not recommend using Greased Lightning on aluminum or painted surfaces. I would start with Engine Bright and a soft nylon brushes to ger rid of the heavy, caked on stuff. Then hose it off, being careful not to spray the alternator or ignition system directly. Then towel dry and use simple green and scrub again. Rinse again, towel dry, and start the engine to boil off any standing water that you couldn't reach with the towel. Once that is done and the engine is cool again, use silicone based tire dressing on the entire engine corpartment and wipe it down with a clean rag. I follow this procedure and have had very good results. I go to cruise nights and lift my hood on my original engine 89' GTA with 153,000 miles on it.

 

When you say don't spray the alternator and ignition, do you mean don't spray it with the chemical? or with the water to?

Thanks yall! I appreciate it very much!

 

dont spray electrical stuff with either.

 

There is one cleaner out there that will make your engine look like it rolled right out of the dealership, it's called CD2. That stuff work like a friggin dream man, I was so skeptical about the stuff. Do a search there has been plenty of talk about it.


Anyways my friend used it on his engine and OMG it looks so friggin clean, all you do is spray on & let it sit, then rinse it off & spray the second can of stuff on the engine & thats it. so easy.