Engine Bay Cleaning

[aktundra]

Here in Alaska, we do a lot of glacial river crossings. The engine bay, gets a very thin layer of somewhat baked dirt, and turns everything a uniform light brown color.

To be honest i haven’t tried any of the off the shelf engine cleaners, because it seems to me, they are generally oriented for cleaning glease/oil.

Anybody had a particular good luck with a product with just plain baked on “dust”?

 

[SNLC]

Hot water pressure washer is the best thing you could use. Doesn’t even need any chemicals.

Cheers

 

[SNLC]

For example,

Hot Water Commercial Pressure Washers - Hotsy

When it comes to heavy-duty cleaning tasks, a hot water pressure washer is your ultimate ally. Beyond its high-pressure cleansing capabilities, the infusion of heat into the equation introduces a realm of benefits that redefine efficient cleaning.

www.hotsy.com

Cheers

 

[aktundra]

Pressure washers no bueno

 

[LongDuck]

I wear it as a badge of honor. I'm sure there's a mix of Mojave desert, Death Valley, and regular old Sonoran Desert dust and dirt all over my engine bay, and nobody complains because I don't open my hood for just anyone.

I'd post a pic as proof, but I don't want to be shunned by the Engine Bay Cleaners Union Local#426 members here.

It's not a show car.

 

[TRDdrew]

I wear it as a badge of honor. I'm sure there's a mix of Mojave desert, Death Valley, and regular old Sonoran Desert dust and dirt all over my engine bay, and nobody complains because I don't open my hood for just anyone.

I'd post a pic as proof, but I don't want to be shunned by the Engine Bay Cleaners Union Local#426 members here.

It's not a show car.

Engine Bay Cleaners Union #426 representative here .................. Shame

 

[FIDO96]

 

[COS80]

Simple Green, rinse with hose.

 

[SNLC]

Pressure washers no bueno

Been doing it for 30yrs. Never a single issue. Maybe because I know how to do it and I don’t spray where or how I shouldn’t.

These cars they never drive through the rain. Nobody ever drives through a creek in them.

Cheers

 

[SNLC]

I wear it as a badge of honor. I'm sure there's a mix of Mojave desert, Death Valley, and regular old Sonoran Desert dust and dirt all over my engine bay, and nobody complains because I don't open my hood for just anyone.

I'd post a pic as proof, but I don't want to be shunned by the Engine Bay Cleaners Union Local#426 members here.

It's not a show car.

I don’t like to get dirty when I work on my Cruiser. If I keep my Cruisers clean, I stay clean when I work on them. It is also easier to find problems when it is clean. It also has a higher resale value when it is clean.

If you take it to a shop to be worked on, we generally do not enjoy the crusty dirty trucks at all. I am sure people can imagine getting grease/oil up to your armpits, in your hair and dust-dirt falling in our eyes and all over us as we work on your Cruisers. It’s not very rad.

Cheers

 

[vwhammer]

I'm part of the pressure washer crowd
I use Purple Power degreaser in one of those garden sprayers with the pump so you can pressureize it.
Liberally hose everything down in the engine bay with the degreaser and let it sit for a minute.
I pretty much keep it wet with degreaser for a few minutes before I have at it with the pressure washer
I use some cheap no name 2200psi electric pressure washer and it does just fine
I use this on just about every new ride I get.
It almost always comes a lot cleaner than I usually expect

 

[petegangies]

I use a citrus based degreaser, spray and then get to brushing—don't let it dry. Spray a bit more product (or mist water) to keep it wet. Then when you've given everything a good scrub use the hose to rinse, if you have good pressure and a good spray attachment, otherwise the pressure washer is fine, just don't put it too close, especially if a higher powered one, and don't spray directly onto things you know you shouldn't (common sense goes a long way).. I like to use Koch Chemie Motorplast Engine Bay Conserver to finish it off.

 

[LongDuck]

You guys all paid up on your Union Dues? I feel like we need a Rep in here...

I don't mind a little trail dust when I (*rarely) have to work on the engine. When I'm done, I can easily remember what I did down the road because that Thermostat Housing looks cleaner than the rest of it, as do those belts, or that oil filler cap - I must have changed the oil somewhat recently.

I haven't washed my LandCruiser in several years, but it does sit in the garage 99% of the time. The other 1% of the time, it's on a dusty trail in the Sonoran Desert.

My biggest fear is pack rats. The VerminCong never sleep.

 

[Mark W]

I wear it as a badge of honor. I'm sure there's a mix of Mojave desert, Death Valley, and regular old Sonoran Desert dust and dirt all over my engine bay, and nobody complains because I don't open my hood for just anyone.

I'd post a pic as proof, but I don't want to be shunned by the Engine Bay Cleaners Union Local#426 members here.

It's not a show car.

If I have grease and grime under the hood due to an oil leak or... well whatever... that will get get a cleaning. I have had two incidents over the years that resulted in fire extinguisher powder everywhere under the hood. That got washed too. But all of my Cruiser from the first one to which ever might turn out to be the last, see their time off road. They have glacial silt, peat, sand, dust, dirt and mud of varying colors on them and in them. I can tell which Alaskan mountain range or river drainage I have been in most recently by the color of dust on the rig the mud splashed though the window and onto the dash.

I will clean the splatters off the dash of course. I wash the outside and inside of the rig as needed. My GF has no interest in geting dirty just becasue she walked too close to the rig. Or... sat in it.

I do not wash dirt or mud or dust silt or whatever from under the hood. or under the chassis. No reason to because it is sure to be back in a few days anyway.

Now when winter rolls to an end and break up starts... I wash the underside, fender wells and exterior repeatedly and vigorously. Gotta fight the salt after all!

If I need to work on my rigs and they are dirty enough for that to be an issue, I wash as needed prior to getting started. But if it ain't oily, it takes a LOT of dirty before it matters to me unless there is the potential for the dirtiness to pose adverse effects to the work being done.

Mark...

 

[Land Shark]

Engine Bay Cleaners Union #426 representative here .................. Shame

By the way. Still waiting on my EBCU #426 stickers and magnetic coozies

 

[TRDdrew]

By the way. Still waiting on my EBCU #426 stickers and magnetic coozies

We put them in the mail, please check with your Union Delegate