Engine cleaning tips

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GaryH2

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I have my 07 with 145k on it and I've been thinking I should clean up the engine bay some.

Other than protecting the electricals, any suggestions on how and what to use? I was thinking Simple Green, trying to stay away from the harsher cleaners.

I'm open to suggestions!
 

tonydiv

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Simple green works great, but you do need to do a little bit of scrubbing to get the grease and grime off.

I used to use simple green and a pressure washer to clean engine compartments, but now, with so many electronic components under there, I'm afraid to use the pressure washer any more.
 
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GaryH2

GaryH2

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I agree (which is why I was looking for tips!). So much electrical stuff I would be afraid of using a pressure washer. Its not like you can cover the battery and distributor (what's that? :) ) and squirt away!

I'm thinking of soap and water with a wheel brush to scrub here and there where I can reach and rinsing with careful spray.
 

carlos08

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Simple Green works good but be careful when using it since it can speed up the corrosion process on aluminum.
 

Erich Zeppelin

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Don't even think about getting water anywhere near that engine! I've gone through two sets of coils because I wanted a "pretty" engine compartment, now I let that pig wallow in dirt. Water bad.
 

GAINMOB

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just have to know how to do it and wrap stuff up...detailers can do it
 

GAINMOB

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Really???? I always wanted someone to do it for me. That help me! Thanks

for some ppl...they dont want to do it themselves...they would rather pay for convience...so its not far fetched...and my comment was based on someone saying they blew 2 cops and whatever else saying stay away...
 

01yellerCobra

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I used to pressure wash the engine compartment in my Cobra all the time. The only reason I stopped is because trying to dry it all off and then having to clean off water spots was a PITA. Now I clean the hard stuff with Purple Power on a rag or blue shop towel then go over everything with polish. What I learned is to not directly spray at the coil covers. For our 06 GT I keep it away from the COPs. No issues yet. Do you really think all the stuff under the hood never gets wet? Pop your hood after driving in the rain. You might be surprised.
 

american steel

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one thing you can do is take your black plastics out of the bay and clean them with degreaser then let them dry and use tire cleaner, you'll have plastics looking new again.
im very careful on cleaning engines when they are inside the vehicle i use engine degreaser and a house hose i never use high pressure, i spray the areas where i want cleaned and hose areas down also avoiding the ignitions plugs. a tooth brush bucket of water will also help cleaning everything above the heads instead of pressure.
 
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