How to Clean the Engine Bay ?

[mithun]

At Truevalue, I've seen lots & lots of cars with very clean engine bays. I'm sure that they haven't dis-assembled each and every parts and cleaned them.
So, Did they used Industrial Vacuum Cleaner or Compressed Air ?

So how can we clean the engine bay ourselves ?

Please provide the Do's & Dont's...

[vid6639]

Well at most service centres believe it or not, they spray the pressure water to clean it.

I have seen this at MUL, Hyundai and HM. After that there is a 3M spray available white liquid which they spray inside. this prevents rust and the water marks.

I think it's better to just use the spray and wipe it a little.

[esteem_lover]

And use high pressure compressed air to remove the tiniest spec of water.

[rishibravo]

doesnt the compressed air or water jet spoil the electricals going around the engine bay?

[ritayan]

The electricals are well insulated from water or any such eliments. Also in the older cars it is advised to cover the distributor with plastic.

[moralfibre]

Whenever they spray water on my engine bay I ensure that they cover the ECU with a plastic bag because the ECU in the Palio is exposed and might falter if water enters the assembly. Other cars have the ECU in the passenger cabin.

[Jaggu]

use blower of home vaccum cleaner to blow away the dust before you do your weekly wash, yes mopping the engine bay after washing the body also help if done weekly

[iraghava]

Also remember to do this only when your car is cold, do not do this on a hot engine.

[mclaren1885]

I have personally seen a few workshops use some kind of oil to clean the engine bay. Which is a complete NO NO. Once, it so happened that we noticed smoke coming out of the engine bay of memo's sienna. Worried we opened the bonnet and figured out it was some kind of a oil they had used to clean the engine. And this seems to be well practiced across many a workshops in bangalore.

[moralfibre]

Right Rahul. They use used engine oil on the engine bay to give it a shiny look. Stupid people I must say.

Ensure that they dont do this to your car.

[Technocrat]

If I am not wrong kerosene mised with water & sprayed at high speed is the best cleaning agent, also kerosene evaporates fast enough to smoke.

[2fast4u]

Originally Posted by Technocrat

If I am not wrong kerosene mised with water & sprayed at high speed is the best cleaning agent, also kerosene evaporates fast enough to smoke.

spot on techno thats the right way but no water. and you can do this on a warm engine (not hot) with engine off. I do this every month costs approx Rs 50(in bahrain). and everything is clean and looking new. 10 minute job.

[Ricky_63]

Originally Posted by Technocrat

If I am not wrong kerosene mised with water & sprayed at high speed is the best cleaning agent, also kerosene evaporates fast enough to smoke.

kerosene or diesel is used by a lot of service stations - mostly kerosene. I used to clean my engine bay with kerosene with a paint brush to dislodge muck from nooks & crannies & then wash it with RIN or any other soap solution & then use a water hose to wash off the soap etc. used to work well, my Maruti 800 1988 model looked spanking new even after it crossed 1,00,000 kms !!!

Unfortunately have gotten lazy now - maybe I'll get back to doing it again now that we talked about it

[Ricky_63]

Hi

Tried getting the engine bays of my cars squeky clean today...old times sake. It was fun, except the engines now hardly give you any room to work in compared to the older cars !!

Nostalgic & fun. Don't think I managed them as clean as I used to be able to !! Need some practice & some soap. he he h ehe he he

[traman]

Steam cleaning is the method that most professional workshops would use to clean your bay. Its hot steam that essentially cleanses most of your parts. High pressure water would ruin your coilpacks and thats not a pretty thing to happen. Ask around for someone who can perform a steam clean and you should be just fine. That might cost you quite a bit though.