i admit it, im scared to detail my engine

[Micktown]

ive never detailed any of my cars engines and im scared to death to start now on my mustang. that car is my baby and i just cant understang how shooting the engine with a hose wont screw anything up.

sunday is my first car show and the exterior is SPOTLESS thanks to some new D151! (i love that stuff!!!). ive read sooo many forum posts about engine detailing and how you should bag-off the alternator and fuse box.

is there anything else i should bag off before biting the bullet and just getting that powerhouse clean? id hate to go to the show with a glistening car and open the hood just to see a filthy engine.

any help would be immensely appreciated. im looking more for reassurance than tips but both would be great.

thanks guys

[Edit: Language changed to be family friendly -Mike Phillips]

[new2detailing]

Biggest thing is to make sure the intake is protected ( do not want to hydrolock the new engine). Wrap any sensitive electrical components (however most new cars have important electrical components protected from water anyway), use a good degreaser and a light spray of water (you do not to blast the engine with a strong stream of water for obvious reasons) and protect the rubber with a quality protectant.

[Murr1525]

How filthy is it? You can work by hand with rags to give a general wipedown and dressing if it isnt too bad...

[AeroCleanse]

Spray it down with the cleaner (I like Super Degreaser 10:1) then start the egine before hosing it down.

[Mike Phillips]

ive never detailed any of my cars engines and im scared to death to start now on my mustang.



Don't feel bad for posting that you're scared-to-death to clean your engine compartment, when it comes to new cars, if you make a simple mistake it can cost you hundreds of dollars for any component that you might harm not to mention the cost of having the injured component replaced, the labor to have it replaced and the downtime for the car.

When it comes to old school style cars, it's pretty simple, cover the distributor, altenator and the carburetor and you're pretty safe.

When it comes to new cars there can be sensors and electronic/computer controlled gizmo's that you NEED to protect.

While it can seem out of the norm on other forums to recommend your members to go to another forum, we believe that solving our members problems is Job #1, (Borrowed that from Ford ;) ).

For this reason, when it comes to cleaning an engine compartment on a newer car, one of the best things you can do is find a discussion forum dedicated to the make and model of your car and check to see if they have a sub-forum on detailing cars; most "Theme Based Discussion Forums" have a sub-forum for car appearance by some name such as exterior care or something like that.

Join that forum and start a thread stating your concerns and ask the community of forum members to help you. Just like our forum, most forum communities are made up of people that are passionate about the topic or theme of the discussion forum and in most cases there will be some regular members that have experience in whatever your topic of interest might be and they will be more than happy to chime in and share their knowledge and experience in response to your questions.

I know that I personally join non-detailing forums anytime I have questions about whatever it is I'm working on and I'm always always rewarded with not only answers to my questions but new online friends.

There must be kazillions of Mustang forums so while we can give you the basics of what to use and how to use it, the "Gurus" of "Theme Based Discussion Forums" are going to tell you EXACTLY which components on your specific make and model Mustang must be protected when doing any kind of cleaning in the engine compartment especially when spraying cleaners onto different surfaces and/or if you're spraying high pressure water into the engine compartment.

I have not cleaned the engine compartment on our Honda Pilot, it's not a show car its our Costco Grocery Getter, but when I do decide to pressure clean the engine compartment, before I do I will join a Honda Pilot Discussion Forum and ask the Honda Pilot Aficionados "if" there's any component in the engine compartment that I need to protect and be cautious around.

Honda makes great cars but Honda parts from a Honda Dealerships are not cheap, so it's ALWAYS a good rule of thumb to be safe versus sorry and joining a discussion forum is 99.9% of the time free and asking a question or two is always free after you've joined.

Does that help? I know you're on a tight time schedule so if you don't have the time do join a forum and ask a question then just do the basics by wiping surfaces clean and then "Match products to the surface you're treating"

That is, if you're wanting to make a rubber hose look good, use a dressing made for rubber, for example any of our Consumer Vinyl and Rubber Dressings or a favorite among enthusiast, M40 Vinyl & Rubber Cleaner/Conditioner (http://www.meguiarsdirect.com/product_detail.asp?T1=MEG+RUB+16)

You can use a quick detailer on painted areas and components to clean them and then apply a cleaner/wax to shine them up.

For plastic, use Gold Class Trim Detailer (http://www.meguiarsdirect.com/product_detail.asp?T1=MEG+G10810)

Hope this helps and let us know how you fair at the show!

:xyxthumbs

[Sal329]

I would take off the intake tube (clean this by hand and dry well), wrap a bag around the throttle body, the Air filter box and the alternator. Spray the engine with the hose, a quick right to left just to get things wet, spray with an APC, uses brushes, rags to wipe the APC, then wipe off all you can with some towels (I use our old bathroom towels), rinse the engine again. Install the intake tube, start car and let it run until the engine warms up. Spray with hyper dressing let it sit, wipe down and then let the car run again.
corral.net
svtperformance.com
stangnet.com

[J. A. Michaels]

That is a very good suggestion Mike. Join a specific to you car forum to get the exact scoop on what to look out for. I will have to do that. Thanks as always for the useful info.

[03mach1]

Yes join a Mustang specific site, I am on Stangnet.com and www.mustangforums.com (http://www.mustangforums.com). Both great sites. I agree If the engine is slightly dusty just take a wet rag and wipe it down and dress it. That is what I did on my Mach, I am also afraid to put water anywhere near my motor.

[TimG]

How filthy is it? You can work by hand with rags to give a general wipedown and dressing if it isnt too bad...


+1 a good start for those who are not comfortable using a PW and/or garden hose on the engine compartment. :xyxthumbs

[VonLego]

Its very rewarding, you'll be glad you did it!

[Malo83]

Its very rewarding, you'll be glad you did it!
I do my new 08 Malibu every time I wash the car, I spray it down with the hose and nozzle, I have done this to all my vehicles, todays cars electronics have moisture proof connectors to keep all the water out, I wouldn't worry about it :xyxthumbs

[Joe's detailing]

Here's the answers you seek..
http://meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22103

[acsuppa]

:iagree:
Its very rewarding, you'll be glad you did it!

:iagree: It's not bad. Take your time and don't go too crazy with the water and cleaner. I usually use APC+ or Safety De-greaser.

[Mr Mustang]

Im scared to spray one down; so on my car, ive kept it wiped down since i first got it, "the easiest way to get it clean is to keep it clean"

[HemiMopar]

I've never had any problems spraying under my hood. I spray with a good degreaser, start the engine and hose off. The heat from the engine helps it dry faster as well. Then you can protect and beautify whatever else needs done. You can also dry it by taking it for a drive the air coming in through the grill helps it dry faster also.

[Malo83]

I do my new 08 Malibu every time I wash the car, I spray it down with the hose and nozzle, I have done this to all my vehicles, todays cars electronics have moisture proof connectors to keep all the water out, I wouldn't worry about it :xyxthumbs
Also when i'm done with the engine I use a leaf blower to blow all the water off :xyxthumbs

[Aura_XR]

Malo......what motor is in your 'bu?

I've always detailed my motors with no problems (sometimes it helps run them cooler like my friend's 84 oil-caked GTI).

Your Malibu is the sister car to my Aura and I have the 3.6. I've removed the plastic engine covering off the motor and cleaned that outside the engine bay but I have not cleaned the rest of the motor. The car is not driven a lot (still under 20K and I bought it 26 months ago). I notice a bit of oil mist on some of the aluminum bosses and mounts and would love to clean that off but that plastic sound deadner/engine cover does cover a lot of electronics. I know the 2.4 Ecotec is a "cleaner" design externally than the 3.6 (or the 3.5 in the Aura XE) and is probably more "water friendly".

Cliff notes: Are you washing a 2.4 Ecotec or a 3.6 High Feature motor?