engine detail

[ghost430]

I want to do the first engine detail for my car. Any tips, techniques, or products to use (other than meguiar? Noting against it, just have a very narrow variety of products to chose from here and ordering online gets more expensive once shipping is accounted for).

[Please Wash Me Detailing]

What are you trying to accomplish?
a simple cleaning?
complete detail?
just remove grease?

I usually spray with APC (all purpose cleaner: Meguire's, Purple Power, Simple Green or the like) and wheel brighter/acid to make the aluminum and crome really clean and shiny. well chrome not so much aluminum.
just be careful of electronics, distributor caps and all that good stuff.
Remember you don't have to be to aggressive. then scrub and wipe things clean, then rinse carefully.

[Michael Stoops]

On a modern engine everything is pretty well sealed up so there usually isn't a lot to worry about when it comes to cleaning. You should be able to just warm up the engine a bit (but you don't want to clean a hot engine) and then spray something like our Engine Cleaner, APC or similar throughout the engine bay. Let it dwell for a bit, and use a brush or old towel to lightly scrub the dirtiest areas, then rinse with water. You shouldn't have to pressure wash, just a steady rinse from the hose should be all that's needed. Obviously if you have a lot of caked/baked on grease you'll need to get more aggressive.

Older engines can pose some issues with regard to sensitive electrical components that are out in the open. These should be covered with a plastic wrap or similar before proceeding with the above process.

Once the engine bay is mostly dry, you can spray any water based dressing onto it for a final appearance boost. Hyper Dressing is popular for this but M40 and Natural Shine work just as well.

[ghost430]

I went ahead and used simple green, cause I couldn't find meguiars engine detail. When using a small drop had ran down the side of the exerior paint. I quickly wiped it off with quick detailer. I noticed that the trail had left a slight fading of the paint. Not something that a easily seen but in the right angle it can be. I was wondering if this is the product itself and if so should I still be using it. I have heard that diluting makes it less aggressive?

[flagum]

I used simple green on my engines.Then I heard that simple green corrodes aluminum. There is alot of aluminum on todays engines. Has this happened to anyone else?

[s word]

I have always used simple green for the motor and never had an issue with aluminum, and never had a paint issue either. I just used it on a friends particularly nasty untouched in 7 years engine bay and it went from junkyard to show room with a little elbow grease. If you dilute just use some extra aggressiveness to get at the spot. I find that engine detailing can make perfectly good use of old grocery bags too. I usually wrap it around the alternator, block my coilpacks (when they are exposed), and my open air filter. Just dont use on super hot motor. Never had one melt, but would hate to see it happen.

[CHzo6]

I would never use Simple Green at full strength, you can dilute it and still get good results with it. I've seen it stain aluminum and paint at full power several times.