Tire Foam used as engine degreaser?!?

[myaeger18]

So I own a 2008 Nissan Frontier and am a member over at Clubfrontier.org, right? I was reading a post today about how some of the members use tire foam to clean and degrease the engine bay. This seems crazy. One very intelligent member did mention using Meg's products to do it right, but most seemed to agree that tire foam was a good idea. Have you ever heard of this? I would never....

[Barry N]

Re: Tire Foam used as engine degreaser?!?

I use Tire Foam to clean the inside of my well wheels. I have never heard about using it on my engine. Maybe someone else will come along with more info on this.

[BarryK]

Re: Tire Foam used as engine degreaser?!?

I never heard of tire foam used as a degreaser, but a lot of people use tire foam as a last step "dressing" in the engine bay after cleaning.
They simply mist the entire engine bay with the tire foam, it coats the rubber hoses, plastic trim parts, inner fender wells, etc and gives it a bit of a shiney, "wet" look that many people prefer (not my taste but it's all preference). I know of a lot of show cars competitors that use this method also.
I worked as a salesman at a car dealership for 2 years and the detailers there did this on all the used cars that came in they were preparing/detailing to put out on the lot.
Made it look nicer but it also tends to attract more dust since the tire foam doesn't usually dry completely so once you drive the vehicle road dust sticks to all the surfaces more.

[myaeger18]

Re: Tire Foam used as engine degreaser?!?

Made it look nicer but it also tends to attract more dust since the tire foam doesn't usually dry completely so once you drive the vehicle road dust sticks to all the surfaces more.

This was my thought also. Wouldn't it create the build up of gunk faster? I can see it for show cars, but not a daily driver. Why not just degrease like a normal person and dress it up?

[xantonin]

Re: Tire Foam used as engine degreaser?!?

Here's what I did, and it looks great: Did this on a cold engine

1) Disconnect battery terminal and cover connector with plastic bag, also covered the air box, and car alarm components.

2) Removed engine compartment covers (the ones that are just for looks)

3) Sprayed everything with an orange degreaser, I forgot what brand it was.

3) Wait a few minutes.

4) Spray out everything with a hose, high pressure.

5) Spray everything with Tire Foam!

I think I actually rinses the engine bay after waiting 15 minutes or longer after I sprayed the tire foam, then sprayed another coat. Finally wiped off excess foam after another 15 or so minutes.

It worked great not a single spot of dirt in my entire engine compartment!

"In one easy step, the thick, luxurious foam coats the tire, quickly penetrates, lifts and releases dirt and road grime leaving behind an even, rich shine."

[Nappers]

Re: Tire Foam used as engine degreaser?!?

Probably wouldn't hurt....

Tire foams are usually a cleaner with a conditioner in it.

We essentially clean the engine then spray our favorite dressing on it (not Thousand Island either )

[myaeger18]

Re: Tire Foam used as engine degreaser?!?

Mmmmm....reuben sandwich.....

Seriously though, I guess it would work. I'm just worried about the aftermath. How dirt and dust would just stick to that stuff on the engine making you have to clean it more often.

[Nappers]

Re: Tire Foam used as engine degreaser?!?

Good point.....

May look great for a car show for that extra pop under the hood.....

I like to wash and use M40 and I also have the discontinued Engine Kote, pretty neat stuff.

[xantonin]

Re: Tire Foam used as engine degreaser?!?

Mmmmm....reuben sandwich.....

Seriously though, I guess it would work. I'm just worried about the aftermath. How dirt and dust would just stick to that stuff on the engine making you have to clean it more often.

I see what you mean. I've only done it this once, but I wiped everything down with several micro fiber clothes afterwards. It's dry now, AND shiny.

So far, not much dust has accumulated. I'll check it again tonight, I did this 2 weeks ago and washed my car last night so some water may have accumulated and helped collect dust.

Either way though, if you regularly clean out your engine compartment when you wash your car I don't see dust being an issue. I wouldn't recommend tire foam every car wash, maybe every detail session though. Personally I had never detailed my engine compartment and this did a great job of making it virtually spotless. I don't think I'll need to use it again now as I can just wipe everything to maintain the clean.

[Fischer]

Re: Tire Foam used as engine degreaser?!?

Hmmm, I personally wouldn't. From my understanding, its best to use only water based dressings in the engine bay because of the immense heat build up.

[akimel]

Re: Tire Foam used as engine degreaser?!?

Perhaps the following might be germane to the topic. I know that some folks like to use either Stoner's Trim Shine or More Shine (tires) on the engine bay, so I wrote to Stoner about this. They said that the ingredients for the two products are pretty much the same, so either would do. They offered two pieces of advice:

1) Because of the oil in the product, do not apply too heavily; otherwise, it will attract dust and dirt. Especially avoid spraying on alternator and belts.

2) Do not apply to a hot engine, because the propellant is very flammable.

Al

[J. A. Michaels]

Re: Tire Foam used as engine degreaser?!?

Perhaps the following might be germane to the topic. I know that some folks like to use either Stoner's Trim Shine or More Shine (tires) on the engine bay, so I wrote to Stoner about this. They said that the ingredients for the two products are pretty much the same, so either would do. They offered two pieces of advice:

1) Because of the oil in the product, do not apply too heavily; otherwise, it will attract dust and dirt. Especially avoid spraying on alternator and belts.

2) Do not apply to a hot engine, because the propellant is very flammable.

Al

Good to know. Thanks Al, for passing it on.

[cnfowler]

Re: Tire Foam used as engine degreaser?!?

To be honest, I really don't think you're going to have anymore dust stick to it than you would using any other dressing.

From my experience, after cleaning and dressing an engine bay you're going to have more dust stick to it. The nice thing is all it takes is a quick spray of the hose and you're engine will look great once again. Usually I can get about 3 rinses before needing to dress it again.

Colin