Hesitating to clean the engine...

[philming]

Hi all again,
I've opened the hood today just to find the engine was a complete catastrophy. I guess the 7000km journey it did this summer through France, Spain and Marocco didn't help. Dust all over the place ! So I thought OK, Meg's got some engine cleaning and dressing stuff. Now I really hesitate to get and use them for several reasons.

First, the car (a DSG 06 Skoda Octavia, 105 hpw engine) is loaded with electronics. I dont rally see how I can avoid weting stuff like the alternator, there are connectors all over the place, and I'm not sure all this really likes water...

Second, There is a big plate underneath the car,not sure how you call it but it protects the underneath of the engine, and the mecanics sometimes has to remove it to do some work on the engine, but it's not removable unless i lift up the car somehow. That plate I guess is quiet likely to retain a lot of water, and I'm not sure it's a good thing.

I started to clean up all the main pieces with QD and Ultimate shine, but am really afraid to go any further.

Could someone please help me (again) on that one?

Best regards,

[BarryK]

Re: Hesitating to clean the engine...

with some basic precautions you can fairly safely do your engine bay.

Take some aluminum foil and use it to cover electrical items like your alternator, fuseboxes, ignition wires, etc.
Once the big electrical items are covered you can spray down the engine with APC+ or Super Degreaser. I let it sit for 10-15 minutes to let the cleaner do it's job.
You may need to agitate or brush the areas with heavier dirt/grease build-up.
Now rinse off the engine to remove the cleaner chemical and dirt/grease. Use low pressure water and as little as you can. Do NOT use a high pressure hose in there or you will get water into the areas you don't want.
Once rinsed off it should be looking vastly improved. Look for any areas you may need to do a second application on.
Once done with the cleaning you can now "dress" the engine bay with your preferred choice of dressing. I like to spray pretty much everything with a LIGHT coat of Hyper dressing. This will make all the hoses and plastic parts look good. Don't go too heavy on any dressing though or otherwise it will tend to collect duct/dirt too much

The engine cover underneath isn't going to hurt anything. It won't really retain the water. Once you move the car and drive any water sitting on the cover will come out, it's not watertight or anything - it's should just be a dust cover more than anything else

[akimel]

Re: Hesitating to clean the engine...

Before pulling out your hose, I would visit a Skoda forum and ask them about detailing that particular model. The Skoda Octavia is not a model with which many of us are acquainted. We can offer generalities, but you also need to talk to someone who has actually detailed the engine of that particular model.

In the meantime, you can get the engine looking better. Check out Bounty's article: Waterless Engine Detailing.

[philming]

Re: Hesitating to clean the engine...

Thanx all for your input, I'll check it out !

[RDVT4ME]

Re: Hesitating to clean the engine...

If you do decide to spray down the engine area, use a garden sprayer instead of a hose. It won't blast everything and gives you much better control over where the water goes.