Tin foiling your engine

[sinitry23]

Besides tin foiling the alternator what else do you guys tin foil up? What about the car battery?

[DFTowel]

Is this to keep out Alien transmissions?

Just be careful, tin foil will conduct electricity you know.

[gb387]

Originally posted by DFTowel
Just be careful, tin foil will conduct electricity you know.

Sure tin foil works very well, its ability to hold its shape is very handy.... but you don't want to short something out with it. Use caution!

[Magic]

I actually have use Saran Wrap Cling Wrap. I didn't want to use Tin Foil, and I thought I'd give it a shot.

It held up really well. Now keep in mind I didn't use a pressure washer, just water slowly pouring out of the hose. I placed it on the alternator while it was dry, and the battery terminals. That's all I covered.

But that's not to say my procedure will work for yours. Cars are all different so check with your manafacturer and see what they suggest to cover. I don't have any experience with other cars other than my own.

Cover alt
Rinse Engine
Spray Safe D-Greaser
Agitate, and rinse
Spray Hyper Dressing
Close the hood and washed the truck
Opened the hood after I was done washing
And sit back and be amazed

[Superior Shine]

We don't cover a thing and we never had a problem on any car from early 90s or newer.

[Accumulator]

Like Superior Shine, I seldom have any issues when I don't cover- sorta surprising what you can get away with But OTOH, some vehicles give me pause so I'll sometimes cover stuff that might cause trouble. And yeah, plastic wrap works well too.

GM vehicles with the Opti-Spark ignition are notorious for being moisture sensitive. Ditto for some older versions of electronic ignitions (Chrysler and Jaguar products come to mind).

For the battery, I'd just stick a 9v memory-holder in the cigarette lighter and *remove* the battery. Makes it easier to clean the area around the battery try, which often needs it something awful.

[Superior Shine]

GM vehicles with the Opti-Spark ignition are notorious for being moisture sensitive.

I few hick-ups from these get cured with a blast of air from the blowing side of my vacuum then we are back in biz!

[JG_Detailing]

What should be covered before detailing a engine? I never detailed one and I would like to make sure what is to be covered before detailing one.

[Blr123]

Originally posted by Superior Shine
We don't cover a thing and we never had a problem on any car from early 90s or newer.

So what's your method Joe.............same as Magic's?

Thanks
Bryan

[sneek]

Originally posted by Magic
I actually have use Saran Wrap Cling Wrap. I didn't want to use Tin Foil, and I thought I'd give it a shot.

It held up really well. Now keep in mind I didn't use a pressure washer, just water slowly pouring out of the hose. I placed it on the alternator while it was dry, and the battery terminals. That's all I covered.

But that's not to say my procedure will work for yours. Cars are all different so check with your manafacturer and see what they suggest to cover. I don't have any experience with other cars other than my own.

Cover alt
Rinse Engine
Spray Safe D-Greaser
Agitate, and rinse
Spray Hyper Dressing
Close the hood and washed the truck
Opened the hood after I was done washing
And sit back and be amazed

umm next time you may want to cover the fuze boxes

[Lucky161]

Re: Tin foiling your engine

What do you think about using a layer of plastic wrap then covering that with the foil? Best of both worlds?
Also, this may need a separate thread, but what about cleaning the battery? I've cleaned quite a few batteries, but not to make them look better, just to make them work better. And while I've had a concern about where that diluted acid is going, I've never worried a lot about it. But I think if I were detailing an engine, I would want to make sure that I wasn't causing a problem with the runoff. Any ideas?

[Moose39306]

Re: Tin foiling your engine

Originally posted by Magic
I actually have use Saran Wrap Cling Wrap. I didn't want to use Tin Foil, and I thought I'd give it a shot.

It held up really well. Now keep in mind I didn't use a pressure washer, just water slowly pouring out of the hose. I placed it on the alternator while it was dry, and the battery terminals. That's all I covered.

But that's not to say my procedure will work for yours. Cars are all different so check with your manafacturer and see what they suggest to cover. I don't have any experience with other cars other than my own.

Cover alt
Rinse Engine
Spray Safe D-Greaser
Agitate, and rinse
Spray Hyper Dressing
Close the hood and washed the truck
Opened the hood after I was done washing
And sit back and be amazed

Do you go through this process while the engine is hot/running, or no? Thank you.

[TrufflePig]

Re: Tin foiling your engine

okay all this talk of covering stuff. i had to find out.

my future father in law builds and restores classics. he used to build the original MINI and was a pro race car driver, driving the MINI.

so i'm saying he's a pretty qualified mechanic without the piece of paper.

anyways, he knows i'm into detailing and what not. we got to talking about the engine. i asked him straight up about what i should cover.

"so what should i cover if i were to detail the engine compartment?"
"nothing. why would you. you don't have to cover anything."
"really?"
"if you wanna cover something, just cover the distribution box and you'll be fine. that's the one that sends the signal and all."

on my truck its not the one closest to the battery but the one right behind the engine.

so as Joe, said, he never covers anything. think about it when it rains. yes the hood protects it. but i'm sure some water still gets in. and you keep driving right.

[Ken_Allen]

Re: Tin foiling your engine

What should be covered before detailing a engine? I never detailed one and I would like to make sure what is to be covered before detailing one.

Distribution cap, spark plugs, battery, air filter, any electronics that don't have tubing around them or are covered by something.

I never had any problems with the alternator and I sprayed it directly.

[supercharged]

Re: Tin foiling your engine

I always cover up a battery, intake, altenator, anything with electricity to it, I even cover up both fans. Safety first. Already had an issue with g/f's BMW (2004) where an oil sensor light came on blinking from time to time after I detailed the engine. Now I'd rather use an old wet terry towel with a degreaser, to keep the least moisture on german engines...No issues in my japanese cars though...