Cadillac CTS Engine Detail

[agp423]

First engine detail
I don't know too much about the stuff under the hood aside from the fact that the bigger the engine the happier I am. Since I didn't know what I can spray my APC and Hyper Dressing on, I just spent half my time spraying everything on a towel or brush and the other half of my time praying that I won't get electrocuted and die. Anyway, here are some before and after pictures!

Before:








After:

[CieraSL]

Re: Cadillac CTS Engine Detail

Looks good!

[agp423]

Re: Cadillac CTS Engine Detail

I will probably apply a more concentrated layer of Hyper Dressing tomorrow, I will post more pictures if I do!

[Sal329]

Re: Cadillac CTS Engine Detail

Looks good. After you apply Hyper Dressing do you let the car run or no?

[agp423]

Re: Cadillac CTS Engine Detail

After I cleaned it and dressed it I just drove the car in the garage, so it ran for about half a minute. Why should I (not) let it run?

[Eddie6th]

Re: Cadillac CTS Engine Detail

nice improvment

[J. A. Michaels]

Re: Cadillac CTS Engine Detail

looks good.

[beb0816]

Re: Cadillac CTS Engine Detail

very nice

[jlb85]

Re: Cadillac CTS Engine Detail

I would not worry about the APC ruining anything under the hood. I grab my 4:1 mix, spray LIBERALLY under the hood, latch, engine, all surrounding plastics, etc. I do this before washing as to wash off any APC that falls on the finish (and wash promptly after the engine gets rinsed off).

I then let the APC dwell for a minute or two, then spray some more and work a brush wherever I can reach. The metal parts of the engine (block, head, alternator, all visible alloy pieces) just get a spray and a rinse. All plastics get a scrub, all fill caps and necks, and covers. Then I rinse off with my pressure washer (not at full flow, but rather light). On stubborn parts and with experience you will learn where you can use more flow and where you should use less. Other than intentionally trying to drown the alternator or electrical boxes, I would not worry too much about getting electrocuted or damaging anything. Some cars are more susceptible to wetting than others, so just use your judgement (Lexus is bad). But today's modern electronic systems are pretty sealed up, not like the old 1970's ignitions.

After rinsing I inspect for stubborn grime and repeat the process as needed. When done cleaning I blow dry the engine bay with the dedicated leaf blower.

Time for Hyper Dressing. A technique I like to use for the first engine cleaning or the year or just nasty underhoods is to spray at 1:1 (high shine) LIBERALLY (like dripping off everything) on everything. I let it stand while I wash the rest of the car. Then I go over it with a fine mist of HD at 3:1 or 4:1, which will even out any blotches. Run the engine if you are in a hurry, if not, the next morning come back and wipe off the backside of the hood, all covers and visible plastics. The engine bay will look much better, completely shined up, and will look cleaner too! HD is really the trick here, cleaning not so important on things other than engine covers.

This is an engine I did with this method, before:



after:

[JG_Detailing]

Re: Cadillac CTS Engine Detail

Looks good!