OK I'm ready to clean her up under the hood. Any help in this would be great, such as what to use, and what not to do, ect. any tips please.......

 

Wait until the engine is cool and then put plastic over any electronics. I usually wrap the distributer and alternator. Then I spray engine gunk or some kind of cleaner on the engine, scrub it a bit, and then rinse well followed by starting the engine and letting it run for 5 minutes.

Key is not to use a pressure washer and don't flood any electronics. Basically use as little water as possible.

Anyway, others might have different opinions but this is what I do and it hasn't broken anything yet.

 

I like to use simple green for grease and car soap for any mud....does a pretty good job. Just make sure your motor is cool, and try not to spray the alternator, battery, fuse box etc...They don't mix well with water lol

 

i use "super clean" or "purple power" < same stuff, different brand..to eat off all the dirt then black magic engine shine/degreaser

 

purple power will discolor painted items BTW...

 

All my electric shizzile is greased up and i have some sealant in the connectors to keep them dry, it works awesome, for cheap use oven cleaner ONLY ON THE BLOCK it will take off paint and eat anything else. I love it we do it to all of our vehicles(the sealing) and it helps. Then i take my pressure washer to everything even the battery. If you put grease on the terminal posts, slide the terminal on, tighten slightly, then put a socket that wont interfer with the post and hammer it on, then tighten till satisfied. it will keep them nice and tight

 

Don't use anything you don't want to smell for a while!!!! Simple green is pretty light on odor and does a decent job. I have always wondered about about steam cleaning, I have never been satisfied with any method I have used. I think that is what dealerships do before reselling a vehicle.

 

havent cleaned my engine yet with anything other than water and a rag. and u can tell. u can get all these products at a local auto parts store right?

 

some good ideas, ill have a go at it today. in past attempts it has run very rough upon start up. i did use a pressure washer, that was the only way to get all the built up mud off. i have some simple green and degreaser that ill try.

now, go scrounge up some plastic bags and start covering the sparky stuff.

lee

 

Post some pics when you are done! I love to see people that are as obsessive as I am about these things!

 

hehe, mine came up looking pretty good, all things considered. there is still some caked/burned on mud that just wont budge, oh well. did some other light maintenance while i was in there.

checked all the plug connections on the cap and used some dielectric grease on the posts. cleaned up some of the other connections and did the same treatment. next weekend, pull the air box to get at the plugs and get the other ends done as well.

lee

 

Good stuff always a good addition to grease everything up. It also prevents rust.