Cleaning the engine bay

[TWFodor]

Hi guys, when I bought my Festy it had a leaky valve cover gasket. VERY leaky. The whole engine is thoroughly covered in oil and grime and I've been cleaning it up little by little. I have replaced the valve cover gasket already. I have been using washcloths and warm soapy water and its just too much work. I'm looking to try some cleaners to make my life a little bit easier and more efficient. What engine degreasers have you used to clean your engine and engine bay?

Thanks in advance!

[Advancedynamix]

Zep 505. They have it at Home Depot and WalMart. Cut it 50/50 with water and don't spray it on a hot engine. Scrub it with a toilet brush, be careful not to get it on your skin as it burns a bit. I would do this at a self serve car wash and spray it off with the high pressure soap setting. The car wash soap is usually a base and the 505 is acidic. The carwash soap will neutralize the 505 residue so you don't risk corrosion when the engine heats up.

[TWFodor]

I've read mixed reviews about using a pressure washer on engine bays. I'm willing to try it but I want to make sure I'm very careful, as my Festy is my only mode of transportation. The main thing I would see being a possible issue is the alternator. I've heard covering it in shrink wrap does the trick.

[Chobobulous]

When I pressure wash my engine it never fails no matter how careful I am, I get water in the distributor cap and in the tps sensor. Causes problems until I get it dried up.

[Advancedynamix]

Just don't spray the alternator directly, and you may have to take the disty cap off and spray it down with some electrical contact cleaner after to help dry it up. Engines are pretty resilient to water, but never spray a hot engine.

[TominMO]

When I pressure wash my engine it never fails no matter how careful I am, I get water in the distributor cap and in the tps sensor. Causes problems until I get it dried up.

I cover the disty cap and the alternator with aluminum foil before washing the engine bay.

[Advancedynamix]

I cover my head with aluminum foil to keep the radio waves from eating my brain. :p

[TominMO]

I cover my head with aluminum foil to keep the radio waves from eating my brain. :p

Too late for me. See my thread "Endgame".

[AlaskaFestivaGuy]

Many detailing shops will do the messy job of cleaning engine bays. I recently had one steam cleaned underneath bumper-to-bumper (because it had been exposed to some salt this winter) and the engine bay top and bottom (car on a lift) for a mere $50. I gave the guy a 50% tip and still had a great deal. I've had just engine compartments cleaned in Anchorage for $100.

And ... these places undoubtedly are complying with EPA regs regarding recycling/filtering/whatever their water.

[Advancedynamix]

^ good tip. Full service details like that are 500+ dollars down here in Phoenix. A friend of mine gets them done regularly on cars that he buys to sell.