Engine bay cleaning...
Engine bay cleaning... i know this has been talked about before, and optis are stupid. so...what do you guys do, i have used some engine degreaser before and it worked decent but i accidentily grabbed brake cleaner today and took off a little bit of my paint in my engine bay (yeah i know...
). so anyways, what do you guys use, i just wish i could pressure wash it. is there any way i can like...block off the opti so water wont get into it? something?!?! i just want to get a nice rinse of all the grime and grease and then touch things up by hand.
). so anyways, what do you guys use, i just wish i could pressure wash it. is there any way i can like...block off the opti so water wont get into it? something?!?! i just want to get a nice rinse of all the grime and grease and then touch things up by hand. get water in it then say it doesnt work so you will have a good excuse to drop in an ls1! 
jus playin i never saw what an opti looks like but you cant take the wires off and cover it with a plastic bag or something?
jus playin i never saw what an opti looks like but you cant take the wires off and cover it with a plastic bag or something? You will have to do what is metioned. Cover the opti with a ziplock bag and zip tie it. You still have to be careful.
As for washing..
I let the engine get warm, then rinse off the motor. Then use sopa on everypart I want cleaned, close the hood on the latch and let it bake. It will back off the dirt grim. For really bad conditions a 50/50 mixture of simple green and water works too.
After you wash the rest of the car and dry it off rinse the engine bay, and towel dry.
If you didnt wash the car, wait 15 minutes or so before rinsing.
As for washing..
I let the engine get warm, then rinse off the motor. Then use sopa on everypart I want cleaned, close the hood on the latch and let it bake. It will back off the dirt grim. For really bad conditions a 50/50 mixture of simple green and water works too.
After you wash the rest of the car and dry it off rinse the engine bay, and towel dry.
If you didnt wash the car, wait 15 minutes or so before rinsing.
id like to add, i did use the search...good to hear its working right again though 
ill try blocking off the opti somehow, just wanted to see what you guys said before i tried it.
ill try blocking off the opti somehow, just wanted to see what you guys said before i tried it.
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Don't mean to hijack, better than starting a new thread, eh? Anyhow, I am about to clean my LS1 engine bay (it's dirty as all hell). I'm planning on spraying degreasers on it (no simple green, it's not that bad I don't think). Is there anything I need to cover up with bags? I'm going to spray everything I can. I hate to look at dust so I plan on being very thorough.
I cover up the fuse box just to be safe but nothing else. Sprayed it down with DP engine degreaser and agitated with a brush. Rinsed it off and dried it, the applied a high temp wax and now a simple wipe down will keep it looking good. Apply some dressing to hoses,lid,etc if i plan on showing it off and polish up some metal parts.
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Hmm.. I don't see how some people have trouble with this but maybe it could be really dirty.
If it's really bad don't just spray degreaser on it. Let the car get warm, but not hot so that you would burn yourself. I usually put tin foil/plastic bags over the fuse boxes and cover the PCM, my valve breather cap, and sometimes the other caps and dipsticks and such. First get the hose, put it on the full blast setting and loosen everything up. Get everything good, if there's a spot that looks like you shouldn't blast it with water, then don't.
After you loosened everything up nicely, grab your degreaser. Purple power worked for me, I use a heavy duty one from some detailing company. And I think your NOT supposed to use simple green as it corrodes your internals or something? Anyway, spray the crap out of your engine bay with the degreaser, make sure you get it everywhere. Wait a couple of minutes and then grab a brush and agitate any tough areas that have a lot of buildup, or maybe on the block itself since it's kinda stuck on there sometimes. After you scrub around, you can spray another "coat" of the degreaser on if you'd like. Wait however long the bottle/can says to, then rinse everything off. Try not to get too much of that on the paint though.
Idk what the opti looks like, but like stated, tinfoil it, ziploc bag it, close it off with rubberbands, zipties, whatever. But still be careful.
If you need to spray some more on a couple areas, go ahead. When your done grab a towel and wipe down as much water as you can. Try to dry up the spots where the water pools up. Chances are, expect some steam the next time you start the car.
Here's mine
If it's really bad don't just spray degreaser on it. Let the car get warm, but not hot so that you would burn yourself. I usually put tin foil/plastic bags over the fuse boxes and cover the PCM, my valve breather cap, and sometimes the other caps and dipsticks and such. First get the hose, put it on the full blast setting and loosen everything up. Get everything good, if there's a spot that looks like you shouldn't blast it with water, then don't.
After you loosened everything up nicely, grab your degreaser. Purple power worked for me, I use a heavy duty one from some detailing company. And I think your NOT supposed to use simple green as it corrodes your internals or something? Anyway, spray the crap out of your engine bay with the degreaser, make sure you get it everywhere. Wait a couple of minutes and then grab a brush and agitate any tough areas that have a lot of buildup, or maybe on the block itself since it's kinda stuck on there sometimes. After you scrub around, you can spray another "coat" of the degreaser on if you'd like. Wait however long the bottle/can says to, then rinse everything off. Try not to get too much of that on the paint though.
Idk what the opti looks like, but like stated, tinfoil it, ziploc bag it, close it off with rubberbands, zipties, whatever. But still be careful.
If you need to spray some more on a couple areas, go ahead. When your done grab a towel and wipe down as much water as you can. Try to dry up the spots where the water pools up. Chances are, expect some steam the next time you start the car.
Here's mine
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