safe and effective way to clean an ls1 engine bay????
 

After searching the numerous threads on engine cleaning, all that it has done is scare me with stories of knock sensor damage. What would be the safest way to make my engine bay shine?

Stuff a couple of rags under the intake manifold BEFORE cleaning (near the throttle body), to ensure that you don't get a bunch of water in the knock sensors, and don't spray a lot of water near the injectors or where the manifold meets the heads. You can clean that area by hand very carefully if you are worried.

Also, be sure to cover the pulley/bearings and the alternator with tinfoil to prevent them from being degreased.

You'd be surprised what you can do with a bottle of simple green, a stiff bristled brush and some elbow grease. Just don't blast the top of your engine or PCM with water and you'll be fine. ;)

yep, i second covering the alternator. rinsed my engine bay down once, volts were pegging at 18, and blew both headlights... epic fail, lol

http://www.meijer.com/assets/product...2495_A_400.jpg



thats if you dont want to hose down everything.

I just washed mine a couple months ago. Used a pressure washer and some simple green.

Pointed the nose down on my incline driveway.
Rinsed it down with the power washer.
Sprayed simple green on the engine and let it sit.
Turned the car on and then re-rinsed with pressure washer.
Then used my air compressor and dried up the excess water.

Car still run great. I'd recommend a pressure washer since it shoots out water at a higher velocity but actually spews out less water...I didn't cover anything. I didnt spend long periods spraying the fuel rails or PCM area either...

Before:
http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q...h/56c560e9.jpg
http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q...h/df506d37.jpg
http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q...h/ab67bd67.jpg
http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q...h/6e597148.jpg
http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q...h/97ac08c2.jpg

After:

http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q...h/7ad2dad9.jpg
http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q...h/a22e57bd.jpg
http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q...h/9363b001.jpg
http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q...h/6f6a3782.jpg
http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q...h/051e9033.jpg

damn i usually just pressure wash mine ! wish i wouldn't of even come in this thread now !

gonna make me worry about washing it off now

i wouldnt worry too much. i pressure wash engines all the time. just stay away from electronics

here is mine...i know it's not an LS1 but still LS4 :D
http://montecarloforum.com/forum/mem...ure-a-7740.jpg

Get some grocery bags and cover up the fuse boxes, and the pcm before you do anything!

ive done it twice...my engine is totally stock looking and not really that dirty but when i clean it...i just spray engine degreaser, let it sit and then spray it off with the hose....i dont hit the alt or the PCM that much but eveything seems to work fine after..

and i spray the shit out of eveything else to get the degreaser outta there.

I hope you're joking. That's the same as rubbing fine (like 1000 grit sandpaper) around your engine bay.
http://tipbusters.com/2011/mr-clean-...it-good-magic/
http://arcadearchive.com/pinball/magic/

I'd never let that shit touch my car.

IMHO, too many electrical connectors in the engine bay area to use a pressure washer, a good degreaser and let soak, then just rinse w/hose water on low pressure, YMMV.

i have literally washed probably 2500-3000 cars engine bays. i do mine in my camaro once every couple weeks. having the car pointed downhill works to keep water from sitting in the knock sensors... pressure washers are fine just dont be stupid and sit the spraying something for 5 mins lol. with a pressure washer it doesnt take much to get it clean

I know a guy who washes his engine bay with the emergency fire hose, and he never had any issues when doing so.

Tire shine sprayed on everything black. It doesn't eat through wires, seals or anything. Use the spray foam kind that says self dissolving so it doesn't leave foam. It leaves a nice shine.

I washed my engine off last weekend after doing some work and getting greasy hand prints every where. Now my knock sensors are setting codes :bang:. Guess I should have been more careful.

ok, so whats everyone's secret to covering up the alt? crawl up under it and try and wrap a bag around it?

Me and Zex sprayed my engine bay down and hand washed everything with a spay bottle of diluted simple green and some microfibers.
Before, bought the car this way.
http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot..._8236418_n.jpg
After me and Zex
http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot..._5613697_n.jpg

That was a while ago... Also used an old toothbrush, and this was done at night with minimal lighting. Put rags under the intake manifold and didn't cover the pulleys or alt.

Did we even put rags under the intake? I don't remember. Though I would suggest covering the pulleys since mine whines now.