got my 2000 camaro ss about a week ago and been doing some things to it and now i need to clean the engine bay. i use to just take my cars to the car wash and let them cool way down then spray some degreaser and wash off with low pressure. would this be ok is it a BIG NO NO. lol.. lmk i just want it to be nice and shiny. yes i know the intake cant take in water and i know water on a hot engine can cause serious problems... how would you all give the engine bay a bath safely?

 

actually..........i use spray tire foam that you use to make your tires clean & shiny.

spray everything with a good coat & about 15 minutes later wipe down what ever you see.

it gets everything clean & shiny.

 

anything i should avoid getting wet?

 

i spray foam the shyt out of everything i see............never had a problem & i have done it to several of my cars.

you will be amazed at how fast & easy it is to do.......just rag dry the damp spots of foam about 15 minutes after you spray the tire foam.

please report back if & when you do it.

good luck!

 

I did this last month with GUNK! foam cleaner (I did not want the gloss). I put a shop rag under the TB to do my best to keep water from getting under the intake and into the knock sensors, but otherwise, I shot that stuff everywhere. I let it sit for a bit (whatever the instructions on the can said to do) and then I used light pressure from the garden hose to rise it off.

Started the car to make sure everything was ok, and that's was all. Just be sure not to spray directly at the fuse box or computer behind the passenger shock tower. I don't know if water would affect them, but I didn't want to take the chance.

I'd also suggest avoiding the tensoner pulley as it will be noisy if soaked. I sprayed it with WD40 to quiet it down.

Here's how it ended:

 

i will let you know man thanks.. how do i post pics of my car? lol noob question.....

demonspeed, thanks for the advice i am gonna do it next nice day i get.. yours looks real clean, thats what im going for. its pretty dirty, i done cleaned some of it with a wet rag.. will that foam stuff get rid of the dirt/grime, and that good stuff? i will posts pics when i learn how... lol

 

Yes, it will get rid of all of that. You'll still probably want to wipe it down after rising it off as it will simply leave a light bit behind -- but it's MUCH better than the grease and grime as it's just wipes away.

Don't forget to get a shop vac in there to get leaves and junk that has collected behind the strut towers.

As for posting pictures, upload them to a site like imageshack or photobucket, copy the url, and then paste between the forum image tags: [img] image url here [/img]

You could also make an account on fquick and put all your pics in there.

 

I have been needing to do this as well post up pics!

 

One product i love to use after clean up is stoners trim spray, just spray it all over and it covers all tge rubber/plastic/trim great and last for awhile, i get it at drugmart but its great stuff,

 

And blow dry with an air gun if ya can,also if its really bad brush helps, also some of the degreaers/cleaners are strong stuff, if its not that bad i would cut it with water, there was something people were using that wasnt as harsh, but simple green cut down with water works as well, just know straight some of those things can hurt paint,

 

i use no water.........before or after spraying the tire foam on the entire engine bay.

just wipe the damp spots with a cloth after 15 minutes & everything is detailed & clean like you just armoraled it.

i even spray the plastic cowl under the hood that goes up the window by the wipers.......and then wash the window with window spray.

 

loaded some pics in my albums. will get engine pic tomarrow. how do you all get the little pic under your posts?

 

You have to ensure the image your putting the IMG tags around is small enough, but go in your User CP and edit signature.

 

hey man i cleaned up the engine bay with gunk engine cleaner.. but now i want to do the tire foam.. just wanted to know what brand tire foam you use.. thanks again.. it already looks great....

 

i have been doing it this way for years!

cool motor lightly mist then what ever degreaser/ cleaner you want soak everything let sit for a min or 2 then full spray down and apply more and scrub brush w/e and spray down again everything ( mind you in are motor bays all the connectors have weather tight seals its that little ribbed rubber ring) then start car and let everything dry. once dry Black Magic Tire shine the entire thing. and bam a nice shinny motor.

never had any issues !

 

I always just use detail spray and gunk degreaser and an assortment of rags, brushes, and scrubbers.

 

I need to put some pix up of my engine bay, I only use water and a rag the key is staying on top of it. every time you wash your car also wipe evrything under the hood. If you let it go then it gets harder.

 

when ever your spraying under the hood with a hose, I was told to leave the car running. Then drive it around when your done.

 

I personally used the Meguiars foam cleaner/shine. I bought a can of just the strictly shiny stuff, but I think I'll be going back to the foam stuff. While it is a little messier, I like how it cleans (and it's not as glossy - which I prefer).

 

Best way ever is the following, take it for what it's worth, it's tried and true..

Products needed: Simple Green, Turtle Wax F-21 tire dressing, several rags.


Start engine, get it warm, not hot, just nice and warm. As an example if the car was fully cooled, run it for 5-8 minutes. Turn off engine.

Cover the alternator and air filter on your intake, Aluminum foil works great since the motor is warm. Everything else can be subject to light rinsing type spray, including the covered fuse panel. All of these areas get hit by water when driven in the rain.

Lightly spray entire engine bay with water from hose, you will see some light steaming, this is good.

Spray the entire engine bay, including firewall, plastic parts, metal parts, loom, coils and hoses with Simple Green. Set the hood down, not fully closed, just to it's safety catch point, and go find something else to do for 15 to 20 minutes. Let the simple green do it's work. Closing the hood let's the simple green interact with the steam you created with the warm motor. This loosens the tough stuff up so you don't have to work so hard in those heavily soiled areas.

Open hood, look for heavily soiled areas, wipe them with a rag, use more simple green if necessary. Rinse lightly with hose.

Spray entire engine bay with F-21, it foams, coat everything just like the simple green coating you did.

Close hood again, walk away for 10-20 minutes or until nearly all the foam has dissipated.

Open hood, Wipe up any areas that water settled and such. Wipe up any areas that the F-21 didn't dissipate on it's own.

You will note that the F-21 restores the black plastic parts to the same oem flat black color they were when new.. It leaves the paint shiney with no streaks on the fenders and fire wall. Best of all, it is not greasey to the touch.