What is a safe way to clean my engine bay? I've heard a lot of different things and was wondering.. I was thinking maybe the armorall spray tire foam?

 

Ford likes you to clean the engine off, but it says not to use a pressure washer, so that's the main thing. I used Simple Green heavy duty, which is really purple. Sprayed it on the engine at a proper dilution, drove three miles to the do it yourself carwash, and squirted a little of their stuff on it and rinsed thoroughly, (standing back as per Ford's instructions not to use high pressure). I've since heard that that Simple Green stuff can cause pitting on the block, but I inspected carefully and didn't see anything. I'm just a little leery about using something like tire cleaner for something it wasn't intended to do, but just a little.

I suspect its not a good idea to do this more than a couple or three times per year, max.

 

Yeah I thought about just rinsing it off, low pressure of course. Should the truck be running? Or turned off? My only reasoning behind the tire shine was for all the black plastic to clean and give it that shine

 

Check into Dry Ice Cleaning - essentially blasting with dry ice. Will clean anything, upholstery, carpet, under the hood, but I suspect not cheap because of the medium.

I have a '98, freshly cleaned up on the outside, and was looking into cleaning the engine etc.. My truck is running fine and I don't want to change that by pouring water on. Not even considering a power wash.

There are a handfull of companies in Ontario, Canada, who will use dry ice for cleaning purposes, no idea what the picture looks like in your area.

In any case, good luck and let us know you decision. Cheers.

 

check these videos out:

http://www.adamspolishes.com/t-Detai...ngine_Bay.aspx

http://www.adamspolishes.com/t-Detai..._Dressing.aspx

 

I used Super Clean on my 2000 F-150 a month ago before I changed the intake gaskets (4.2 V6) so everything would be clean to work. I was amazed at how clean the front of the motor was where the road oils had built up.
I got the engine up to operating temperature, shut it down and let the exhaust manifolds cool down then sprayed the crap out of everything with the Super Clean. I waited 10 minutes, agitated areas I could reach with a 3" paint brush, then sprayed the motor down with a hose. I followed up with an air chuck blowing off the water and started the truck and let it run for a few minutes.

 

I really like those videos! Depending on how much that stuff is I may have to try it! She said it was an all purpose cleaner? Does that mean I can use just any cleaner maybe? Also the battery was in the trunk so do I need to cover my battery up?