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I've got a long weekend coming up and wanted to clean up the engine bay of my 2012 5.0. Any advice on the best way to do this? I know some people use a hose but I'm a little skeptical of that.
I use tin foil to wrap up the alternator and anything else you think wouldn't like water inside of it. I never "blast" the engine bay but use a "fan" style nozzle to flood water over a section at a time or to rinse it.
Use a degreaser or simple green, toilet brush, and smaller brushes and go at a section at a time. I will use a leaf blower, again on low, to accelerate drying. Once dry a trim detailer like McKee's Plastic Trim Detailer will really make the engine bay look great.
Here's a buddy's Miata I detailed a few years ago:
If you use Simple Green, take note of this from Simple Green's site:
When used with caution and according to the instructions, Simple Green All-Purpose Cleaner has been safely and successfully used to clean aluminum. Simple Green All-Purpose Cleaner, Crystal Simple Green Industrial Cleaner & Degreaser, and Simple Green Pressure Washer Concentrates have been used on aircraft, automotive, industrial and consumer aluminum items for over 20 years. However, caution and common sense must be used: aluminum is a soft metal that easily corrodes with unprotected exposure to water. The aqueous-base and alkalinity of Simple Green All-Purpose Cleaner can accelerate the corrosion process. Therefore, contact times for unprotected or unpainted aluminum surfaces should be kept as brief as the job will allow - never for more than 10 minutes. Large cleaning jobs should be conducted in smaller-area stages to achieve lower contact time. Rinsing after cleaning should always be extremely thorough - paying special attention to flush out cracks and crevices to remove all Simple Green product residues. Unfinished, uncoated or unpainted aluminum cleaned with Simple Green products should receive some sort of protectant after cleaning to prevent oxidation.
-- http://simplegreen.com/faqs/#
Someone I know says he has had good results and none of the corrosion in using Simple Green in a 50/50 mix with water when cleaning the engine compartment. A friend with an immaculate engine compartment says he never sprays water, only using a damp rag for cleaning.
If you use Simple Green, take note of this from Simple Green's site:
Someone I know says he has had good results and none of the corrosion in using Simple Green in a 50/50 mix with water when cleaning the engine compartment. A friend with an immaculate engine compartment says he never sprays water, only using a damp rag for cleaning.
The damp rag sounds like a better idea. I just want to get it cleaned up before I install my Boss Intake and Coil Covers. Thanks for the tips!
Out of curiosity why are you going with the boss intake? Racing?performance? Looks?
Mostly performance and looks, my truck would be too heavy to race. As soon as my factory warranty is up i'll be doing the install along with an SCT tuner. Looking forward to it. Did you see much performance gain over the stock intake when you installed one?
I spray it down with a hose, use smiple green and a brush for what I can reach and rinse with a hose. And found chemical guys back to black does wonders for all the plastic under the hood. My engine bay looks like new. I would post a pic but photobucket is a pita now and won't do 3rd party hosting
Mostly performance and looks, my truck would be too heavy to race. As soon as my factory warranty is up i'll be doing the install along with an SCT tuner. Looking forward to it. Did you see much performance gain over the stock intake when you installed one?
You will definitely lose noticeable power down low. Yes, I did notice some gains as now I can spin it to about 7k rpm's. I don't think you'll be happy with it if you don't plan on other supporting modifications. My kooks long tubes helped get some lost low end power back and I plan on doing cams which would allow me to rev it even further. Just my opinion of course but I think you'd be happier with gears or something along those lines.
You will definitely lose noticeable power down low. Yes, I did notice some gains as now I can spin it to about 7k rpm's. I don't think you'll be happy with it if you don't plan on other supporting modifications. My kooks long tubes helped get some lost low end power back and I plan on doing cams which would allow me to rev it even further. Just my opinion of course but I think you'd be happier with gears or something along those lines.
I've heard that. Maybe I should look more towards a tuner. I would never race the truck and hardly ever use the upper RPM band. I already noticed loss of low end power when I put my Roush Exhaust on. Any suggestions on getting the low end back? The truck feels a little sluggish off the line now.
08-15-2017, 07:53 AM
Cleaning the Engine Bay - Any Advice?
I would post a pic but photobucket is a pita now and won't do 3rd party hosting 