[EJR8402]

I did a full detail with water on the engine for the first time today. Some people may have better ideas how to attack this, but my tools and process were as follows.

Supplies:
Ryobi electric pressure washer with AR Annovi MV925 and Pressure Pro 50’ hose
Wheel brush, small soft bristle detail brush, horsehair detail brush
Gunk engine degreaser
TriNova Foam cannon
Chemical Guys Honeydew
White (40 degree) pressure washer tip
Metrovac Blaster Sidekick. Ryobi electric 40v leaf blower with the assist.
Microfibers. Not my good ones.
303
Mothers’s Spray Wax

* Disconnect negative terminal on battery (do not close trunk, and definitely not with doors locked.) 10mm.

* Cover sensitive areas like the fuse box and other exposed wires. All this stuff is probably sealed enough to avoid this step, but I’d rather be conservative about this.

* Spray select areas with the Gunk degreaser. No area was as bad as the rubber hose-type piece on the air intake - it had a greenish gunky substance on it that took multiple cycles of spraying, scrubbing, and rinsing to remove. Some of this I actually had to scrape off with the rubbery reverse side of my bristle brush

* Agitate areas sprayed with the gunk, let sit for 10-15 minutes. Some scrubbing with the MFs might be needed here too.

* I didn’t cover the front end with plastic, so I periodically used my water to wash off any overspray of degreaser off the front fascia and fenders. (I completely washed the car after engine detail.) I didn’t want to risk this stuff sitting on my paint for even a minute.

* Rinse. Repeat as necessary to remove grease/grime.

* When all that’s left is dirt or other non-greasy debris/contaminants, attach foam cannon and sud the engine with foam soap. Let sit for about 5, or using best judgment.

* Agitate each area in sections using each brush as appropriate. Use the wheel brush for areas deep in the engine bay. MFs are handy again to wipe clean.

* Rinse using either a spray nozzle with a gentle rinse option or with a 40-degree pressure washer nozzle like I did (especially when I was going over areas where wires were present I made sure to keep the nozzle at least 3-4 feet away- use best judgment so you’re not forcing water into sensitive areas.)

* Dry using a leaf blower or something like the Metrovac. I found the leaf blower was good at moving large amounts of water and the Sidekick was better at hitting tiny crevices to remove water. I was really thorough with this step just to give myself the peace of mind that everything would be good when I reconnected the battery.

* Dress rubber and plastics with selected engine dressing. I used 303. You want to be careful here not to use anything too greasy or flammable.

* I used Mothers spray wax to shine up the painted areas.

Don’t forget the underside of the hood.

Reconnect battery, start the car and let it run for a few with the hood open just to make sure everything looks good.

[arpad_m]

Looks brand spanking new, even the intake duct, great work

I think the fuse box is definitely not watertight, not even close, so covering it was a good call. Not sure what else you deemed sensitive... exposed connectors maybe? Anything else?

(Obligatory note: your coolant level is very low, fill the top reservoir completely and the bottom tank to the mark near the middle.)

[Smokin19]

I am not a daily driver but, after 16k miles it still looks like this. Point is not to let it get that dirty to being with, a 5 min cleaning once a week.

[EJR8402]

Originally Posted by arpad_m

Looks brand spanking new, even the intake duct, great work

I think the fuse box is definitely not watertight, not even close, so cover it was a good call. Not sure what else you deemed sensitive... exposed connectors maybe? Anything else?

(Obligatory note: your coolant level is very low, fill the top reservoir completely and the bottom tank to the mark near the middle.)

Thanks for pointing out the coolant, I noticed that too. I’ve actually got it on my list to be flushed completely.

I saw some other random exposed connectors, exactly. Probably waterproof enough, especially after my drying, but why risk it when a cheap grocery bag will give some peace of mind.

Refilled the coolant. I’ll probably need to top off the top reservoir as it runs for a few minutes.

[EJR8402]

Originally Posted by Smokin19

I am not a daily driver but, after 16k miles it still looks like this. Point is not to let it get that dirty to being with, a 5 min cleaning once a week.

Looks great!

I’m at 53k. Until recently it was my daily- this is just part of my process to get it looking as flawless as possible now that it’s not on the road every day.

[MANNAXMAN]

Daily driven with just over ~66k miles. I take a damp wash cloth to it after every two-bucket wash. I've taken soap and water to it once, just because. It may not look brand spanking new, but it stays quite clean.

[EJR8402]

Originally Posted by MANNAXMAN

Daily driven with just over ~66k miles. I take a damp wash cloth to it after every two-bucket wash. I've taken soap and water to it once, just because. It may not look brand spanking new, but it stays quite clean.

Yours is looking really clean. Some dressing on the black plastics and hoses would go a long way. I probably could have just given mine a wipe down as well, but I wanted to get all the little crevices- it’s a lot harder to do that without full water. It wasn’t that dirty when I started, but I just didn’t keep up with it for awhile to what I would consider ideal standards.

Not driving it daily solves a lot of problems. No driving in the rain, no parking under trees day after day, etc.

[DamonZ28]

Originally Posted by EJR8402

I did a full detail with water on the engine for the first time today. Some people may have better ideas how to attack this, but my tools and process were as follows.

That looks immaculate!! I've detailed mine as well, in similar fashion. I opted to use a garden hose & a "shower" attachment - I'm afraid my gas pressure washer might be too powerful. I also did not cover any electronics nor disconnect the battery. I drive the car in the rain without damage, which it is designed to do, so a little water shouldn't hurt. I use a Griot's Garage foaming cleaner, as well as Koch Chemie Greenstar (separately). The air dryer is a good idea, I should use my Black & Decker 20v leaf blower to dry things up a little. I usually use Meguires Hyper Dressing for dressing. I've also cleaned the engine bay of my 2015 Ford Edge in the same way.

EDIT: The coolant has been topped off since this photo.

[dpevans]

I think you're way overthinking it. There are no connections under the hood in modern day cars that hurt if they get wet. I take a cleaner, using Puro right now 10% strength and a fine brush, spray and agitate over the entire engine bay then use a garden hose and rinse, blow dry with leaf blower then treat the plastic to 303. I've did all my cars like this for 40 years and never had an issue.

[MANNAXMAN]

Originally Posted by dpevans

I think you're way overthinking it. There are no connections under the hood in modern day cars that hurt if they get wet. I take a cleaner, using Puro right now 10% strength and a fine brush, spray and agitate over the entire engine bay then use a garden hose and rinse, blow dry with leaf blower then treat the plastic to 303. I've did all my cars like this for 40 years and never had an issue.

I agree people are overthinking it. I used to use a garden hose with a sprayer on the engine in my 1964 VW Bug. It wasn't the original motor, but the technology was the same. I didn't cover the distributor, coil or alternator when hosing it down. Never had a problem.

[EJR8402]

I'd rather overthink it a little than risk damaging something- would it be fine without going through the extra steps? Probably. But it takes just a few minutes to disconnect the battery and cover up a few connections. It's not like these few simple steps are adding hours to the process.

Also, from the standpoint of writing a step-by-step guide, other people using the guide might have vehicles in varying condition, mileage, and/or age. There could be connections under the hood that are damaged and lost their water resistance.

[p47dman]

Mannaxman, looks pretty darn good to me! Although to each his own, I use the pressure washer on engine bays a lot. Just a word, don't pressure wash the hood insulation. Mine only has 8000 on her, so I have only had to do hand detailing of engine bay.

[Snake_Eyes]

My low mileage (7k) 2SS 1LE was very well taken care of except for the engine bay so I did my first cleaning this weekend and it looks much better.

I need some advice on cleaning the problem areas with arrows in the pic. Looks like corrosion on the radiator hose connection and the ends of the stabilizer bar and there's spotted stains on both valve covers and the stabilizer bar as well. Any product/brush recommendations?

[pitrott1]

Emo on my engine also!