I was wondering if there was anything i could get to clean off the engine while its in the car. I just thought it'd be nice to give the top a little shin so it shins along with the other polished parts.


- 2003 CHEVY CAVALIER LS SPORT ECOTEC -

- Current Mods -
-- Vibrant Exhaust & DC Sport Header --
-- Lower Motor Mount & TTR Upper Motor Mount --
-- B&M ShiftPlus & Vibrant Front STB --
-- K&N Typhoon Short Ram Intake --

RIP DAD<3 We love & miss you so much!

A good bath with soapy water,rinse and blow dry,apply some Armor All on the plastic and rubber parts...done just be carefull with the electric connectors,coils and the alternator, better cover them with plastic bags.

HAHAHA i have always just used gunk and sprayed water on my engine. and than i use armorall on all my rubber parts and a rag on a stick to get to the back of the engine and q-tips to deatil it.



I'm back from the dead.
Currently Driving: RSX Type-S.
My Cavalier Burnt up :-(

if you can buy a degreaser from a body shop, there are environmentally friendly degreasers with no nastry chemicals, they work much better than the ones you can buy at your auto store. also use a high pressure washer and ensure that you have a shopvac to blow dry the water. make sure you cover and waterproof the fuse box. spray some degreaser on the block and engine parts. avoid spraying on exposed wires. let sit for a few minutes, then rinse with pressure washer, blow dry right away. if there's anything left remove manually with a commercial degreaser and a rag. to give the engine some shine try shop quality tire shine. put on sponge and go all over the engine, plastics, block, etc.

Simple Green, water, and a toilet brush with bristles, not the poofy kind.

I totally agree with Greg Z, and if you need to gel in closer, use a very soft bristle(preferably old) tooth brush, And Orange Blast degreaser works great too! I actually use a mixture of 2/3 orange blast to 1/3 simple green and it will clean anything!!! and the of course bust out the armor all

I have used most of the things already said. It all depends on how dirty it is. If it is really dirty get some good degreaser. Spray the engine down (Everything). Let it soak then rinse it off. I then go back in with a rag and soapy water and wash it like I was the outside (get the firewall under the hood etc...) After rinsing it off either use a towel, or air to dry it off some. YOu can then either leave it be or spray the whole engine bay down with armorall, but using armorall will attract more dirt.



FU Tuning

Armor All works great on a clean engine, and I have found that those foaming tire cleaner sprays work very very well on slightly dirty hoses and plastic items to not only take off dirt, but it leaves a nice shine too like the Armor All.

If your local car wash has some self-serve bays, they will have a engine cleaner option as one of their choices. You might want to cover up your alternator, but if you decide not to, keep your car running. I have not done it myself but I was told it is some pretty cool stuff.

dan

Simple green is where its at... its like 4 bucks at walmart in the spray bottle super concentrated....
oh and on the intake i put on some Black Magic interior stuff, its all i had and it looked better in person then in the pic.

engine had 182XXX miles on it

But yah cover up your alt, and i guess i shoulda coverd up my DIS cuz my car ran a lil funny for a day while it was wet but next morning it ran fine

Before



After

Hey Chris, try some foaming tire spray on the rubber and plastic parts, you may be pleasantly surprised at how well it works on getting them clean and shiny. It would probably even help on the alt. bracket, dipstick tube, and coolant crossover pipe.

i agree with Greg Z. smart man


Sam

I used black magic engine cleaner/degreaser and rinsed it with water then hit it with armor all tire foam and it turned out pretty good with minimal work involved (just some brushing nothing major) althought my engine wasn't all that dirty to begin with.

Cover the alternator, dsiconnect the battery, spray simple green all over the engine bay, let it sit for 10-15 mins, then blast it with a hose. That's how I did mine.


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2000 Cavalier Coupe, 138k miles, 2.2 Auto, Silver (alive)
1999 Cavalier Sedan, 237k miles, 2.2 Auto, White (dead)

sorry to bring up old old topic but didnt wanna start a new one........ so just to be sure cuz i dont have a spare car to drive if i mess this one up, if i put a bag over the alternator, unhook the battery and cover the ignition coils with a bag, i will be safe shooting my whole engine bay with a car wash hose?? do i need to cover the spark plugs with anything or will they be safe??