Steam Cleaning?

[bcrume]

I wanted to clean my engine bay and wanted to know what most people do to get it really clean.

[West]

Engine Degreaser + Pressure Wash. Stay away from the Alternator.

[Ritz S14]

Yeah..keep away from your alternator, air cleaner(if it's open), MAF, and distributor.

[ThatGuy]

Use platic grocery bags to cover all your electronnics. Then spray your engine down with a good degreaser (I prefer Simple Green). Now, pressure wash away all the grime. For stubborn, baked-on, oil and grime, repeat the process a few times adding in a little elbow grease with a Scotch Brite pad.

[papershot]

with a steam cleaner you shouldn't have to use any cleaning solution. just spray the steam, maybe scrub a little, then spray again. works way better with steam that it does with a pressure washer if you have access to one.

[wootwoot]

and is less dangerous to your engine and such

[ALTRNTV]

You can buy a portable steam cleaner off Ebay for around $40 shipped.

[Inland180]

Originally Posted by AkademikONE

You can buy a portable steam cleaner off Ebay for around $40 shipped.

Really??? does it even workwell???

I just do what smogtech metioned above.. Works good enough

[Pancor]

I fill two spray bottles with varsol, and empty both onto every imaginable surface in the engine bay from every imaginable angle. Then I blast the fuck out of it with a pressure washer. I don't cover anything except exposed cone filters, and I've never had a problem.

[Got Sileighty?]

i think we all need a definitie answer on what parts should be covered up when pressure washing. when my dad's friend did it on my car, he only covered up the distributor and mine turned out fine. so should he have covered up the MAF and alternator too??

[ultraDorksGarage]

ive never cleaned an engine bay while motor is in on my personal car.

for our heavy equips, we bag electronics, start motor and leave it running while we degrease/pressure wash. i wouldnt recommend this for cars though, heavy equips are slightly more resiliant and such. btw, dishwashing fluid works good except theres alot of suds, but it smells nice.

[Whiplash Willy]

Some chemicals and degreasers will dry with white spots on your engine if you keep it running.

[ultraDorksGarage]

lol, dishwashing detergent leaves no streaks, lol

nah j/k, i only clean our equips to get the oil/grease off before doing major work. i dont give a hoot about what it looks like lol.

thought it was kinda understood when i said our heavy equip, which normally isnt to look good, rather be less grimey when u gotta do something like pull a head or drop a tranny or something. my bad^^

[ALTRNTV]

Originally Posted by Inland180

Really??? does it even workwell???

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...371597973&rd=1

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...371770308&rd=1

I really want to try it out.

[SirWarrior]

12bux at home depot gets you an air gun that uses any type of detergent you wish.
I just got it about a week ago, but didn't have time totry it out.

[nissantuner22]

steam is the master of cleaning engines. That ebay thing just doesnt seem like it could get into all the nooks and crannys. Maybe if it had a cool attachement that bent...

[ALTRNTV]

Yea, they come with all sorts of attachments.

[Draginzuzu]

Dont use strong degreasers. Some of them eat up aluminum and make it look hazy and pitted. Test it on a spot somewhere before you spray it everywhere.

[ALTRNTV]

Simple Green is pretty strong.

[SirWarrior]

its also bio-degradable. so its ok to go down the drain