decided to spend some time cleanin up the engine bay. winter didnt get it too dirty but there was a good amount of salt rock/residue that i didnt want around.

procedure:
-cover header and intake filter
-used pressure washer and sprayed everything possible
-used air compressor to air dry w/e i could
-hand dried with towel everything air couldnt
-used q-tips for the real tight and grimey areas
-Turtle waxed every bit of metal i could reach
-used Armor All Ultimate Clean that i sprayedon atowel to puton allthe plastic and rubber pieces
-sprayed some oven degreaser on the valve cover and towel and scrubed w/e grime i could get off

before:
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a158/civicexracer/random/1-3.jpg
after:
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a158/civicexracer/random/13.jpg

like i said, wasnt too dirty to begin with but atleast now its shiney and i got all that salt junk out:)there some spots on the valve cover that the degreaser wont get off...if i can find a color very similar to what it is now, i'll prolly paint it and polish the lettering. only other thing i'll be gettingthat'll make the bay somewhat more presentable is a new, lightweight battery. hopefully i'll be getting one soon enough..

everything looks good but try vinylex for the rubber hoses instead of armor all, which causes rubber deterioration and cracking.

vinelex is pricey at almost $10 a bottle (at Pep Boys) but it lasts longer per application so it equals out.

i've used armor all on all of the rubber and plastic pieces on my car for about 2 years nowand have yet to notice any cracking or deterioration...i do want something that last longer in the shiney factor tho, ill try that vinelex stuff out.

vinylex is shinier than armor all if that's what you're after:

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a327/drbyers/engine.jpg

Looks good man.

Did you not cover your dizzy though? I didnt see that listed in your procedure

Someone should do a DIY on properly cleaning the engine bay. i saw one guy today at the car wash just pop the hood of his Kia and then start spraying lol


EDIT: Nevermind i found the DIY already lol:D Looking > Me

im so overdue for one of these its not even funny...lol...i need to when i have time,if i took pics of how it looks now it would make grown men weep.

i gotta do mine as well :(

and if your valve cover is stock... its just aluminum..... no paint on it at all....

id paint it black and then polish the leters...
this summer i want to paint ALOT of my engine bay parts!

i would even paint the header with some blackheat paint........ i see those rust preaty easily.... wouldnt hurt anything ;)

well i forgot who said it but one guy said if you wanted to paint it then put chapstick or something like that on the letters then paint it and then after you can just wipe it off and the paint wont get on the letters....i think im gonna do mine black.....sooner or later...lol

just got a slightly better pic since theres more light out now..
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a158/civicexracer/random/IMG_0002-3.jpg

nope didnt cover anything but the header and filter. reason i covered the header is because im not sure what water will really do to theceramic coating. covered the filter because i just cleaned/re-oiled it not long ago and didnt want to mess it up, also chances are water would havegone up the tubewith the hi-pressure machine i was using.

everything else is completely fine to get soaked. the mechanics at my work spray the hell out of most of the cars engines that come in. i asked if it would hurt anything like the battery and they said nope, the guy even sprayed the hell out of the battery right in front of me to prove it lol. my car still runs, drove around today with no problems.

chances are i prolly wont paint my valve cover. i dont like the cheap kinda shine that comes from rattle canning it. if i really wanted to paint it, i'll prolly have it powder coated but i have other things i wana do with my car first..i think ill just take it off and really get to scrubin the hell out of it with a good degreaser.

i guess i cant complain too much, after all its got close to 180k miles on it. lil grime here and there aint so bad..

ya water on a battery wont hurt it......
its a common beliefe that water will short the battery instantly BUT ive heard that the battery will hold its charge for awhile when the cars under water... from one of those what to do shows like if ya drive into a pond and hve to get out they said the power windows will stll work so you can roll the windows down and get out... and well id love to try it... LOL BUT i dont want to drive my car into a pond. LMFAO

^^^ lol yea water is a terrible conductor of electricity by itself......its the minerals and metal deposits (i.e salt/lead), so unless u have some f*cked up water in your town; you should be safe lol

ORIGINAL: n8te81

im so overdue for one of these its not even funny...lol...i need to when i have time,if i took pics of how it looks now it would make grown men weep.


I bet you $20 that mine is worse.

wanna take pics and compare???...lol

ORIGINAL: n8te81

wanna take pics and compare???...lol



doooo ittt[sm=signs007.gif]

ppl this is gonna get ugly.....hide the children....so you up for it fiirkan???

Sure am. I will have mine as soon as pobssiable.... but i need to rebuild my computer[:o] cause my motherboard fried on me, so i will have to get access to my dad's computer

i just remembered that i uploaded a picture of it when i installed my SRI, now ignore the writing on it, and the fact that it is a ****ty picture, but i hope it gives you an idea. this was taken over a year ago... so it is worse now[>:]

clicky (http://www.hondacivicforum.com/upfiles/6733/7A999B650C8348D699BA02F75EF476E6.jpg)

i think i got you beat.....ill go do one right now and then ill put it up and edit this one.

ok i would like my 20 buck now....you have seen the rest like look at the best...LOL


http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h59/n8te81/underhood.jpg

hahaha wow, looks like someone straight up took a dump in ur bay n8te. lovein the duct tape on the coolant reservoir:Dpoor filter[:'(]

Damn man, you win your's is NASTY!!! lol, you need to clean your filter lol

umm yes i know all of this....lately it has been really muddy and all that so i havent got to clean any of it..i had to use the tape on there cause it burned a hole in there somehow and i havent had the chance to get a new one yet.....i knew you guys wouldnt have a chance against mine...lol.Anyways i hope i have time to clean it up this weekend AND clean the filter to make you guys happy..lol.Ive just been so busy having to do other stuff that my engine has been getting so neglected and the weather doesnt help either.

damm n8te. you live in a active volcano zone or something?

it looks like you got volcanic ash under your hood. lol.

i knew i was gonna catch so much **** for putting that pic up...lol...im glad i made someones day at least..umm so what kinda acid do i need to use to clean my bay then since its so sick??? i feel from what you guys are saying that i need like a damn ghostbusters gun with plasma to get mine to look better.

the engine bay looks real good now civicexracer...you now got me motivated to do mine...it's crazy how we neglect the engine so much and focus more on the exterior when the interior should be done more regularily but oh well...so just covering the intake should be good enough if i'm taking a pressure washer to it then right? i've got mostly stock parts still except the intake.

hey n8te, be careful with what you clean your engine bay with.

lots of doods use simple green and water, but simple green is actually bad for your engine bay if it sits too long.

so what should i use then???

Im working on mine this weekend as well as my parents cars. Itll be a fun weekend.

ORIGINAL: n8te81

so what should i use then???


a degreaser first (such as Gunk), that can be sprayed onto the engine surfaces liberally (and yes, cover the dizzy and all other exposed electrical parts). then hose it down with water. DO NOT use a high pressure hose because water can seep into the spark plug covers and fuel injectors.

i had that happen to me years ago. it took $600 and a fuel injection cleaning to fix it.

make sure the engine is completely dry before starting it up again. use a leaf blower if you have to.

then take a clean rag and wipe all the remaining Gunk and dirt/grime away.

if you're nervouse about using Gunk and water, try using a foam cleaner such as tire foam cleaner which you can control better. after five minutes just wipe away the foam.

after the engine bay is clean, bust out the car wax and wax the metal surfaces.

hmmmm im kinda thinkin that i might need a weed whacker and some grease for this one.....

ORIGINAL: civicexracer

everything else is completely fine to get soaked. the mechanics at my work spray the hell out of most of the cars engines that come in. i asked if it would hurt anything like the battery and they said nope, the guy even sprayed the hell out of the battery right in front of me to prove it lol. my car still runs, drove around today with no problems.

Yeah...I trust the average mechanic about as far as I can throw them. You really should wrap your dizzy up next time. Yes, it has a rubber seal and is probably snugged up good enough. I'm a bettin man, but I don't bet on "probably". Saving yourself the thirty seconds it takes to wrap the dizzy hardly seems worth it if you get water in there and your car won't start for a while, but thats just me..

what's a "dizzy"? again newb!

Distributor :D

ORIGINAL: drbyers

damm n8te. you live in a active volcano zone or something?

it looks like you got volcanic ash under your hood. lol.


hahahahha

ORIGINAL: Forty04

ORIGINAL: civicexracer

everything else is completely fine to get soaked. the mechanics at my work spray the hell out of most of the cars engines that come in. i asked if it would hurt anything like the battery and they said nope, the guy even sprayed the hell out of the battery right in front of me to prove it lol. my car still runs, drove around today with no problems.

Yeah...I trust the average mechanic about as far as I can throw them. You really should wrap your dizzy up next time. Yes, it has a rubber seal and is probably snugged up good enough. I'm a bettin man, but I don't bet on "probably". Saving yourself the thirty seconds it takes to wrap the dizzy hardly seems worth it if you get water in there and your car won't start for a while, but thats just me..


theres a good chance that if u've taken ur car to the dealership, they've hosed it down. i kno for sure they spray every 01+ model cars(civics, cr-v's, pilots, etc..) and have seen them hose older models as well. i agree with u tho, better to be safer than sorry and it dosnt take much time. just sayin, the engine bay is pretty much completely water proof unless obviously drowned lol.

exactly ^, covering the dizzy and filter is just a precaution for cleaning in an orderly fashion