When I bought my truck a few months ago it had a leaking, rusty radiator, a leaking power steering pump and bad valve cover gaskets. I have fixed everything, but now the ENTIRE engine bay is covered in rust stains, oil and grease. Looks bad. What's the best (easiest) way to clean it all? Degreaser and water hose or rags and elbow grease?

 

I don't know if it's the best way, but I usually spend some time with the pressure washer and it usually cleans up pretty good. Make the sure the motor is cold though, otherwise you might crack the block from the cold water and warm motor.

You can also get engine degreeser cans at like Advanced or Auto zone or Pep boys, they work mediocre whenever I used them.

 

A good degreaser and pressure washer. Just don't directly hit the PCM, Alternator, Distrubutor, or Battery. You may have to blow out your spark plug boots with compressed air afterward. Always works like a charm for me, and a few others do the same on here. There are actually a few good threads on this if you search.

 

man i just cant see myself spraying my motor down with water lol

 

I use the local car wash that loves quarters.

 

Start with a warm motor, cover the battery, alternator, fuse box and anything else electrical you have.

Spray it down with some orange cleaner or Simple Green. Use a brush (toilet brush works ok in a pinch) and scrub it a bit. Let it sit for a bit then hose it off. Use a shop rag to dry it off then fire up the motor for a bit.

Did this on my V10 yesterday, worked great.

 

Yeah what others said.

First let your engine warm for a few minutes so that some of the grease and oil loosens up (ONLY A FEW MINUTES so it doesn't get to warm). Then cover up your electrical components like the alternator and distributor cap using plastic bags (and tie them off with rubber bands or something so water doesn't get underneath it. Take some engine degreaser (citrius-based) and rub it down over your engine using a brush. Leave it for a few minutes to let it soak (and for your engine to cool down) and then hit it with a power washer. Try to be careful with the covered parts, but hit the engine good. Repeat as necessary.

After thats done you can towel some of the spots and then let your engine warm for around 5 minutes. Also do note that the degreaser will get rid of a lot of the wax on your engine so if you notice any leaks in a few days you may want to fix that.

Good luck! I need to hit it with my dodge, its filthy in there.

 

Thanks for the replies. Sounds pretty straight forward. I was a little nervous about spraying water in there, but if it works for y'all thats what I'm gonna do. I wasn't looking forward to wiping everything down by hand.

 

Yeah you shouldn't have to. The engine can get a lot of it, but towling it down a little will help (and plus, that way water doesn't spill into something when you move).

Just make sure you cover up any important electrical components. Look at your truck manual or an online diagram. You can mess up your engine, but if your careful its pretty painless.

 

Pressure washer, engine degreaser, rags, once I wipe everything down I add a LITTLE bit of armor all to polish off anything thats black or plastic.