Advice on engine detail

T

toby tyke

New member
Ive got my first engine detail coming up on a 1995 BMW 740i. The car while not being used has been stored in a farmers barn resulting in the engine bay being covered in thick dust. I am going to use my normal de greaser/cleaner at about 3-1 dilution. The only problem I have is using a water hose on the entire bay. Obviously its at low pressure, I just dont want to risk the water getting into critical areas. I was going to do it the long way and just use cloths and brushes to remove the dirt from hard to access areas. Any tips would be gratefull.
 
use the search feature and look at "CD-2", I used it last week and it worked VERY well.

I also don't like the idea of using H20 on the engine, especially someone elses.



I used ONR for a pre-soak and just wiped down as best I could, then sprayed it down with the CD-2 Engine Detailer, I turned on the engine and let it idle and warm up.



Then wipe down any excess, looks great.
 
Please post pics and your process. I have a similar car (smaller engine though) and I'd love to learn how to properly clean the engine bay of a 7er.
 
Here one I did for a friend (free)



Remove battery and and intake hose and cover up the distributor with foil including the open harness connector



Rinse down hood and engine bay with water from the hose



Filled bucket with ONR and GC



Spray Purple power all over the engine bay and hood



Dip the Ez detail and Mother wheel brush into the wash mix and agitate the the pp with the brush. Meaning scrub ever dirty area lol



Rinse down with water



Dry areas with blower from the vacuum and any rest of the water was pick up with a terry cloth



Spray the bay with Megs endurance tire gel



then use a foam pad to evenly distribute the gel



Intake plenum and Valve cover were scrub with Mother mag and aluminum polish and #0000 steel wool



wax hood with Collinite 845 insulator wax



Before:



DSC_2408.jpg




DSC_2411.jpg




After:



DSC_2500.jpg




DSC_2501.jpg




Here and engine bay I did with CD2 after cleaning it with the same method as above beside spraying the tire gel



DSC_2489.jpg
 
I have found a little trick that works well for me. I use a pesticide sprayer to spray the engine down with. I fill it with 2 cap fulls of ONR and the rest with water. With this you don't get a ton of water every where, you can point it where you want. I do this and then use a bunch of towels to clean with. Then, since I am very lucky to have an autozone by my house that sells CD-2 I spray everything down with that.
 
Personally i use a garden hose. Having used both pressure washer and garden hose I have had less problems with garden hose. The pressure washer can drive water into tighter seals as can compressed air to dry. Not to familiar with a '95 740 though.



When in doubt, tin foil off delicate areas and hand wash after.



My process is to wet the area with water and then spray a concentrated APC. Mine is diluted 4 water : 1 cleaner.



Let dwell and while waiting spray water under the hood then spray some cleaner and wash with a wash mitt. Keep APC cleaner wet. Rinse off and then start rinsing the engine, staying away from direct contact from electric components.



Respray the engine with APC and wash with mitt. This step is to clean and make sure the cleaner doesn't dry before rinsing. Respray areas that are oily if needed.



Drip dry for a minute and spray water based dressing if you desire. Personally I usually don't.



IMG_6385.JPG




IMG_6387.JPG
 
How do you know which cars' engines can be watered down with hose? Can every car (i.e. especially 2000+ BMW's, Porsche's...any late models) resist the water?



Thank you.
 
Oh, the above after pic is without any dressing and the cleaning took about 12 minutes.



Most cars today have very tight tolerances and should be able to take an engine cleaning. Though with the new technology there might be problems down the road.



The only real problem vehicle I have encountered is a late 80's or early 90's Ford 1/2 ton. Some module on the fender is prone to water damage and needs to be replaced before it will start.
 
Thank you, Jessely & Salty! Your examples look great! I wish I could clean engine as well as you guys do!



Jessly, I see you only covered two parts.. are these the only 2 parts to cover for other cars as well? Thank you.
 
Many thanks lads for the advice, sorry for the late response. The pics you posted are fantastic, the BMW came out ok, I was not totally happy with the result, but the customer was over the moon, he had been searching the net for this car for 2 years, I just did not have the guts to wash the engine bay with a garden hose, with my luck lateley I know it would not have started!

Thanks from the boys across the water
 
KaiYenS said:
Thank you, Jessely & Salty! Your examples look great! I wish I could clean engine as well as you guys do!



Jessly, I see you only covered two parts.. are these the only 2 parts to cover for other cars as well? Thank you.
Click to expand...





Well newer cars aren't going to have a distributor, but all cars are going to have Alternator(generators) and I make sure I cover those. You mainly cover anything electrical. But for me, I take out the battery and clean that with baking soda mix with water. So the baking soda neutrilize any battery acid.
 
Its usually ok to hose down an engine as long as they dont have a distributer cap. Many cars have distributers after 1985 so be careful about that. We have a 99 Jeep that has one.



If you do have one cover it up really good and dont spray it directly.
 
I use this method on almost everyengine, let the engine warm, spray generously with degreaser, rinse with hot water from PW, air dry with AC blow gun (typhoon from snapon) I then do the interior, then do a quick wipe down and dress with quickshot, after polishing I come back and give it a once over with a QD, they always turn out well and have rarely had a problem, I think 2 volvos with wet spark plugs out who knows how many



Volvos dont like water
 
curious about those who used a garden hose to quickly rinse down your engine; did you:



(a) remove the battery?

(b) rinse the battery?

(c) cover the terminals, then rinse the battery?



if it makes a difference, i have an 05 acura tsx, and want to attempt my first engine detail on it soon.



i don't have an aftermarket air intake, so, i think i'm ok on that piece (as far as water is concerned). but, how about the alternator? any other components i should be careful with?
 
afici0nad0 said:
curious about those who used a garden hose to quickly rinse down your engine; did you:



(a) remove the battery?

(b) rinse the battery?

(c) cover the terminals, then rinse the battery?



if it makes a difference, i have an 05 acura tsx, and want to attempt my first engine detail on it soon.



i don't have an aftermarket air intake, so, i think i'm ok on that piece (as far as water is concerned). but, how about the alternator? any other components i should be careful with?
Click to expand...



I just detailed a TSX yesterday at the shop and you have nothing to worry about. You don't need to cover up anything. I have done the "15 minute" engine clean on hundreds and hundreds of cars using a pressure washer and an APC and have yet to have any problems from any cars. This ranges from brand new cars (the newer german cars you cant even SEE the engine, it's ALL plastic) to cars with 100k+ miles. I won't guarantee that if you don't cover anything you will be fine but I have not had any issues whatsoever and I have done hundreds.
 
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