What's a good/safe way to clean the engine?
 

I want to clean up the engine (everything under the hood) but I don't want to mess anything up by spraying water around in there. Any good suggestions that are easy, safe, and effective?

hmmm... good question, anybody?

Here's a good thread on engine cleaning:

http://www.rx7forum.com/showthread.p...threadid=32101

Just make sure to cover up any electronics and filters.

Just cover things like your airfilter and anything electrical. Dont powerwash your car after driving it....give it time to cool down. Just use common sense.

Pink?:eek:

Smokin?
 

Okay, those are some good suggestions (in the other thread) for cleaning around in the engine bay.

Get this: I just wased the OUTSIDE of my car at one of those high pressure coin wash places... Afterwards, I started the car up and there was a lot of smoke (steam) coming from the very front (radiator/oil cooler?). I didn't spray a lot into the front air dam... I swear! It lasted longer than I would have expected if it was just steaming any water off - maybe a few minutes. It smelled slightly like coolant??? My temp is steady and fine. It eventually went away completely.

Anyone else see this?
I know it's supposed to be a hot running engine, but what gives?

hey FD Seeker,

I usually never wash my FD with any pressure..I usually just soak it and then soak the soap of with a steady stream from the hose without any pressure tools on the garden hose, and even i get some smoke once in a while if i start it up right after washing it...I believe it comes from the oil cooler or coolers' if u have an R2....

anyways, as long as it goes away after a lil while, u should be fine...dont worry about it....hope that helped...

Another good idea when you clean your motor is to use Wire Drier by STP. It is a spray that puts a water resistant coating on electrical connectors etc...

I bought a 1400psi pressure washer from Costco that i use for my rims and motor. I cover the airfilter and major electrical parts like the alternator and spray the rest with Wire Drier, then spray cleaner on the engine letting it soak. After that i blast the damn motor with water. It comes out friggin awsome. The bear claw actually looks brand new. I've done this to my car twice and 3 of my friends FDs.

Up in smoke?
 

Yeah, that makes me fell better :)

I'm working on FD #8 right now. If your FD is stock you can hose it down all you want, I've never had a problem with 8 FD's and 5 FC's.

If your car is stock there is absolutely NO need to cover the airfilter. Aftermarket intakes like the M2 don't need to be covered either, open element filters should be covered. I've soaked the alternator, solenoid rack, coils and everything that a hose could reach and haven't EVER (since 1990) had a problem.

I agree that you shouldn't use high pressure on everything, if your car is really dirty then you CAN use it, preferrably on a cold engine and keep the high pressure water away from electrical connectors, etc. When I do a motor I take all the "parts" like the PPF, starter, trans, belly pan(s), brackets down to the carwash after soaking them with Castrol Super Clean. The parts look new after I'm done and make reassembly much easier, cleaner, quicker.

have fun,
Jeff

I usually clean my engine in the summer time when its warm out. I wake up early in the morning, disconnect the battery, I spray engine degreaser/cleaner over the engine and engine bay, I let it sit for 5-10 minutes, then I hose it all down. After that I wait about an hour or so for the sun to dry everything up, then I spray silicone spray over the engine bay to keep all the plastic and rubber parts nice and moist, I reconnect the battery and start her up and I'm good to go :D

If you want to be REALLY anal about it, just have a long toothbrush, a rag, and a can of water and degreaser mixture and get to all the small areas around the engine bay.

I'm not saying my engine bay is perfect, but it works :D
http://www.getaway2.com/flybye/engine4.jpg

Beautiful engine bay!
 

I've been power washing my engine bay for years. I've never had any trouble. I have to admit, Flybye's motor room looks fantastic!

hmmm....I just now swapped out the AST for the Pettit with no probs, but also wanted to rinse down the coolant loss so covered the fuse boxes and alternator with rags and spot-sprayed. After wipe down, it started right up and took it for a spin(watching the temp guage). A little coolant steam around the engine compartment but no problems.. until I backed it into the garage and shut her down. 10 min. later put key in ignition.. ACC ok...but turn it to ON/start mode the car goes pitch-dark and the clifford alarm goes apeshit. No start of course. WTH is up with that? Checked and dried battery/electrical connects and all is fine. Maybe just let it dry out overnight?