GS4Will

for all you detail buffs(you know who you are j/k),

i would like to do a cleaing under the hood, and appreciate any advice on the right procedures. here are a few questions:

1. should i use something called Simple Green from places like target?

2. i do not have a pressure washer, should i just use reg hose, and wash down the cleaner and dirt?

3. do i need to cover anything under the hood? esp the electrical lines? if so, would simple pastic shopping bag work?

thanks a lot.

william

///MDex

Hey GS4W. I'm no detail buff, but I'll pass along what little info I have.

Every other time I wash my car, I spray out of the engine bay with a normal hose and normal spray gun. I don't use any solvents or soap, but my bay was detailed when I bought the car.

When I'm down washing and drying, I'll start it up and let teh engine evaporate off what water is in teh bay for 5-10 minutes whiles I'm wiping down the surface I can get a towel on.

If you decide to use anything, I'd keep the concentration weak just because I wouldn't know how the soap would affect the components if not washed / rinsed thoroughly.

HTH

D-MAN63

William, if your going to use an engine cleaner where you spray some chemical onto the engine, you should cover ALL the wires with tape. Also, its not wise to use the engine cleaner every time you want to clean the engine. Just water from the hose will be suffice. Those engine cleaners are very hazardous to the wires because it will deteriorate it.

After you finish cleaning the engine, you should wait at least an hour before you start the car. When you do start the car, in some cases you will see smoke billowing out of the engine. Don't worry about that, its the excess fluid evaporating.

RON430

William - All good ideas. Simple Green is about as good as the engine cleaning stuff is and is a little easier on materials. About the only trick I have is aluminum foil. If you figure out what components you want to protect from the water or cleaner, I use aluminum foil because you can form it around what you are trying to protect and it stays there even under a fair amount of hose pressure. Afterwards, it is obviously easy to remove. Unless you have very heavy deposits to clean off, you don't need a lot of water. Bimmers used to come with a cosmoline coating on the engine to protect it during shipping and the only way to get it off was with solvents which was a pain, another one for the pro detailers. Doesn't look like Lexus does that, you can tell if the cosmoline is there - it is like a wax, or they do the right thing and remove it before they deliver the car. By the way, saw the new ES yesterday at a dealer, not sure I like it more than the current style but it was interesting that the ones on the lot came with Toyo tires. I have been looking at trying the Toyos but they are not too widely available. If Lexus is using them as an OEM maybe they will get a little more available.

Richie

WD40, I never thought of that. That could work!!

GS4Will

GUYS,

thanks a lot for the detailes advice, i have some work to do this weekend-bonding time with the GS.

william

ps. Dexter, very nice looking engine bay, every nice car should look like that

retrodrive

Here Ive got something for ya!

Engine Cleaning/Detailing
by Gary Grant - HOTSS


1) On a hot/warm engine, spray the entire engine compartment down with Windex. Close the hood and wait @ 3-5 minutes.


2) Lift the hood and mist the engine compartment with water. Now spray the entire area with Armor All. Close the cowl and again wait 3-5 minutes.


3) Repeat the Windex and Armor All application again. Now, after the second coat of Armor All, close up the engine compartment and wash and detail the exterior of your car.


4)When you are finished, open the hood and wipe down any excess Armor All.




Thx and props to the Impala doods that used to hang on our board...this is one of their discriptions

gsexploits

Does this really work with Windex, Water and Armor all? Belts don't squeal or slip? Don't get black $h#T all over the inside of your engine compartment like the black spatters from using armor all that you get behind your wheels on the car after driving it?

retrodrive

Its all good if you let it dry out real good.