What's the best way to clean the engine?

[SpecialD]

Hey all,

I recently had a hole in a coolant hose which spewed a rust colored liquid all over my engine bay (yuck). I was wondering what the best way to clean the engine bay would be, including the engine itself (trying to remove oil stains too). If anyone has done this, and not screwed up anything in their engine, please post here and let me know the best way to go about this.

Thanks.

[ianae86]

Over the weekend, I bought some engine degreaser for my bay. It was pretty nasty too, haha. I simply used plastic bags to cover my distributor and ziploc bags to cover other small electrical components I was worried about. After plastering the bay with the degreaser I let it sit and soak in then simply used my low pressure garden hose and rinsed it out. its not perfect and could probably use another treatment but its better then it was. Hope this helps.

[gumby74]

Engine degreaser, Simple Green, a couple of brushes, one afternoon and some elbow grease.

[Nick240sx]

Engine degreaser, Simple Green, a couple of brushes, one afternoon and some elbow grease.

cover up electrical components. I.E. fuse box(es) alternator, distributor, plugs etc.

[Soravia]

Engine Degreaser I got sucked. I blew my cash on 6-pack of brake cleaners and it did the job.FIRM-grade tooth brush and small toilet brush also does the job.

[Nick240sx]

Engine Degreaser I got sucked. I blew my cash on 6-pack of brake cleaners and it did the job.FIRM-grade tooth brush and small toilet brush also does the job.

whoa, i hope u were careful where u sprayed that brake cleaner, im sure u were, but for the noobs brake cleaner should be...a last resort?

Speaking of brake cleaner, i gotta change my rear pads today.

[Soravia]

I had the engine pulled out, covered on electronics and sprayed all over with brake cleaner. After that I started working on replacing a bunch of parts so I didn't have to care so much.

[Nick240sx]

I had the engine pulled out, covered on electronics and sprayed all over with brake cleaner. After that I started working on replacing a bunch of parts so I didn't have to care so much.

Brake cleaner works wonders

However, for all those inexperienced at cleaning engine bays, WHILE the engine is still in the bay, i would advise against brake cleaner considering the electronics and paint that would be exposed to it.

If the engine is out of the car, use watever haha.

[Soravia]

Electronics cleaner and MAFS cleaner are better suited against paint. But they are more expensive. MAFS cleaner runs around $6 for half of a $1.50 brake cleaner can.If you want to brush the engine clean, use Seafoam and metal brush.