Why get your engine cleaned? Well, you could be a very fastidious person, or you could be getting ready to sell your car. You could hate looking under the hood and coming near the dirty engine. Lot’s of reasons to clean the engine, but probably the most compelling is the car going up for sale.
When you are selling a vehicle, detailing the the vehicle will get you a better price. Imagine the delight of a would-be buyer opening the hood and seeing a sparkling clean engine. It would send him right to heaven. Well, maybe not, but it will impress upon him the understanding that you keep your things in good condition and will aid in the sale. So, let’s talk a bout cleaning an engine.
Engine Cleaning Process
Engine cleaning is basically about the exterior of the engine and the engine compartment. It is a simple process and does not take that much time. So, let’s get started. First, use either compressed air or a brush and brush off all the debris on the engine and in the engine compartment.
Before hosing down the engine with water, warm up the engine for a while, so it gets warm, but not hot. Now you are ready to apply the degreaser. Use a degreaser that is not super aggressive. There are vinyl and rubber components that really aggressive degreasers will damage if left on for a short period of time. A less aggressive degreaser will work well and leave those parts of the engine unharmed.
Allow the degreaser to soak on your engine for a few minutes, about 5 minutes is good. If there are areas of heavy grease, you may need to scrub them with a brush to help the grease to start breaking down. For really tight areas, a toothbrush comes in handy.
Next, use water from a hose and spray the engine. Important. Before getting the engine wet, make sure that you have covered any engine component that may be damaged by the water, such as electrical connections, such as sensors and the distributor cap. The engine should be watertight and water spray should not do any damage, but be cautious anyway.
Hose down the engine and engine compartment with plenty of water. If you are using a high pressure hose, make sure that you don’t damage any of the electrical connectors. Let water drip off the engine for a few minutes before toweling it off. Don’t let it air dry because you will end up with water spots on the engine.
Now you are ready to apply the engine protectant. Apply to your engine and then wipe off. Do the same for the hoses and vinyl parts in the engine compartment.
Some products you can use: Meguiars has an Engine Cleaner, and there is Autoglym’s Engine and Machine Cleaner that you can use as well.
Maintain Your Car’s Value
This post has talked about cleaning the engine. If you take the steps outlined here (or have us do it) you will have started out on the road to long-term engine on the outside and helped to maintain your car’s value. You can take engine cleaning to a whole new level if you want by applying rust protection, repainting and more. However, the steps outlined here are more than enough to keep the engine compartment clean and looking sharp.