Engine Detailing 101

Next to your paint, your engine is one of the most expensive parts of your car. It may even be the reason you bought the car to begin with. Remember how you just had to have that big block muscle car or that turbo charged power wagon? You spend thousands of dollars over the course of your vehicle’s life servicing the fluids, maintaining the paint and interior, replacing the tires, and everything else involved with car ownership. After years of ownership and tens of thousands of miles behind the wheel, what does your engine look like now? Does it look like the type of engine that a smooth running machine like yours should have?

Many people don’t detail their engines simply because they don’t understand the process of how to do it. Some of your concerns might be that you don’t know what you can get wet and what you can’t. You might be afraid of breaking something or staining something with a cleaning product. If your engine was going to melt if it got wet, then the bottom of the engine bay would be sealed and water would never be able to get into it. The truth is that your engine is a lot more resilient than you give it credit for. You can wash and detail your engine without much fear of ruining anything. You just have to remember that you are detailing and not putting out a fire. Don’t just soak the engine with degreaser and the break out the hose and high pressure. Engine detailing takes a little more thought than that.

First you should remember that you never detail a hot engine. The best time to detail your engine is in the morning when it has been sitting all night. If you throw cold water on a hot engine then you run a much higher risk of causing damage. There is also the risk of cleaning chemicals igniting and starting a fire. I have seen alternators catch on fire when people have soaked them with degreaser while they are hot. You definitely want to make sure the engine is cool before you start work.

Before you begin detailing, cover the alternator and any exposed filters. Those are the two areas that you really don’t want water or degreaser pooling in. If you cover your exposed air filter with a bag, then be sure to remove the bag before you start your engine. You might also want to consider any other areas of the engine that might not be water friendly. If you have done any custom work then you may have electrical connections or gauges that you want to cover. Just think about what you wouldn’t necessarily want to get too wet. You can always hand clean those areas after you get the rest of the dirt out. You can also detail your engine without covering those areas if you are going to be careful about it. Remember: this is engine detailing and not fire fighting. There is no reason to go crazy with your hose or cleaning products.

Start by degreasing the perimeter of the engine bay. A foaming degreaser is a good product to use. The painted surfaces are fine to use engine degreaser on. Make sure you get the fluid containers and hoses degreased as well. Those are areas that usually get extra dirty. Spray down the firewall at the back of the engine bay and be sure to get as far down as you can. Degreaser won’t do the whole job for you, but it will certainly make things easier.

To get the degreaser off you simply need to rinse it with a slow stream of water. You can use your thumb over the end of the hose to create a little pressure, but for the most part the degreaser will do the work and get the dirt off. Anything that doesn’t come off can just be wiped down. Again, don’t expect engine detailing to come in a bottle or a can. You usually have to wipe it down by hand in order to get the engine really looking good.

After you have rinsed what you can, the rest needs to be done by hand. It is best if you have a wash mitt that is specially designated for engine detailing. You don’t want to use the same one for the engine that you would use for the rest of the car.

Wash the perimeter of the engine and make sure that all the dirt is gone. You can also begin washing toward the middle of the engine where you may not have sprayed any degreaser. Some of the fluid containers and caps may need a little extra elbow grease, so make sure you get those areas as well.

Some areas may require you to use detailing brushes to get the grime off. Always use soft bristled brushes and never use brass or stainless steel ones. Those will scratch plastic and paint and really take away from the look of your engine.

You may need to mix some soapy water in a spray bottle to assist in your detailing. That helps get the areas that need to be hand detailed. You can also use a good quick detail spray to assist. Just have plenty of shop towels handy to wipe down the areas when you are finished. You may also want to designate a few microfiber towels for engine detailing. That helps a great deal.

If you can see dirt in you engine bay somewhere, then chances are that you can clean it. You might have to get creative with how you floss a towel through some hoses or how you use a brush to get a little extra reach into a space behind the battery, but you can usually figure out how to get the engine clean.

After you have cleaned all the dirt off, it is time to shine it up. You can actually wax the paint if you want to, but you may want to use a high quality sealant instead. The engine bay gets way too hot for a wax to last very long. A good spray sealant like Wolfgang Deep Gloss Spritz Sealant is a great product to use on the painted surfaces under the hood.

To shine up the plastics and hoses you can use a quality rubber/vinyl protectant. Wipe down the hoses and all plastic surfaces to make sure they are protected against heat and stains from grease or dirt.

Your engine will look so much better if you take
a few minutes and clean it up. A 10 year old vehicle doesn’t have to have an engine that looks 10 years old. Your vehicle can look as new as you want it to look if you take care of it and keep it clean.

Speak Your Mind