I've always wanted to clean my engine bay, but everytime I look around here and read up about them, I always hear people saying that their cars stopped working!

How do you clean the engine bay (degrease, steam clean) the RIGHT WAY?

I have a 1995 BMW and i always just rinse out the engine bay everytime I wash my car, and i never had any problems doing that. Any tips would help. Thanks!

 

In a LR? Drive through a river.

 

honestly, i dont think my disco would be able to survive that. we all talk about how "tough" the LR's are, but then we can't even just splash water under the hood!

...which leads me to my next question. how do we "waterproof" and avoid the engine from stalling when we go wading?

 

What year and model are you wanting to clean?

 

It's my 1997 Disco.

 

I just did my 98 disco with a gas pressure washer. It's gleaming. I did it mainly because i want to locate a couple leaks. Have your truck running. Blast underneath, oil pan etc. if you have the same leaks and build up I did, when doing the engine bay, don't go crazy on any electric stuff, stay away if you can. Use some armour all on your hoses if your **** like me and VIOLA! super clean rover motor! I left mine running for about 15 20 min after I was done blasting just to burn off some excess water.

 

engine degreaser works great to clean.

in terms of waterproofing, di-electric grease does good, go over all of your major connections.

 

A D2 will take all the water you can throw at it, a D1 won't will die if you get the ECU wet so wrwp it with plastic. As for the Gunk, only use it on the really dirty areas, don't not spray it on and electrical connections or you may not start.

 

Thanks a lot guys. I really appreciate the tips.

To sum it all up:

-Keep the engine running during the wash and leave it on 15-20 minutes after
-Wrap the ECU with plastic
-Dielectric grease on electrical connections
-Dont spray directly on any electrical components

Questions:

Where do I get dielectric grease?

And kayaku, when do I spray armor all on the hoses? After I wash, and dryit?

Sorry if my questions sound a little dumb. Im still learning about cars.

I really appreciate all the help kind sirs!

 

Do not use any dressing on any thing under the hood, it is hard on rubber, just keep the engine clean.