Dust in engine bay?
 

I noticed that my engine bay is covered with dust / dirt. I don't remember it being like that a few months ago.
Since I recently installed camber plates (replacing top hats, so it's open to the wheel well), I'm thinking that dust is coming in through it?
If this makes any sense, what would be the easiest way to cover it?

Clean your engine bay more often.

My engine bay was spotless until one trip down a 1 kl gravel cottage road. Now it has a thin film of white dust.
Shampoo time.

Get about 15 cans of expanding foam sealant, and a stack of Roxul fireproof soun deadening insulation. You'll be able to seal the engine bay completely! No air coming in that isn't filtered by the radiator! You could always block the front with cardboard or sheet metal for an air tight seal.

Create your own Chernobyl right there under the hood. :confused0068:

Which camber plates? If it has a round opening you may be able to buy an exact size plug.

But this is one of the reasons I switched from camber plates to angled top hats with dust covers. A daily driven car, IMO, should not have exposed bearings like that.

Only drive in the rain-----no dust

Fixed

Never cleaned an engine bay and don't really want to start now, that's why I'm trying to understand if the problem are the camber plates (Velox, by the way) that are open to the wheel.

I've had a car that lost the engine bay's under panel and ended up having a couple of problems when dirt got onto the belts.

But yeah, probably worrying too much, I'll just see if it starts getting a lot worse quickly.

Oh my god! Are you ok? Do you need my grief counselor to talk to?

How dare these fly by night companies make horrible products that let dirt in. You should clap back at them on twitter. Demand some one be fired for such faulty products.

You can barrow my emotional support dog if need be.


Joking aside, your car is fucked. Don't bother even trying to fix it.
Just drive it to any junk yard and have it crushed. If you keep driving with a dirty engine it would only be a matter of time before the whole engine brakes.

I would recommend you a Honda Civic SI, but alas it's too much car for you. I really wish I could help.

YIKES! Tough crowd, right m86? - ;)

I went out to my car to take a look see and I've captured a picture of what I think you installed on your car.

If you feel that the dust is entering the engine bay through those open camber plate things, I suggest you make a cap for them and glue/tape/screw them on.

It looks like a lid off a old wide mouth one gallon Mason jar might work. OK, so you don't have any of those laying around - :iono:

Maybe swipe a piece of Tupperware out of your mother's/wife's kitchen cabinet?

Roam around a store till you a lid that would fit? Plastic cereal bowl?

Bubba says just to lay strips of duck tape over the openings (that man has no class) - :rolleyes:


humfrz

The answer to your question is that yes, solid spherical mounts, like camber plates, will allow dust in past the mount because they don't have the rubber topper which acts like a gasket that the OEM mounts do. I don't care about the engine bay getting dirty, but what is annoying is dust getting into my interior from the trunk area because my interior is partially stripped.



I solved this problem by putting 4 pieces of duct take together and taping around each mount. I only need to access these bolts if I'm removing the struts, which I'm not doing anytime soon, and it basically solved the problem and my interior has stayed significantly cleaner. I've never cleaned my engine bay, and I didn't bother there, but I'm sure the same thing would work.


So, in short, your answer is use some duct tape to cover over the top of the strut tower.

Good info, thanks!
So I take it there is nothing to worry about. If it gets worse I might still try taping it since it's easy and it's not like I'm changing camber every day.

My engine bay is so dirty that many here would wake up screaming in the night at a brief glimpse of it. It is not air tight and even if a minute amount more comes in through the top hats it would be meaningless in the grand scheme of things.

Part out with the exception of the engine because it's soiled..

I generally agree... I'm certainly not worried about my engine bay being dirty. But the problem is that in fact, if the fender liner is in good condition, the wheel wells are basically air tight in stock configuration. Certainly there's still plenty of dust coming in the engine bay, but it's mostly coming through the front rather than what's kicked up by the wheels. Once you switch to camber plates, that's not the case anymore. I'm not worried about the front, but the rear is another story. Some people are obsessive about cleanliness in their cars though. In the end, duct tape fixes all :)

I, on the other hand, obsess about dirty engines. The modern digitization of the the auto world has complicated my neurosis - I am really reluctant to douse all those electronics with water so I try to keep crud ingress to a minimum.

In stock form it's not too big a problem. However, once I get my Xidas I'll have to sort things out. If dust is a problem, unsightly duct tape is out of the question. I'm working on a small plastic plate that will seal the opening and slide with the camber adjuster.

:iono:

Oh totally agree that dust coming into the passenger compartment is a different story. The only way to keep an engine bay clean all the time is to not drive the car.

I swear when I read some of these posts, I think we are getting trolled. Some turn out to be legitimate questions which scare me even more.

thehorror.gif

i blame those damn miata.net forum goers. high and mighty hairdressers.