How to wash your engine bay area (DIY)
 

Hi guys!

In the spirit of FT86club, how much it has given to me and how amazing the community is, I thought i'd make a DIY on how to properly clean your engine bay when cool and make purty.

Prep time: 10min
Cleaning time: 30min if in hurry, 1hr-3hr recommended!

BEFORE

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Things needed:

1) GUNK Foam
2) GUNK engine 'protector' aka dresser
3) Small One Dollar store brush or similar to this. Can also use a baby bottle brush like this for the hard to reach areas.
4) Terry towel or thin towel to later help the drying process [optional]
5) Distilled water if possible. If not, just use tap.

Step 1:


Things to consider:

Covering the alternator
Covering your intake
Covering your fuse box
Covering your battery***
Covering your oil filter*****

If there is something you think should not get wet, cover it! Better safe than sorry!


***You can also remove your battery. I did not. Instead I had music playing.***
*****Oil filter collects water between oil filter cap and where it connects! FYI*****


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Step 2:

If you have a vacuum that can also blow air, leaf blower, or even better, a air compressor, blow air on to your engine to remove light dust, leaves and other non-native pollutants that may be in your engine bay.

Step 3:

Once you are ready to go, shake the GUNK can for a good 15 seconds, then spray the engine all over from a distance of 15 inches or about 1 foot away. Wait about 5min so that the foam starts to degrease/unstick the dirt and then grab the brush[es] and start to brush away!

I waited about 10min, then sprayed some more and brushed again!~


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Step 4

Use distilled water to rinse the engine bay. If not, just softly spray bay down with a hose. Be careful to not spray directly into areas with a strong pressure. Doing so may get water in hard to dry areas, or force water into/inside components.

Allow car to dry or aid in the process.

Use terry cloth/towel/etc to help the drying process. You can also use an air compressor to blow the water that has created puddles in your engine bay.

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Step 5

Use this time to remove the plastics covering your electronics (after no water is dripping) and wiping down the battery, exterior of alternator, intake box and fuse box. It shouldn't be crusty with dirt much. Easy wipe and clean.

Step 6

Grab your GUNK engine dresser and lightly:

1) Spray a terry towel and rub on all black components including wires and tire covers.

OR

2) Spray all over engine**** and after letting it sit for a good 5min, wipe with the terry towel.


****if you sprayed all over engine, for a few days it will smell like GUNK spray when driving****


I waited about 5min, then resprayed a few areas. Outcome is below.

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Final step:

Re-add the battery if you removed, and make sure no plastic pieces are left on. Wait about 2hrs after GUNK dresser is on to start so that it can set on plastics. I waited overnight with hood open and placed a fan on for 40min blowing into engine bay to aid the drying process.

Note: you can start your engine right after you are done washing, but I prefer to be safe and allow water to evaporate.

Also, using distilled water reduces the likelihood of water spots (white spots) on engine components.

I also took over 3-4hrs to do this whole process so my battery died due to having radio on, doors open and trunk open.

Special thanks to the old geezers of ft86club who are always ready to set dealerships on fire when they don't get things their way. You guys know who you are!

Feel free to share how you clean your engine. This is my first time cleaning the FA20. It was a 4/10 dirty. Remember, proper timely maintenance is the key to a long lasting engine.

BEFORE

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p.s. if you like my DIY let me know so I can make a few more in the future!~

Cheers buddy it look brand new after the clean. Never though about cleaning my engine bay but will do now :)


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:bow: Thanks for this!! Been always trying to find an efficient way of washing our engine bays.

Nice DIY. I also use Gunk engine protector to keep everything looking clean in the engine bay.

But, you forgot to add to rinse with water between step 3 and 4 before drying your engine bay.

LOL I rinse, spay de-greaser if I feel like it, then use interior vinyl shine on the whole engine while its wet (and dont bother dry it) and it takes me all of 3 minutes to get this look. I don't bother cover anything lol. (and yes the gold foil has since been removed after much experimenting I determined it was not effective enough)

Attachment 129391

Thanks! I spaced out there. Fixed.

Looks good! You're a better man than me for spending that much time on the engine bay.

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spending time for the benefit or the car, or OCD? Not sure yet. heehee

http://img.ifcdn.com/images/fe4642e1...87085658_1.gif

Overall it was a fun activity. Next up will be a stock wheel cleaning, proper interior maintenance and proper 'quick' wax+detailing exterior. Just look at my crazy garage items!~

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Nice. I can be OCD about maintenance and the exterior, but that's a lot of time spent making the engine bay pretty when you're probably going to be the only one seeing it. Maintenance though... I cringe when torque specs aren't included...

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Edit: If you have a good method for the quick wax, please share. I normally spend 2+ hours with carnauba wax.

Alert! Anal guy

I always wanna know how to clean, and now I know how to clean the engine bay. But so lazy to do that hahaha but gonna save it for the future hahaha

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moar details? :bow:

Literally thats it. Rinse then spray with vinyl dressing while wet thats simply it. No need to cover anything or scub if you rinse it often enough.

Shame the pics are gone, would make it a bit easier trying to figure everything out hahaah