Engine Cleaning

[Gene_SD]

So I've had my smart for over a year now, and went to check the oil and boy is the top of the engine dirty. On past vehicle I've hosed off all of that dust to keep the engine pretty clean. So has anyone cleaned their engine and if so what are the leasons learned?

[Kermit]

I lightly spray mine with the "shower" setting on my hose nozzle quite often since I live about 4 miles back on a dirt road. Been doing it for a year now - looks great and haven't had a problem over 28,000 miles so far. (knock on wood)

[Turbo42]

tire shine and as good as new ;) looks brand new everytime

[mfoster]

Simple Green spray then light hose off. Works great.

[Gene_SD]

So I did the show method of washing the dust from the top of the engine and all went fine. Thanks for the input.

[MotoPC]

I need to spray off my engine compartment also. Did anyone have the car running,but not hot as they sprayed it off??

[mdfortwoguy]

I've seen Simple Green discolor aluminum in the past - I'd be careful using it... it does have a ton of power for degreasing though.

I've made up a concoction in the past, back when I was detailing cars for a Saturn dealer, and it seems to work well. I take a good squirt bottle (an industrial one - they can be hard to find but are so satisfying to use), fill it about halfway with water, add about 3 oz. of car wash soap, and about 1-2 oz. of plain old white Armor-All and shake well.

I spray everything down liberally, let it soak for a few minutes, and hose it off. The Armor-All loses its stickiness, but still leaves a nice gloss behind on all of the plastic parts. I've been using this on my VUE for years, and it really puts out some great results, and seems to power through some really stuck on dirt and grease.

[forestacademy]

I lightly misted mine being carefull not to get the inside of the car wet, Took my car wash sponge with soap on it and squeezed it out onto the engine and let sit for a couple of min. The rinsed again at low preasure and close range. Looked good after that.

Did this cold

[JohnnyM]

An excellent product that many motorcyclists may be familiar with is S100 Total Cycle Cleaner. I have used this product for years on the cycles and it is very good. It is a German made liquid cleaner that you spray on and simply hose off. Great for almost any surface, it works particularly well on engines that have oilly road grime. But only use it on a cool engine because spotting may occur.
On the bottle it says it's a Smartsparts product.

[slyck14]

I'd be really careful about using Simple Green on any place where aluminum is present.