washing the engine

[accordlxi2.0]

i was wanting to wash the engine today. it's really dirty then again the car has been in the same spot for a year now i'm surprise in a way that it still runs. so would there be any harm done if i was to wash it?

[shepherd79]

before you wash it, cover the distributor with plastic bag. this way it won't get wet and you can still drive it right after you done washing.

[3G Jester]

yeah

[3G Jester]

yeah. take your car to a local car wash with those self wash places. pull in pop the hood and spary the water against the wall till it mixes with the soap and heats up, then srapy the shit out of your engine bay. cover the distibuter like alex said and if you have your lid flipped---unfillp it!!! also..if you have a short ram or CAI...cover that tooo

[accordlxi2.0]

can i have the engine running that way the heat from the engine and cooling fans will dry the water off faster.

[rehv_Aerodeck86]

i think its not a good idea. you can warm up the engine before the wash

do you have an alarm? i fcked up mine during an engine wash....the alarm speaker wasn't perfectly sealed (a low-cost alarm and i shorted the wires. alarm went totaly crazy in the car wash, all other customers ran away...they couldn't handle it...LOL. only thing i could do was to take scissors and cut the alarm wires

so pay attention to any aftermarket/self-installed parts before engine wash

[88' Accord Ltd]

When I cleaned my engine up I covered the distributor, the starter, my alarm siren, and a few other electrical things under the hood I didn't want to get wet. I used tin foil, easy to manipulate.

Before:


After:


I've got a painted red valve cover too, I'm just lazy to put it on right now! Don't have the time to go to the dealer to get a new gasket lately...

[MrBen]

Looks a lot better! Mine looks even cleaner though. I used tire/engine degreaser at the car wash about 3 times and got it squeaky clean.

[88' Accord Ltd]

Yeah I did a quick job on it, I couldn't stand having it that dirty anymore! It was well worth the time I put into it though. I'll have to do it one more time before I put on that valve cover!

[pimp86LX]

did you use a pressure washer? garden hose?

[MrBen]

Garden hose sucks

I used a pressure washer and sprayed the hell out of that mofo. I didn't even cover anything and had no problems. I need to paint my valve cover though.

[88' Accord Ltd]

I used a pressure washer on mine, loads of engine degreaser, and these wire brushes to scrub (which i didn't use very long). I rinsed it off then added more degreaser in places, then rinsed and let it dry. Chipped a bunch of paint off my valve cover with the pressure washer too! But thats ok........

[89AccordLvr]

that valve cover looks real good did u use regular engine paint and did u remove the old valve cover paint with paint remover or just cleaned and sanded? Also did u clean under the hood itself thats should be dirty too. is the starter close to the disbutor cuz im tryin to see what things i should cover b4 i pressure wash the shit outta my engine

[88' Accord Ltd]

Actually I sprayed a lot of it off with the pressure washer.. then when i realized I couldn't get it all off with it, I used this paint remover stuff and sanded. Yeah I also cleaned under the hood of the car, I sprayed it with the pressure washer then Put degreaser all over it then sprayed it off, took a rag and wiped it all down nice. The starter is down below the distributor and I think a bit closer to the firewall. There is a wire coming off the positive of the battery hooked up to it, follow it and you'll find it.

[MrBen]

How did you paint it? What brand/type of paint did you use and how much was it? How did you go about doing the chrome?

[88' Accord Ltd]

I used Dupli-color High heat engine paint. Then I added a high heat clear coat from the same company when I was done. I sanded it a bit first so the paint would stick. Then painted the whole thing red let it dry overnight, added another coat the next day and added the clearcoat late in the day. The next day VERY carefully sanded the red paint off of the raised parts of the valve cover. I think I paid $5 or $6 for the paint and we already had the clearcoat paint here, I don't know what from though. I'm sure you can speed up the drying process by using the oven, so I've read but I just let it sit since there was no rush to get it on the car.

[3G Jester]

a few people have left their cars running while washing......they suggested it to me. i still havent washed the beast.

[accordlxi2.0]

i'm guessing it would be best 'cause
1) while the engine is running the dist. and other moving part's are moving
2) it get 's hotter or stay at the same temp. plus bothe cooling fan's would dry it off a bit more.
3) if the engine start's to falter , the ecu cold make it idle a bit more.

[gman]

So the distributor is all I have to worry about when cleaning the engine bay.

[88' Accord Ltd]

Pretty much, I only covered my starter because I washed mine without the engine running, and my siren for my alarm because well, thats pretty obvious.

[88' Accord Ltd]

Oh I forgot to add that it might be a good idea to cover the alternator also. I did, just forgot to add that in!

[accordlxi2.0]

cool might try that

[88accord]

i used coil cleaner for air conditioners.just sprayed it let it sit for 2 min. and sprayed off all the funk.
but it will spot aluminum like the intake manafold