[ron]

Hi all,

I've seen some pics of some really sharp Insights, and I wonder how many of you clean under your hood? And what sort of cleaning liquid you use and any things to watch out for? Cleaning techniques?

I suppose using a rag with a bucket of hot water might be best for the plastic engine cover and most other parts... Everyone wants to see under my hood, so I thought why not keep it nice and clean in there.

Any tips appreciated! Happy driving.

Ron

 

[Thorian]

I use a shop towel and some Armor all cleaner then armor all for the bling bling shine

 

[Rick]

Eww, I hate armor all. It just encapsulates the dirt and makes it worse over time. If your engine bay is particularly bad a pressure washer might be needed. What I do is I spray some all surface safe degreaser over everything in the engine bay (specifically meguiars extra degreaser), let it soak in for a few minutes then hose it out with a high pressure stream of water. Next make sure you wipe everything down with a clean towel so you don't get any water spots (they look particularly bad on the alluminum pieces. I let it dry some more, which is usually after washing the rest of the car then go back with some vinly/rubber cleaner conditioner. I specifically use meguiars mirror glaze #40. You can get it at any local automotive store. But this stuff unlike armor all isn't greasy and cleans while it adds a natural gloss. It also smells really good when you use it on the dash. But anyway under the hood I apply it to all the hoses and the plastic engine cover. Just my method personally.

 

[Resist]

Nothing wrong with ArmorAll but, you must use the ArmorAll Cleaner first.

 

[Rick]

Ok maybe I'm just obcessive about keeping my car as clean as the day when it rolled off the assembly line. After all, I just spent 4 hours on the paint yesterday clay barring it, polishing and waxing... but man does it look good.

 

[Insighter]

Pressure washing?

Water on engine isn't the best idea, especially if it is under pressure. What about all the electric components? On a regular engine you can wrap the distributor, alternator, etc. What do you do to protect the electronics under the hood?

 

[Rick]

It's safe to do, everything is sealed up tight. They have to anyways because when it rains a good amount of water will find it's way up in to the engine bay by itself. I wouldn't let water sit on everything for very long, but heck they steam clean compartments some times. The only time where you couldn't do this is on some cars where they put the computer under the hood. In this case there will be a warning sticker saying not to steam clean under the hood. The other alternative if you don't want to use water is spray degreaser on wherever is dirty and wipe it away with a towel.

 

[Rick]

Ohh yeah, just don't spray the electrical connections directly.

 

[Kevin Dougherty]

I have pressure washed my Insights' engine several times, without any problems.I spray 'Gunk' on the warm engine, let it sit for five minutes and then pressure wash it off.

To do a superior job, remove the top engine cover and the bottom fairing. It gets especially nasty under these.

 

[ron]

Washing

Hey thanks alot for the posts. I never thought of pressure washing under the hood. After thinking about it I agree that everything should be sealed up pretty tight anyways. I may just try it.

Thanks again,

Ron

 

[bfivelover]

I asked about cleaning under the hood last time I got service at Honda. They said spaying with water is fine, but to make sure the engine was running.

 

[Rick]

I asked about cleaning under the hood last time I got service at Honda. They said spaying with water is fine, but to make sure the engine was running.

:?: Whaaa :?:

No no no, you had must have heard wrong. Make sure the engine is NOT running. Two reasons:

1. A possibly cracked block when cold water contacts a hot engine
2. Death if you got an ignition spark that conducted through the water to you.

 

[bfivelover]

I heard correctly. The guy seemed to know his stuff. I'm having service done Friday and will check again. That death part doesn't sound to good!

 

[Rick]

Well, I would never consider letting water touch under the hood of my car when the engine is running. I know someone who at the time was under the legal driving age who took his dad's truck out for a spin while he was gone one night and to cover his tracks he decided to hose down the engine when he got back so it wouldn't be hot when his dad got home. Well he got caught because dad went to drive it, truck wouldn't start, he gets out and looks under neath to find a puddle of oil and then finds a huge crack right down the side of the block.

Also on the Insight, granted it is all pretty well sealed up, with the engine running there could likely be electricity running through the high voltage wires to the motor.

 

[Jim]

under hood cleaning

I would never spray under the hood with the engine hot - warm only - and I wouldn't use a pressure washer either. I usually spray everything in sight with simple green or zep (both degreasers, but otherwise pretty harmless - a lot friendlier than gunk), rinse it all off, dry the plastic parts and hit them with whatever plastic protector. Keeps it looking pretty good. When I sold my '92 S-10 with 170,000+ on the odometer, everyone who looked under the hood was amazed how clean everything was.

I doubt there's very much electricity going to the electric motor at idle, if any. Or did I read somewhere the electric motor helps smooth out the ICE?

 

[Tim Maddux]

Re: under hood cleaning

...did I read somewhere the electric motor helps smooth out the ICE?

Yup.
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