Hey guys, I want to get my "underhood" cleaned. Is there a correct way of doing it? Any cleanser that I should use??? Do you all think I can use a pressure wash and what about all of the electrical components in the LS? I never cleanned my engine b4 and its kind of messy which kills me whenever I need to get something done on the LS. I tried to google it but couldnt find much info... Any help would be appreciated!!!
Cleaning the engine bay ??? How should it be done?
- Thread starter Rastlin
- Start date
Whenever I clean mine? I use plenty of disposable rags..I dampen the rags, and get to wiping by hand. I never had good success with directing a spray of water under the hood, which is surrounded by tons of wires and electrical connections. After 15 mins of wiping by hand? It's as clean as a whistle, and safely done.
decibels5
Dedicated LVC Member
if you want it to be super clean. then take a chance, i spray the whole compartment down with degreaser, do no soak electrical areas, spay it down with high pressure, and be sure not to get any on your paint or immediately rinse it off. i do this once in a long while, after that use armoral ultra gloss, it is 99 percent plastic and the sh1t will bling, when people see my engine, they think it is an 06. if you dont want to do this then wipe it down and use an air hose.
9enisP
Active LVC Member
I just spray mine down with a Simple Green mix, scrub most everything down with a tire brush, and then rinse it with a fire hose nozzle (get one at Walmart). You want an even spray (not too direct or wide) and keep the nozzle moving. You don't want to spray directly into any one area for very long. I've never had any problems. It doesn't "bling" but it looks very clean. Good luck.
Lincolnpimpin
Well-Known LVC Member
decibels5 said:
:I thats how we do it at work we accept we don't use degreaser b/c we usally just work with new vehicals. But ya just use a power washer, I even use it on my 96 mark and its fine.
LS4me said:
yep. this is why I dont chance it. Not worth the risk to me to simply have a "clean" engine that no one sees. When I need to get rid of excess grime, I use the damp rag method. No chance of damage there.
This is all good advice. The most important is to not get the electrical connections directly wet. I never you use a pressure washer. Always clean it when your engine is stone cold (1st start of the day cold). That will help with things. Afterwards, wipe everything down. Good luck!
2001LS8Sport
Dedicated LVC Member
Well, I just fire my pressure washer and have at it. I clean everything off and before I ever attempt to start the car, I pull the coil covers and get my air compressor and blow off the entire engine paying particular attention to the coil wells. When I'm convinced everything is dry, I bolt it back together and call it good. I've never had an issue and I use that proceedure with three different Ford COP 32V vehicles.
9enisP said:
This is exactly what I did. Well, except for the Simple Green. Simple Green eats aluminum for lunch, so I used a citrus based cleaner I got at Home Depot.
As I have the V6 and exposed coils, I think water pooled around the coils and fried them when I started the car. There is no way to get under the intake plenum to hand dry those coils.