Hey guys.

My dad has a Jaguar XJ8. To clean his engine bay, he sprays "Simple Green" into his engine, turns the car on, closes the hood, and leaves it for about 10 minutes. My question, is this ok to do on our car? His Jag has a plastic cover over the block, but ours obviously doesn't. I just worry about anything getting into the partially exposed alternator. Questions // Comments welcome

~ Ryan

 

I've sprayed Castrol Super Clean over the luke warm engines of many cars, including '94 Lexus LS400, '00 MB E430, close the hood for 15 minutes, start engine then open the hood and hose off with garden hose while the engine is running. Turn off garden hose, keep the engine running for 5 minutes, then drive around the neighbor for another 5-10 minutes, go home and open the hood until I need to use the car.

I've never had any problem with electrical systems with these simple steps with all cars I've owned.

 

Posting to Lurk....

 

as long as you don't use harsh cleaners and don't use high pressure water in areas that are lubricated, at electrical connections, and the alternator, you will be fine.

 

There was a thread some time back stating that Simple Green is quite corrosive to Alum. Something about the Military did testing on it and once the testing was done it was no longer allowed to be used due to being corrosive.

I use the CD2 kit on the engine bay when needed but mostly just wipe it down after washing the car. I have 22k on my car and the engine bay looks cleaner than some of the new cars

 

I would let the car cool off before dosing the engine bay with a hose. VERY rapid temp changes can cause things to break.

 

Just don't use that grease lightening stuff. I did that to one car and it screwed the paint under the hood.