I've been wanting to cleaing the engine bay.
Any recommended chemicals?

 

Maguires APC (all purpose cleaner) 1/1 ratio with water

 

I currently use P21S Total Auto Wash and finish w/ CD2, but will probably switch to Meg's APC as well.

-sam

 

i use engine cleaners that are citrus based...
i know i had posted this recently- but even i cant find it!

anyway, do the engine cleaning away from flower beds (this is from personal experience). once i did an engine cleaning near flowers... sprayed the stuff on the engine, let it sit a minute then as i was agitating the stuff i noticed more and more bees landing on the car and then eventually on me. they love the stuff!!

my other hint is to mask sensitive parts- carbs or distributors (if you have them) and also to run the engine after the cleaning for a short time (drive it down the block and back). then use some good rubber products in the bay (303 is good for this purpose). this final step is what brings the engine back to new.

more good tips here:

http://autopia-carcare.com/autopia/inf-engine.html

 

Is there anyway you can damage the components because of water?

 

if distributor caps get wet on the inside the engine often will not start-
if you get water inside the carb you can damage the engine;
our cars dont have these problems-
just dont use high pressure- some light pressure is fine.
i think the key is to very slightly warm the engine (i do this by backing the car out of the garage) then do the detail and after when you drive down the block this will get most of the loose water that you didnt get by hand drying.
i usually dont use leaf blowers in engine compartments cause they can blow stuff onto the paint that i dont want there...

 

[QUOTE=wanabe,Jul 20 2004, 01:54 PM] if distributor caps get wet on the inside the engine often will not start-
if you get water inside the carb you can damage the engine;
our cars dont

 

Thanks for the great inputs fellas.

 

What is so bad about Simple Green?

 

FWIW, the US Air Force forbids the use of Simple Green on aluminum airframes

From SG's web-site:

Aluminum - Is it safe to use Simple Green on aluminum?
Simple Green products have been successfully and safely used on aircraft, automotive, industrial and consumer aluminum items for over 20 years. However, caution and common sense must be used: Aluminum is a soft metal that easily corrodes with unprotected exposure to water. The aqueous-base and alkalinity of Simple Green or Crystal Simple Green can accelerate the corrosion process. Therefore, contact times of All-Purpose Simple Green and Crystal Simple Green with unprotected or unpainted aluminum surfaces should be kept as brief as the job will allow - never for more than 10 minutes. Large cleaning jobs should be conducted in smaller-area stages to achieve lower contact time. Rinsing after cleaning should always be extremely thorough - paying special attention to flush out cracks and crevices to remove all Simple Green/Crystal Simple Green residues. Unfinished, uncoated or unpainted aluminum cleaned with Simple Green products should receive some sort of protectant after cleaning to prevent
oxidation.

Just too much to chance when there are much safer cleaner out there.....