Hello all....yes i'm at work, and abusing internet usage....as usual - anywayz, i was just wondering about the car wash functions these days. I saw a function 'degreaser/engine bay clear' - pretty mcuh spray and hose down....but what if you have a CAI? .... Do any of you ladies or gents go to the car wash and use the engine cleaning function?

Ive seen the option too .. but I dunno how much I trust what is coming out of that hose to spray it through my engine bay ...

may cause more hassle than save in time clening it by hand ....

i would still clean it the traditional way hahaha!!! my hands

I second that. When ever I wash my car, I usually get under the bonnet with 2 rags, one damp one and a dry one.....then use some elbow grease....

I am just a little concerned about spraying stuff around the engine bay....

half that stuff probably wouldnt do wonders for the electricals in the engine bay either...

I went a few weeks ago and used that lol
i tried to wash it but not very good i couldnt handle the pressure thing
evrytime i pressed it id almost lose control
so yeah i dont know if the stuff is good for the eingine bay i dont relly care coz i have an old car ..

well they steam clean it dont they? Or a hi pressure AIR hose blow all the dust and rubbish away

If u wanna take off dust and rubbish just use a vacum cleaner lol .. woooooooo

I have seen people cleaning the engine bay in car lover using the high pressure gun...but first you have to wrap up some parts with plastic bag......but i don't know where, I actually want to clean it too, cos mine is very dirty compare to you guy's.....
So, does anyone know where we have to cover up before we use the water jet to clean the engine bay?

Serious? but you cant get into those tight spots! The air hoses work well

yeah there was a guy next to me at the carwash a few weeks ago who was washing under the bonnet, and at the end, i saw him pull out a plastic bag.. i didnt think much of it, but it makes sense he was protecting something... dunno what... maybe a pod filter (it was a pretty hectic car )


i need to clean my engine bay though, its as filthty as the rest of my car! (i still havent washed it since the meet)

yah, i heard people said use plastic bag to wrap up the electrical parts...but i don't know which is which under the bonnet..haha...if someone could show us a photo, that would be great.... by the way, mine is just a stock 1ZZFE....

Its up to you guys .. but sounds dodgy with a plastic bag ....

just spend 30 mins and clean it with your hands !!!!! ...


and tom - Clean your freakin car !!! ...

hey mate..i think the good old damp cloth in hand method is still the best way to go..just wipe thru anything that can is dirty..degreaser to get rid of the tough spots..wiping thru with a damp cloth..and amorall for anything plastic after..and ur engine bay will shine and be as gd as new

i dont know if its worth it...

i have to drive into my old school every tuesday now, and everytime i do, its going to get dirty again cos its all dirt up the back where i go...

i might stop going there so i can wash my car and keep it clean...

It cost arouns 30bucks to get it done at the mechanics i think, they use degreaser and cover up all the fragile parts.

True water under the hood is not the best thing!

If a mechanic would do that for 30 bucks, i'll let him do it then, at least he knows what he's doing, instead of me having no idea at all..lol....

have never had an issue...

1. open hood and spray water in to get rid of excess dirt and dust
2. spray degresser on metal surfaces
3. spray with water off
4. tyre foam every where to make your engine have a christmas setting.
5. chamois off after a while..



engine bay shines and have never had an issue.. and cai is shielded to an extent..

No Plastic bag?

ummm what a the repercussions of NOT cleaning your engine bay.... thats one area ive never cleaned... EVER (cars about 2.5 years old now)

Im assuming the mechanics at Toyota cleaned it or something during the services... or is that wishful thinking?

No plastic bag,, your not spraying that much liquid into the engine bay hence even if a small amount makes it to your filter on the CAI its not going to make it up the piping... only note is if you have an aftermarket alarm i believe you will need to bag that and also if you have coilover you need to ensure not to get fluid down the top mounts..

ic...Thanks
But what's the CAI you guys talk about all the time?
Just talked to a mechanic yesterday, he said it's not a good idea to spray water into the engine bay, the result can be unpredictable....but make sure wrap up the "alternator"????

search intake on the forum... you'll see what a CAI..

its basically a better intake system that sucks cold air in which makes your engine more powerful as cold air has more oxygen than warm air...

Oh! Thanks guys lucky I don't have money to buy the CAI for mine yet..hehe....so no need to worry...I am thinking of just getting the K&N air panel that just fit into the original air box, what do you think?....Sorry off subject....

thats fine! its a better flowing filter than the stock one!

a mate of mine bought a K&N panel filter for his 323 astina. its the only performance/engine mod he's done, and its definately more powerful and it has that cool sound you get with a higher flow filter...

yeah not as loud unless you cut a hole under the box

Being that I'm a car detailer and have prolly cleaned more engine bays than some of have had birthdays here's how to do it.

Wrap up your alarm speaker. (if you don't then it'll prolly never work again )

If you have a CAI then it's up to you whether you wrap it up(I've done my car heaps and never had a problem). Just don't deliberately hit the pod with the pressure cleaner.


Start your engine and let it warm up a little. Gets everything hot and the heat tends to keep moisture out of where it's not meant to be.

Never get the pressure cleaner too close to anything in the engine bay. Don't go blasting electrical connections but instead keep a good distance between the surface your trying to clean. I find that the $2 degreaser from Autobarn to be pretty good for removing most grease,grime or oil.

Spray dirty areas with degreaser as necessary but don't drown anything electrical.

When you're finished start the engine and close the bonnet as the heat will then dry it out if you don't have compressed air.

This is what I do and have never had any probs

Nice straight from the pro!!

Thanks isn't TOCAU nice? we have all sort of profession sharing the same interest "corolla"
Too bad i still can't find a job, otherwise, my rolla won't be so stock..

Should give my engine a good clean, the car is 3 years old, but i still don't dare to do it......

yeah that sounds like an easy method too...

i saw silvas post and started freaking out that effective engine cleaning would takes hours with some crazy products you can only get imported from europe for $100 per tub or something...

hours to clean the engine? oh wow....better wait until 200,000k....and when my 1zzfe need to be rebuild, i'll ask my mechanic to do it at the same time..haha...

Cheers SilvaBUllet Just the advice i was looking for! Case closed?

whats your profession?

I used to sell Lexus and Toyota in Australia & Hong Kong a few years ago....That's why i bought my corolla, because I knew it's good and reliable. Wish I could afford the Lexus though....haha

On older cars you cover the Distributor with a plastic bag...

I never saw the need to clean my engine bay... it never got dirty

what you need to do is cover all the important bits in your engine bay
and if the stuff that can be taken off easily do so
but its more easier and convient that you do it @ home.

just spray all these degreaser all over your car and spray down and you have brand spanking new engine

make sure your engine is cold aswell and make sure the engine is dry enough so that you start your car.

Oh good... I just found this thread and now I'm glad I'm not the only one whose engine bay gets caked with sh!t.

....New Thread button avoided

On my old car I've used that in conjunction with the traditional degreaser, just need to stay clear of the coil and distributor.

On the new one. What works best is a large and small paint brush compressed air and a few old rags.

Follow the instruction above...and get a cooling panel from silva FTW

I use Simple Green (Degreaser) and a garden hose. And paper towels where necessary to get the tuff stuff off.

i think they wrap the fuse box with plastic bag coz water is not good for the fuse box

Yeah, I wrapped the 2 fuse boxes and Alternator with a plastic bag, that was it. I do not have a distributor, but that should be wrapped as well if you do.

Time to look over what I can do to get my engine bay looking a bit better, without spending lots of money, cause I know adding a supercharger, etc would make the engine bay look a whole let better.
Wanting cleaner and possibly some minor mods or painting to finish it off.

Been looking through some old pics of peoples engine bays and there is some really good ideas in there which I might borrow.

Here you go bud http://au.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/inde...t=0&start=0

I searched "cleaning engine bay" and could not see this in the list. ><


Thanks

Lol one would imagine it would come up first seeing as it's the EXACT same title

I'm gonna bump it because I think the search function is time related