How-To: Engine Bay Cleaning

[ThrillRide]

This is why I am curious. While I think armour all sucks I don't think it will ruin hoses. Armour all protectant is simply silicone emulsion and water. Petroluem based products over time will hurt rubber and plastic. Armour all's problem is that is has a low evaporation point. It off gases like crazy. Thats why you get the film on your windshield. I use cheap products like armour all for fender wells and things like that. It will never go under my hood or in my interior.

 

[altspace]

Honestly it was long ago. Again, while I agree Armor All may be ok for exterior (still a crappy product though), it was a factor of temperature inside the engine bay that had to do with it. On another note, the stickiness of the silicon may look nice after you are done, but it becomes a major dirt and dust collector and I found that in a matter of a week everything that was sprayed was covered in it.

Just my opinion on the product. I'd much rather use something like 303 Aerospace Protectant. Or after drying the engine, spray all of the rubber hoses and plastic parts with a rubber and vinyl protectant, like Meguiars Exterior Trim Detailer or Stoner Trim Shine. Wipe off excess protectant and buff to a nice satin finish. NOTE: This is only short-term protection.

Edit: Another good product is Pinnacle Vinyl Rubber Protectant.

 

[altspace]

Search Google.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&q=Armor+All+degrades+rubber

From another forum, "I've heard the same thing and was informed by a specialty auto shop that Armor-all contains petroleum distillates...which breaks down petroleum-based products like rubber. A tire dealer told me the same thing and said not to use it on tires, especially, as it will rot the sidewalls. But I'll leave this discussion to the chemists here."

Another interesting read.

"Armor All? NO! There are processing and protective additives already formulated in the rubber compound. Putting Armor All on your bands will protect them, but it also replaces those compounds already there - and if the compounds in Armor All were better, they'd use that in processing. The compounds in Armor All and other compounds (silicone oil included) will swell the rubber. What does a swollen rubber mean? (Well, have you ever used a condom with a petroleum based lubricant?) Swollen rubber is weak as the chains on a molecular level are stressed even more, relaxing the physical crosslinks, allowing more stretch with less resistance, and premature failure.

Silicone oil, in addition to swelling the rubber, is extremely permeable to oxygen - oxygen doesn't even slow down when it hits silicone. This means that using silicone on your bands will swell them, weaken them, and provide no barrier to oxygen. There are some commercial bands available that are rubber with a thin silicone rubber coat over top of them. This coating does nothing to stop oxygen. Silicone also has a very poor tear strength - once a nick starts, it propagates very readily. The silicone coating is bound to the rubber - so when it nicks and tears through the coating, the tear is introduced into the underlying rubber more easily. There are also bands out there that are coated with polyurethane, and these are more durable and offer extended life, though I'm not sure which brand uses which.

I will be the first one to admit, however, that I use silicone oil and acetone to swell rubber and make bungee's with it - but those are easy enough to make that replacing them often isn't a problem."

 

[sanblaster]

On another note, the stickiness of the silicon may look nice after you are done, but it becomes a major dirt and dust collector and I found that in a matter of a week everything that was sprayed was covered in it.

That is why they told me I should do it because the next time I clean the engine bay, the dirt and crap would come right off. Anyways I will look into the meguiars detail spray and will continue to spray my low profile tires with black magic/eagle. I think the tires are garbage and I will never buy sumitomos again.

 

[altspace]

Here's a very long read about silicone based products.

http://www.unofficialbmw.com/all/carcare/all_dont_use_silicone.html

 

[ThrillRide]

Here's a very long read about silicone based products.

http://www.unofficialbmw.com/all/carcare/all_dont_use_silicone.html

That is by Larry Reynolds. He is one of my distributors. Seems to know what he is talking about most of the time.

He is also where I go the rock chip info from.

 

[sanblaster]

So the moral is I need to use better s*** on my car. Done.

 

[altspace]

Heh, yea. Sorry for dragging it out. We should have a sticky on it.

 

[Iggy]

any way you can circle the parts that need to be covered of a stock protege' engine bay? I have an 03 ES and want to do this on Monday, but want to be sure I dont miss anything that should be covered

 

[ThrillRide]

Well I don't really know the layout but the same hold true for all cars. The same things need to be covered on any car. Cover anything electrical, sparks, distributor, sensors. Cover anything that will hold water. Engine compartments are all made to be somewhat water proof. You just want to keep areas dry that could hold water or cause a short.

Perhaps someone with an es protege that has done it can chime in.

 

[NCZ13]

i have a p5, and i didnt cover anything wheni washed my bay.

just sprayed degreaser, let it sit, and ran water over it.

worst. idea. EVER.

started car up, everything was fine, i watched teh water evaporate. turned it off. couple hours later my friend and i are going to see a movie, and maybe 2 miles away from my house, i felt a buck, and the CEL started flashing.

well s***.

turned around went home and drove her car (this was at like 9 at night, and i didnt want to worry about it.

next morning. started car up, still had the CEL but it wasnt flashing. drove it around the block and everything seemed normal. i had work a couple hours later, as soon as i hit the same spot on the road as i did the night before... buck... flashing CEL. pull into the nearest parking lot, and pull out the spark plug wire. it had beads of water on it. grrreat.

i took it home, and let it cool off, removed all my spark plugs, then put them back in, and she ran like a champ again. no CEL smooth idle

in conclusion.
cover your stuff. its not worth the pain of wondering what the hell you did to your car.

 

[theurgy]

I seriously would NEVER use water or even hose down my engine compartment... I prefer to use the ol' elbow grease and time method. Once done.. you simply have to maintain it every once in a while.

Also keep in mind that most off the shelf degreasers are MUCH too potent to be used in our cars, I always recommend diluting it with water even sometimes down to an 10:1 ratio.


As far as any Armour All products.. I don't use any of them. I prefer to use Stoner Trim Shine http://www.trimshine.com/ instead for the plastic covers and such within the enngine bay. It's not a cleaner so make sure it's clean first.. then use it to shine up the plastics.

I'll use a toothbrush or hand brush to clean most everything around the engine.. and anything that is metal I'll take the time, take it off, sand and polish it. Makes for an easier maintenance after.

 

[altspace]

That's exactly what I did. Took off the valve cover, cleaned it, hand sanded, polished it. Many....many....many hours spent. Well worth it in the end.

 

[theurgy]

Yeah it certainly changes the wow factor.
If I had the choice between a clean but roagh valve cover, or a dirty polished valve cover...I'll take the polished valve cover.. cause it's a crapload less work for clean and looks MUCH better.

 

[dkswim]

some usefull info in here. personaly i cleen mine once a week that way it never builds up too much and more likely to catch leaks before they turn bad.

 

[altspace]

^Another good reason to keep it clean.

 

[dkswim]

soo i finaly removed my TMIC today was trying to install new DP, and i noticed i have a drain hole in my valve cover for the water that gets trapped between the cams

 

[gonzz]

Good info...

 

[SNike05]

I use Gunk degreaser. CD2 engine degreaser is suppose to be the best product for very soiled engines, that is if you can find it.

 

[ThrillRide]

Gunk, like many others, claim to be a citrus cleaner but it is actually a petroleum based cleaner. it contains and oil to give it a citrus smell but thats it. CD2 is not the best by any means. It works for a lot of people but it is a silicone based cleaner. Another product I would keep clear of rubber. Granted small amouts probably isn't going to hurt anything but its just not worth it to me. Especially when there are products out there that work better and are better for the environment for only a few bucks more.