Well I was bored today and it was about 0 degrees outside, so i decided to turn on the space heater in the garage and do some work.

I picked up the gunk engine brite foam and armor all tire foam from kmart for about 2 buxs a piece.

here are some pics of the engine bay before any cleaning.
After installing a cold air intake, its pretty easy to see all teh dirt that collects there.
Also, take notice of the valve cover and corners of the bay.










I went ahead and took some extra saran wrap type stuff (because its waterproof) and went ahead with covering the important stuff. I put it over my battery, fuseboxes, air intake filter, alternator, etc.





Next step was to spray on the gunk engine brite degreaser. I went ahead and applied it all over The dirty spots, let it sit for about 5 mins, then rinsed it off with water.
LOL at the steam! hot water through the hose and the garage was probably only 35 or so degrees haha.



I then took a towel a soaked up most of the excess water so that it wouldnt freeze.

Then i did as directed and sprayed the armor all tire foam all over the engine bay, closed the hood, and cranked up the car for about 15mins ( i made sure to take off the plastic wrap on the alternator and anything in the way. I also was careful not to spray too much around the belt so that it would not slip)
Take a look at these results! The valve cover is like new, and it is cleaner overall.
Its definately worth the 5 bux and little bit of effort and time!







PS sorry for lack of clean pics... my camera started dying.

 

nice job!

 

Very nice! I have a quick question regarding this engine cleaning...

http://thedetailinghandbook.com/Engine_Detailing.aspx

Will I be okay if I just block off the battery and alternator? Do I really have to cover the fuse box/tps sensor or is that just for extra protection?

 

Looks good.

I would cover anything necessary, like the OP did. Better to be safe than sorry.

 

The only thing I have ever covered for sure on any car is the the alternator. On my s2k, I cover the air filter because it is exposed. But I've never covered the battery or the fuse boxes and I've never had a problem (knock on wood).

That's not to say that it is a bad idea to cover them. If you feel you really want to, there is nothing wrong with it. I just never have.

 

The main reason I convered my battery and large fuse box is because i have an odyssey battery that i sidemounted and i didnt want to be spraying directly at the terminals.

I also upgraded the power wire from the big fuseblock and had to cut some of the plastic cover away (not much) and i thought better safethan sorry.

It only took a couple minutes to cover it all anyways so i might as well take the time just as a precaution.

 

Thanks for the tips

 

good work, and it looks like it didn't take you all that long. best part of a clean engine bay is that it stays clean for a long time before needing anymore attention

 

that valve cover is killing it for me

 

and every opinion has two sides...
i dont cover anything on modern cars-
and also dont use much water pressure. just enough to wet it down.
am careful around all electrical, and if the car has an air intake exposed i am also careful with that.
a good cleaning (brushes are key here) and cd2 are what works for me usually.