Lunacy

Anyone have tips on cleaning valve cover to restore it to the brand new red color?

boiler

I take my S2000 to the quarter car wash and spray the foaming Gunk engine cleaner over everything under the hood. I let it set for a bit and then spray everything off with the high pressure hose. You need to be just a bit careful what you are spraying with the high pressure hose. I don't linger too long on parts that might not work well when they are wet. The alternator comes to mind. Once I get home, I break out the CD2 (engine detailer) spray can and spray everything under the hood and it looks BETTER than new.

Here are a couple of links: First link Second link

Good luck,
Bob

Lunacy

My valve color is not in extremely dirty condition, only some black residues I would like to get off.
Would simple green work on valve covers?

boiler

Simple Green is pretty strong and can cause problems with bare aluminum. I would be tempted to just use some Dawn (water it down a bit) and a small brush, like an old toothbrush. I would have an old towel handy and protect the rest of the engine bay from splatters with it while you are scrubbing the spots. You may also want to try some bug/tar remover on an old rag. This should remove any greasy spots easily with no harm, also.

Good luck,
Bob

William

Once you get it clean all you do is wipe down entire engine bay with a damp cloth after every wash. It takes about 2 minutes and will never be dirty again.

OC S2K

Simple Green is weaker than Gunk IMO.

Have you had problems with Simple Green and bare aluminium before? Or are you just guessing boiler?

wanabe

i use a slightly diluted citrus based cleaner, with a medium brush... on really dirty engines i use these products full strength.
once clean, you can just maintain with a damp rag for quite a while (each time i detail the car, i dry out the hard to reach spots with one rag that is pretty damp by the time i get to the engine compartment- i use that rag to wipe down all major engine components).

AquilaEagle

What's a citrus based cleaner wanabe? for example?

wanabe

[QUOTE]Originally posted by AquilaEagle
What's a citrus based cleaner wanabe?

boiler

This is not my opinion, I do not use Simple Green. This is a warning from Xviper. He mentioned that it doesn't like bare aluminum.

I do not guess at an answer. If it isn't known as the truth, then it's better off not said. I won't say anything if I don't know the answer. I trust Xviper, he has quite a reputation on this forum.

Gunk has been proven to work many times by many users on this forum, myself included. If you believe that Simple Green will not harm the finish on your engine, then use it.

Good luck.