Engine Cleaning/Detailing

[Steverz]

In past years I cleaned the engine compartments of my Camaro Sports Coupe, Pontiac Sunfire and Dodge Dayton using Gunk. I never covered anything and used a power-washer from a nearby car wash. Everything always worked out fine.

My recent car that I bought new is a 2013 Honda Civic LX Sedan.

I would like to clean the Civic engine but have a concern or two.

...From the Internet and YouTube...
1) Many people are cleaning this engine without covering anything, including the electronics. They say the electronics are sealed and get wet anyway when driving in the rain. That sounds correct. The engines works fine after cleaning as seen on YouTube.
2) The other group of people say to cover some electronics, as also seen on YouTube.
3) A third group says never use any water, just degreaser. (I'm going to use Purple Power but not the heavy duty type)
4) I called Honda Corporate and they do not give out any information on this subject. They instead just give the URL to their website where you buy parts and diagrams, for plenty of money. Of course, this is not what I am looking for.
5) The local dealership doesn't do engine cleaning.

So again, I am looking for a "definitive answer" on cleaning the "engine compartment" as opposed to replies that are all over the place as well as contradicting each other.

Help and Thanks.

 

[lethal6]

You are going to get VERY conflicting answers on this and understandably so. Some people do fine without covering anything and others come on here and say their car runs like crap and the only thing pointing to it is they just washed the engine bay.

I would recommend covering stuff and staying away from the main electronics. I mean why not? Does it hurt anything by covering them? It isn't like it takes a lot of time to do it either.

I worked at a professional detail shop for 2 summers during high school. There were cars that came through that lasted fine through the bay pressure wash and there were ones that didn't. Even after covering stuff. Most I ever had to do was dry out a distributor cap or let it sit out in the sun for a couple hours with the hood up to let everything dry out. We always did the bay first, so if anything needed drying out for the car to start we could move on to everything else that needed to be done.

The electronics in the bay are not open to the elements so whom ever said they get wet when driving is full of s**t. Unless you have no under carriage covering or wheel well liners, you aren't getting that much water up in the bay. It rains a lot here in washington and I would bet you that my car is pretty dry in the engine bay after driving home from work when it is raining out. If they were getting that wet inside, there would be cars hydro-locking because of sucking in water through the air box or aftermarket intake. Don't get me wrong, the plugs and control unit boxes are some what sealed to protect from permafrost or humid climates but they aren't stopping direct water or a bunch of it at once.

Lastly, I wouldn't figure Honda Corp or any car manufacturer is going to give you information or even condone blasting water into the engine compartment and around the engine bay electronics. Dealerships won't be doing this kind of service for the very reason that the manufacturer's don't recommend it. Most dealerships now (at least around here) don't barely do much but quick was a vehicle and more of them are getting drive through automated ones that allow the lot attendants to pump them out quickly.

 

[dancam]

From personal experience: never do it in winter. I had water get in electronics and freeze, then they had to be thawed and dryed out in heated shops...
I have always used degreaser then pressurewash. Degreaser by itself wont make it look nice unless its clean already. My old 4cyl car always runs on 3 cylinders for about 2 miles after washing te engine which is annoying but i spray everything when i clean. Lost the vent cap of my distributor with a pressure washer so be careful with that kinda thing.


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[HeX]

Lethal6 is correct. Here's my short version to dispel your confusion.

Only use water... if the engine bay is just dusty and has no fluid leaks that cause dirt to gunk up into thick grime.
Use degreaser... if you do have heavy gunk or thick dirt as water alone cannot break it up without heavy pressure, which cant always be easily applied to certain curved surfaces.
Cover important electronics... because its better to be safe than sorry. Each car uses different harnesses shaped different ways. Thus, some can incur water seepage easier than others. Hence, why some may have different opinions based on a limited sample size.
You can try to just air out an engine bay under the sun, but weather isnt always so agreeable it doesnt guarantee anything. So areas can take days for water to dry up.

In conclusion, use common sense based on your specific engine. If risking an electrical issue due to water is an acceptable risk for you, then its your choice not to cover anything. I personally cover anything that looks like water might be able to get in, then hand clean it afterwards. Even then, I inspect everything once I'm done just in case. One last thing, you'll never hear a reputable shop tell you to hose everything down without covering electrical components. That speaks for itself.

 

[Steverz]

Thanks for the numerous replies. As mentioned before, I have done engine cleaning on my older cars but they had far fewer electronics under the hood then my Civic. Also, I know some Dealerships do this as my step-daughter just bought a used 2012 Ford Fusion and the engine is clean enough to eat off of. That is what got me to thinking about "once again" going back to cleaning my engine. If the Dealerships do it on the used cars they sell then that alone tells me it is still safe. The Dealerships just won't do this cleaning for the rest of us.

My car engine is 2.6 years old and only dusty, no leaks or gunk anywhere. I will use Purple Power Citrus and a small amount of water too rinse, nothing more. Shouldn't take much time at all, but, just wanted to cover the bases on covering any electronics.

 

[lethal6]

Thanks for the numerous replies. As mentioned before, I have done engine cleaning on my older cars but they had far fewer electronics under the hood then my Civic. Also, I know some Dealerships do this as my step-daughter just bought a used 2012 Ford Fusion and the engine is clean enough to eat off of. That is what got me to thinking about "once again" going back to cleaning my engine. If the Dealerships do it on the used cars they sell then that alone tells me it is still safe. The Dealerships just won't do this cleaning for the rest of us.

My car engine is 2.6 years old and only dusty, no leaks or gunk anywhere. I will use Purple Power Citrus and a small amount of water too rinse, nothing more. Shouldn't take much time at all, but, just wanted to cover the bases on covering any electronics.

Incorrect. The dealerships don't do the service themselves, they call it a sublet. They send the used cars out to a CHEAP detail shop and most of them will just wipe everything down and then spray a terrible shiny armor-all like gunk all over everything to mask anything nasty. Problem is, the stuff is slimy most of the time and it attracts dirt like crazy so the engine bays get filthy fast, but it looks good on the lot right?

Some detail shops will pressure wash the bays, but they are doing the service for dealerships at next to nothing so they just wipe everything down most of the time unless they are really bad and will then end up charging more.

 

[Mr.Baker]

In conclusion, use common sense based on your specific engine.

This is what a lot of people fail to do, don't forget the basics, water and electrical components don't mix.

 

[dancam]

Incorrect. The dealerships don't do the service themselves, they call it a sublet. They send the used cars out to a CHEAP detail shop and most of them will just wipe everything down and then spray a terrible shiny armor-all like gunk all over everything to mask anything nasty. Problem is, the stuff is slimy most of the time and it attracts dirt like crazy so the engine bays get filthy fast, but it looks good on the lot right?

Some detail shops will pressure wash the bays, but they are doing the service for dealerships at next to nothing so they just wipe everything down most of the time unless they are really bad and will then end up charging more.

? Here anyway deslerships do it themselves. There arent too many in my area without at least a small detailing section because they need to clean cars after test drives. Anyhow, they quite often use armorall all over the engine which is full of silicon and makes the front end of said vehicle nearly impossible to paint nicely...


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[lethal6]

Cleaning a car with minor car soap and water and a full detail including pressure washing the undercarriage and engine bay are completely different things. All of the dealerships around here including all 11 of ours only do minor washes. Anything extra is a sublet to one of the local professional detail shops.

Wouldn't even call what they do at the dealership "detailing". You are lucky to get them to clean the windows correctly inside. Most around here only give you a run through the automated car wash (or a lazy simple hand wash) and a quick vacuum. Half the time they don't even bother to dry them off if they do it's a quick run over with the chamois.

 

[R3dline]

Not sure why my post was deleted, BUT I AGREE 100% lethal!

 

[mymmeryloss]

We need details

 

[R3dline]

We need details

we are all behinds lethals statement then, WE 100% NEED DETAILS!

 

[mymmeryloss]

we are all behinds lethals statement then, WE 100% NEED DETAILS!

I could go for 110% details

 

[R3dline]

ill accept your request for 110% and up it to 150%!!

 

[mymmeryloss]

I highly doubt that @lethal6 can do better than 120% details so I will have to decline your offer.

 

[R3dline]

ill agree, 120% is more than enough by anyones standards!, all we need is details, so we can help this guy out 120%!

 

[lethal6]

Cute. Wouldn't expect anything else from you 2.