Detail engine bay

[Minid]

I want to clean my engine bay and inside of bonnet. Any tips on good degreaser that won't harm paintwork and tips for key areas to bag up and cover when washing down, thanks dan

[Stutopia]

A decent APC should deal with most things, but if you get really stuck then a rag with some carb cleaner on does wonders. In terms of a bespoke degreaser, autoglym at Halfords is easy to source and seems fine to me.

 

I think dwell time and agitation can save quite a bit of elbow grease but some is still required! When I did mine last, I used a toothbrush, but obviously that’s aggressive for paint, depending on how fussy you are about paint in the engine bay.

[Minid]

Thanks Stu, any areas to bag up or cover when washing off? 

[Ridz]

I can recommend Bilt Hamber Surfex cleaner which can be diluted depending on the degree of contamination. I also use 303 aerospace coating after cleaning which helps protect the engine bay and under bonnet on my Zed.

[ilogikal1]

Steam cleaner and a nice cold beer. 

[ilogikal1]

8 hours ago, Minid said:

Thanks Stu, any areas to bag up or cover when washing off? 

Battery, fuse box and air intake. Everything else will survive so long as you don’t focus the pressure washer on it for a significant period of time.

[Minid]

Thanks will do. 

[Stutopia]

Alternator?

[ilogikal1]

If you want to be extra careful, but provided you don’t blast it directly with a pressure washer it should be fine with a bit of caution really.