Am I doing this totally wrong or does engine bay clean up take a LONG time?

[Dedo12]

I think I've been at this for well over 50 hours total and I feel like I'm only 60% done. My car's at least 20 years old and it's never really been cleaned up and I also had a manifold gasket leak that made a mess of everything with oil.

I know I can't compare myself to a professional, but this just seems to be taking way way too long.

[atikovi]

Re: Am I doing this totally wrong or does engine bay clean up take a LONG time?

Took me less than 6 minutes total on this 20 year old Honda not including the drive to and from the self serve car wash.

[Nick Winn]

Re: Am I doing this totally wrong or does engine bay clean up take a LONG time?

In most cases engine cleaning doesn't take all that long, but it certainly can depend on the severity of the build up & design of the engine bay.

Feel free to post pictures and we can further assess.

[tomsteve]

Re: Am I doing this totally wrong or does engine bay clean up take a LONG time?

50 hours in an engine bay?? is this a peterbuilt with 700,000 miles on it?
i am far from a pro but can do mine in a few hours.a cool engine, many different brushes, the right cleaners , and good water stream from the hose all help. thats on an 08 grand prix

[atikovi]

Re: Am I doing this totally wrong or does engine bay clean up take a LONG time?

I assume most of that time is to R & R the engine.

[Dedo12]

Re: Am I doing this totally wrong or does engine bay clean up take a LONG time?

I'll get some pictures up soon. It's taken me so long because I'm just nervous about using large amounts of liquid, there's lots of hard to scrub areas, and there's a lot of gunk that doesn't seem to be coming up. This is even after using multiple degreasers.

[Nick Winn]

Re: Am I doing this totally wrong or does engine bay clean up take a LONG time?

I'll get some pictures up soon. It's taken me so long because I'm just nervous about using large amounts of liquid, there's lots of hard to scrub areas, and there's a lot of gunk that doesn't seem to be coming up. This is even after using multiple degreasers.

I think everyone get's a bit nervous with engine cleaning but people have been using pressure washers & water for years.

[thomaswattson]

Re: Am I doing this totally wrong or does engine bay clean up take a LONG time?

That's a long time! I am guessing there is a lot of build up and gunk. In this case, just drive to a car service centre and give them the responsibility. You would anyway spend the same amount of money on cleaning liquids and a whole lot of your time.

[Jerryjam]

Re: Am I doing this totally wrong or does engine bay clean up take a LONG time?

That's a long time! I am guessing there is a lot of build up and gunk. In this case, just drive to a car service centre and give them the responsibility. You would anyway spend the same amount of money on cleaning liquids and a whole lot of your time.

Yeah, but did you see the post above? Without covering a battery and alternator you will mess it up for sure. Same happened when I was cleaning my bike... all I can say I needed a new battery like this after that.

[Doppler]

Re: Am I doing this totally wrong or does engine bay clean up take a LONG time?

From the OP photo it was time well spent, I assume you fought to remove all the difficult spots. Quite often I only give myself an hour in the engine bay then move on. Having a starting point for the next round and developing ideas to make it easier on myself. I'll show friends my work, with the same type of interest, they will normally confirm your hard work which make me feel better.

[Jeepster04]

Re: Am I doing this totally wrong or does engine bay clean up take a LONG time?

Yeah, but did you see the post above? Without covering a battery and alternator you will mess it up for sure. Same happened when I was cleaning my bike... all I can say I needed a new battery like this after that.

Getting a battery wet will not harm it. As long as you dont directly spray the alternator with water it wont harm it either. Technically the alternator should work just fine completely submerged in water but I dont recommend trying it.

Ive always just used a fan spray of water, spray degreaser or APC on everything, wash with an old wash mitt, then rinse and spray with hyper dressing. Looks amazing!

My engines have never been caked with oil though. The one engine I do have that leaks some oil, I'll spray the block with some sort of engine degreaser, let it soak, then spray the block with hot water.