and in general these engines are pretty bad off when i first get the, so they are never going to look like the brochure.
I do NOT ever take a pressure washer to the engine bay through. I see a lot of detailers do this and it just scares me that it will force water into electronics it does not belong in.
the entire engine in the black car looked like this cross member (from the same car) originally.
>pressure washer in engine bay
yeah that is asking for trouble, not to mention wholly unnecessary.
like the outside of it? once a month
Clean it?
thank you!
Can you just clean your engine by wiping it down and hand washing it?
This
you can, but all my cars are 30+ years old and have vacuum lines and wires all over the place, and there is very little i can do with actual hand washing : the valve cover, air box and intake are about it on the engine i can wash by hand.
I do use a paint brush on these parts, as well as any thing else thats easy to reach like wire looms, and such. the bristles are soft enough it wont scratch or embed dirt into any painted or softer surfaces, and allows little nooks to be cleaned decently well.
I rely mostly on degreaser/cleaners to loosen things so the hose can spray it off.
If i had a newer car that just had lots of plastic coverings, and all i cared about was the look of being clean, without actually being clean for working on it later, then yes i could just handwash all the covers with a sponge and water and call it a day.
Usually do a proper clean (not like the one pictured) every spring
On all my regular cars essentially never.
I wash the engine and engine bay on my 240z pretty often. Oil fumes make it get greasy kinda quick.
The other engines don't really get dirty in any meaningful way. I also find it harder to diagnose a clean engine than a dirty one.