super6

iTrader: (5)

did this many times before with no problems... after lightly spraying engine bay i cleaned it with simple green and rinced off. strted the car, after about 10 min i heard a very strange noise like excessive amounts of water dripping somewhere or a crackleing sound, real loud and out of nowhere! shut it off n when strted again it almost died n bounced revs for a while, very strange!! any ideas?

btw, engine was off for about an hour so i highly doubt anything got warped.

Progress

iTrader: (26)

Hope to god it didn't get in the engine. I doubt it. You probably got some on the alternator.

I've heard you are supposed to keep the motor running when cleaning it with water.

JacobsMaxima

I was talking with one of the guys @ Autozone and he was telling me horror stories from his friends while washing their engine bays... I was thinking of cleaning my engine bay too.
He said one of the remedies was checking your sparkplug wires, if you got water in those, you'll have to run a compressed air hose and get the water out...
Don't know if you haven't checked that yet...

Hope it helps...

Lytheum

vq30 doesnt have plug wires

JacobsMaxima

Good becuase I'm still trying to figure out how to clean my engine bay safely.

If you guys have a certain cleaning method let me know...

I was trying to find an engine bay cleaner that:

A- wasn't highly flammable in any way
B- didn't involve pouring water all over my engine
C- was not a combination of both...

I went out and bought a nice plastic bristle brush to scrubb my engine, and the engine cleaning foamy spray can thing... but I have no idea how or what I should spray, or not spray... at least without setting fire to myself or my car...

OK, here's a nice pic where do you guys scrub or no scrub??








Anyway, common sense of course is don't spray anything rubber, but is there another cleaner to get the painted parts of the engine bay?

I'm just looking for a way to make it look nice with out killing myself... or the car... but mainly... myself... But the car would be a close second...

super6

iTrader: (5)

well i drove around a bit n everything seems fine. not sure if u should keep it on while actually cleanning it, cause u really should cover up the intake n alternator.

if ur looking for a prouduct to use simple green is absolutly awesome! makes the engine bay look brand new. i guess this is like the 5th time ive done it n all well so far.

BTW, jacobsmaxima, clean the whole bay, not just the engine itself. dont worry about setting a fire, never herd of that happening, id recoment keeping engine off, use a light mist spray setting, rince well, n start engine right after ur done.

Progress

iTrader: (26)

You cover up the alternator and intake, correct?

bugbite77

iTrader: (14)

The car should ALWAYS stay running. while motor is running, spray down engine compartment with engine brite, let sit for 2 mins, and lightly hose off, no need for full preasure, never spray in the air intake or diretly in electrical connectors. Let engine run untill dry.
I have never done this b4 but this is what my detail buddy's do, i just use tire shine (black magic foam) and a towel and some qtips.

MaxBoost925

iTrader: (33)

you probably got the coilpacks wet or even maybe the MAF.

based on where you scrubbed. that's exactly where the coilpacks are located.

Park2670

I havent ever left the engine running, and always just spray the entire thing down. The only sound I have heard after which really worried me the first time, was the fans. I can hear water dripping and hitting the fans and making a lot of racket.

2002 Maxima SE

iTrader: (3)

Before rinsing my engine, I shove a towel in the intake. I use a 50/50 solution of Purple Power (or Simple Green) and water. Then I rinse it down using the "Mist" setting on my hose. I have not run into any problems.

JacobsMaxima

For the guys that use a hose on your engine:

You spray all over the engine? Do you spray over the rubber seals that go into your engine also? Just trying to get a better picture here.... I though using a hose on your engine block and rubber hoses was a bad thing...