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Dirty engine bay

I used these Griots Garage products on my Hotrod, which had gotten pretty grimy and was happy with the result and plan to do the same on my 2500

www.griotsgarage.com

Engine Cleaner

Keep your car's engine clean with our powerful Engine Cleaner. Effortlessly remove grease, oil, dirt, and grime to ready your powerplant for dressing.
www.griotsgarage.com www.griotsgarage.com
www.griotsgarage.com

Engine Bay Dressing, 12.5 Ounces

Revive your engine bay with our Engine Bay Dressing. Surface enhancer and protectant for all materials. Easy aerosol spray application. Satin finish. 12.5 oz.
www.griotsgarage.com www.griotsgarage.com
 
B4ZINGA said:
My engine is a bit dirtier than that. I specifically instructed the dealer to no more than rinse the salt off the body from my test drive and vacuum the seats and carpet, because dealers always wash new cars and trucks with bricks.

Irritatingly, they DID wash it, and so I'll be spending a Saturday going over the truck with a DA to fix their damage. It's wild to me that anyone *wants* the dealer to clean it... hell no! I've already compounded out a few deeper scratches, and waiting for the final freeze here in Michigan to come and go so I can turn on my irrigation circuit, which is what my front spigot is connected to. Then I can wash, iron decon, clay mitt, and polish in prep for coating. Bought the truck two month ago and annoyingly the weather forecast still shows a couple overnight lows under 32F.

Washing the engine on a new vehicle is easy, no need to think far into it. You might be able to simply rinse it down with a garden hose and blow dry to get all the dust out. I would have already done that myself if I had a hose right now instead of car wash pressure washers.

If it's more just dust, then spray your favorite APC (I use Meguiar's Professional series APC concentrate and diluted in a spray bottle) or degreaser (10:1 dilution for lightly soiled areas, 4:1 for older engines with grease and grime), scrub with a wheel brush (use a long brush intended for wheel barrels to get deeper areas) and rinse it down. Blow dry the bigger pools of water and then air dry. If it suits you, apply a dressing for that "factory fresh" look.

The truck is far too new to need a steamer. Don't use a pressure washer. Don't spray into the airbox. Don't spray directly into connectors/alternator.
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Thanks for the advice. Tomorrow will be its second wash, that’s when I will get under the hood. I will take a fiber towel to the inner fender wells and the dust on the engine appears to be light so im thinking a lite hosing will remove it then I will take a leaf blower to dry it off.
 
Interesting thread, coming here late. I am 72 and can't remember how many cars/trucks I have owned. I have always washed a dirty engine, and I don't mean a little dirt, but a few thousand miles of use. I usually do this after oil changes. I take a warm, not hot, engine, and gunk it. Yep, a can of gunk and let it sit for a few minutes. I then wash it off and spray entire engine with silicone spray that protects rubber and metal, and displaces water to boot. Engine looks great after
 
I've never shied away from spraying down an engine bay. Just don't high pressure power wash the alternator(s) and around any connectors. Everything is sealed from the elements but there are limits.
 
Understood, strictly a water hose. It is also my go to procedure when winterizing the tractors, riding mowers, tillers. Anything with a motor gets shined for the winter lol.
 
Seems like a lot of folks take time to wash, wax and detail the outside of the truck but neglect the engine compartment. When selling a truck (not that anyone here is selling but...) a buyer will almost always want to see the engine compartment. You can have the shiniest truck on earth, but if you open the hood to a dirty, greasy mess you've immediately lost a lot of value and thrown your maintenance into question with me.
 
MegaRed said:
Seems like a lot of folks take time to wash, wax and detail the outside of the truck but neglect the engine compartment. When selling a truck (not that anyone here is selling but...) a buyer will almost always want to see the engine compartment. You can have the shiniest truck on earth, but if you open the hood to a dirty, greasy mess you've immediately lost a lot of value and thrown your maintenance into question with me.
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Or, I assume a sane person owned the vehicle before me, and didn’t worry about dust covering the engine of a pickup truck. It’s not hurting anything.

I don’t drive a show car. I use the thing as it was designed to be.
 
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