Under-hood cleaning
Many of us don’t really bother to clean the stuff under the hood. It’s hard to think of reasons why we don’t do it. The engine is made of metal. Grease, oil, dirt and other contaminants which settle on the surface corrode the material as time passes by. The effects aren’t very dangerous if it’s metal, but in the case of plastic and rubber the effects are considerable. Especially the wires are a matter of great concern. Below are a few tips that might help if you are going to give the under hood the shine it deserves.
1. Before jumping in on the job, read the instructions on the degreaser bottle and follow them properly.
2. Remove the air cleaner and cover all sensitive parts like the distributor and the ECM with a suitably sized plastic cover. Avoid spraying water directly on these areas and if necessary reduce the hose pressure before spraying on these areas.
3. Chemical cleaners meant for the engine can have harmful effects if they come in contact with the painted body parts. In case of spillage, remove immediately before it dries up.
4. Look for other areas like the wheel wells and areas near the radiator where dirt has accumulated and remove them.
5. Unless otherwise mentioned, start the engine and idle it for sometime after the cleaning has been done to dry up the under hood area quicker.
6. Moisture tends to accumulate on the inside of the distributor cap. Remove the cap and wipe it away thoroughly with a cloth. Never use any volatile stuff like gasoline or kerosene as it can catch fire when the temperature increases.
3 Responses to “Under-hood cleaning”
I would like to comment that you should not clean under the hood of your vehicle. One of the common drive-ability complaints i get in my shop is during spring when people clean the winter grime off their vehicle and decide to wash under the hood. First one of the things that has disappeared from vehicles is distributors, which have been replaced but Coil on Plug systems. While these systems work good, one down fall is that many of these systems work on a blind recessed spark plug, which means that the hole the spark plug lives in does not have a drain so when you are washing the engine these holes often get filled with water. This causes misfires. and on some engines e.g. ford overhead cam engines the replacement for spark plugs in four hours. So clean the engine bay at your own risk. In addition, the stuff you are washing off the engine is very toxic so if you are going to clean your engine make sure that the waste you was off is disposed of correctly
thanks for the comment Christian…the thing is the problems arrive when not done in a proper manner..if one could follow instructions given in the manual, no problems would be faced
Depending where your car is driven, there may be high levels of sulfur and/or salt mixed in all that nasty black crud. In which case it definitely should be cleaned out.
Ideally you should remove all your parts and clean them individually. Well who has time to do that?
Solvents will harm your sensitive electronics so keep them well away from any degreasers. Rubber and plastic usually dont tolerate them very well either.
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