Like most things, engines work better when they are clean. Unlike the rest of your car, however, you must be more careful when touching the engine, since it is the life source of your car.
The first thing to do is to warm up your engine a little bit. Do not drive around or let it run for an hour; that is much too hot for the purposes of cleaning it.
You want the engine to be warm enough so that it is easier to clean when you add water and your cleaning solution to it. You still want to be able to touch the engine without burning yourself, so let it warm up for a minute or two.
Make sure your car is in a safe area where the soap and oil will not cause damage to your driveway, garage, or a storm drain. If you do not have access to an area like this, you may want to take your vehicle to a car wash station where the water runs into an industrial wastewater treatment system.
Oil and sludge may be built up on your engine, so when you clean it that stuff will come off, and can leave black areas on your driveway or garage, or may contaminate the local water supply in your area. So if your do have a really dirty engine, make sure you take your vehicle to a proper location.
When you are in a safe area, remove the negative terminal cable on the battery. After the negative cable is removed, remove the positive cable.
You should also cover any exposed electrical components that are under the hood with a plastic bag or wrap.
This will ensure that nothing electrical will be touched by water while you are cleaning the engine. This is important so you do not electrocute yourself or create a shortage in your cars electrical system.
As a general rule of thumb, water and electricity together is a bad combination. You also need to cover the air intake valve and the carburetor with heavy aluminum foil or plastic, especially on older vehicles.
Tape or tie the foil or plastic into place, because water in this area of the engine can cause some serious problems. When you start actually cleaning, use a stiff bristle paint brush, a plastic bristle cleaning brush, or a tooth brush to remove any loose dirt or debris from the surface.
Remove what you can with a dry brush will make cleaning the ground-in stuff easier. Make a cleaning solution by combining two cups of grease cutting dish washing detergent and one gallon of water.
Using a tooth brush or a plastic bristle cleaning brush; scrub the solution on the surface of the engine. Work on the dirtiest areas first, making sure that you get them thoroughly wet and scrub with the cleaning solution.
If you need to, rinse the engine with a garden hose every once in a while to remove the grime and see what still needs to be cleaned. After getting as much oil, grease, and grime off of the engine as you can, rinse the engine well with a garden hose, making sure that no cleaning solution is left over.
For the engine block and other metal part, look in your owner's manual for instruction to clean it. For heavy grease, you may have to employ the use of a solvent or an engine degreaser.
These can be bought at automotive or hardware stores, and should work very well if you follow the instructions on the container. After you rinse everything thoroughly without leaving any cleaning solution on the engine, remove the plastic and/or foil.
Let your vehicle sit out for a while so it can dry. Most engines with high energy ignitions will run with wet plug wires, but may misfire. To be safe, just allow everything to dry completely.
After it is dry, you can replace the battery cables. A clean engine will not only improve the performance of your vehicle, but can also prolong the life of it.
Author Resource:-
Tom Selwick is an accomplished expert in car services and has detailing and cleaning cars for 10 years. He has lots of advice for products and techniques for Las Vegas auto detailing.
Contact Info:
Tom Selwick
Tomselwick09@gmail.com
http://www.lasvegascardetailing.com/
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