I went to my regular place for a hand car wash. One of the guys showed me the pile of grime that came from washing under my car. He said that I should get my engine washed every six months. He said the shop charges $130 but that he could do it on the side for $75.

I'm sure it's good to keep a clean engine, but what bad things can happen? I'd guess that the six month interval should be March/Sept or April/October when the weather is still warm. There must be some oils or lubes that get washed away during an engine clean. What needs to be done to an engine after a wash to keep it properly maintained?

 

Most won't agree but washing your engine is not at all necessary. The only good that comes from it (besides looking nice) is you can easily inspect oil leaks. You especially don't want your engine steam cleaned which is probably what he'll do.

 

clean ur engine like once every 3-4 years. THere's really no need. It's not like u'll get anymore HP out of it.

 

When he said under the car did he mean physically under the car, or under the engine? If he meant under the car then have you ever been under there? The undercarriage is covered with a black sticky mess for protection. It's in the wheel wells too. The stuff gets everywhere and is a pain to get off of you.

[edit] You can wash the engine yourself if you're so inclined. Put some plastic bags over stuff you don't want to get wet (like fuse boxes) then spray your whole compartment with non-diluted simple green. Leave it for a while then spray off. I have done this for years to all the cars I have owned and I have never had a problem.

 

Don't wash the engine so soon. It's not necessary. Just wipe clean what you can reach. It may take some time. I always detail my engine bay every time I wash my car. But I live in a good weather area and have a garage. That helps.

 

If you don't want to wash your engine, fine. Telling people that it's not good for thier car is retarded. ****ing stupid actually. If your into your ride, you want to keep the engine clean. Thats how you find leaks, cracks and the like. I have been doing it for years. Try finding an oil leak on an engine that has never been cleaned. Even if it's only a couple of years old, it's a pain in the ***.

I hate when a guy pops his hood to show off some new gizmo and his engine looks like ***. 

OK, end of rant.

Edited for content. - LancerEvolution

 

Dude, don't come here and start ****. I did not say it's not good for their car. I said it's "not necessary". I have probably the cleanest engine bay here and never powerwashed it. It's a new car. It takes many miles to build up gunk unless you have a leak.

 

Best way to clean your engine room is a damp cloth
(no detergent,maybe some mild) and lot of busted knuckles and elbow grease.
Steam is not good for electronics or rubber insulations...
neither is detergent.

 

Just had my engine detailed the other yesterday. I've got an EVO 7 & its a 2001 model. The engine bay was kinda dirty so I brought it to a professional detailer. I had the exterior, interior & engine detailed to the max. It took 3 days before they finished it. When I got the car I was surprised on how big of a difference it made, looked like new! The engine bay looked awesome! the outside too! KINDA EXPENSIVE BUT IT'S WORTH IT! GO FOR IT!

 

Exactly what sort of engine wash are we talking about? The ones when they pop the bonnet and start using some high power jet spray and start spraying some kind of chemicals into the engine and then hosing it down? If that's the case, i'd recommend not to. I did try it once to my other car a Nissan Sentra SE-R. about 2 weeks later, my car broke down. reason being. the ignition cables and spark plugs were fouled up by rust caused by washing the engine. Apparently the water got trapped in the plugs sockets and rusted them out. The only thing to do for me now is to take a damp towel and some cleaning agent and slowly wipe the engine and use some WD40 to clear any dirt and grime.

Hope the info helps. Cheers!

www.SpeedXS.com - Center for Japanese Performance Cars

 

I havent had to detail my engine yet but this site offers many how to's for detailing your car. It also has a great forum. Here's a link that will give you some ideas for cleaning the engine.

http://www.autopia-carcare.com/inf-engine.html

 

If you're paranoid just use some elbow grease and a rag. Most grease and grime just doesn't spray off anyway.

 

This is exactly right. I grew up around car dealerships and used to detail the cars and this way is foolproof. I usually do it about every 6 months. I usually just put rags over my fuse boxes and intake and **** and that usually keeps them dry enough. Use a really light mist setting on your hose to lightly spray the engine bay......then spray a good coat of your fave grease cutter in there......wait 5 minutes......then use the mist hose setting again and wash it all away. Then you just need a rag to wipe off the really nasty bits. A light spritz of silicone spray to the bay keeps everything shiny too and won't hurt anything.

Another tip is that after I let the degreaser sit for 5 minutes I start the car and let the engine idle while I'm rinsing out the engine bay.....the heat helps dissipate the water much quicker and you can finish much faster since you want it dry before you spray silicone in there.