Making the engine sparkle. How to get it done?
 

Mine's dirty and greasy. What's the best (practical - I won't be dismantling and cleaning the motor with q-tips and toothbrushes) way to do it? Engine de-greaser foam or gel crap from the auto parts store? Professional steam clean?

Many thanks!

A thorough dousing with Simple Green and steam cleaning usually works for me. You'll have to do it a few times to get it really clean though.

buy one of those really clean cars from that guy on ebay...

When I bought the 240D the entire engine bay was basically black (the car is white otherwise). The PO told me his wife took the oil cap off to add some, forgot to put it back on and proceeded to drive around. Anyway, I bought some degreaser, drove to the car wash, sprayed the eintire bottle all over the engine bay, waited about 5 minutes and then sprayed it off with the high pressure hose. That worked wonders, just be careful of any sensitive equipment, electrical stuff and probably the IP (just as a matter of principle).

Dang... I WAS going to suggest dismantling, the q-tips and the toothbrush...

Ive always used this stuff called STP son of a gun tire care. It comes in a huge spray can and i get it real cheap about 2$ a can. Spray it on all your tires and wheels and engine bay when at the car wash, it comes out as a thick foam, and turns to liquid, then you spray off all the grime. Ive never had to scrub brake dust off and it works wonders for engine degreasing. Love the stuff and its super cheap.

http://images-cdn01.associatedcontent.com/video/A1010/10100/150_10100-0.jpg

an oil coating is good against rust!

Yes it is. I have a 1976 International Scout that is rust free. The old man i bought it from has got underneath of it with a 2 gallon garden sprayer and sprayed diesel fuel everywhere since its new. It really has kept it from getting ate up. Its just a MESS to work on anything and probably one hell of a fire hazard. I plan to get it cleaned up and eventually undercoated. It does work though!

I used to be able to get bissel brand foaming bubbles bathroom cleaner. excellent degreaser/ cleaner. for brake dust it was spray on wipe off. for soot and oil on back of wagon it was sprayon rub about rinse off. in the engine compartment I used it and engine degreaser. the degreaser went first rinsed then the foaming bubbles. bubbles took away oily residue aswell as grease and grime. great roadside hand cleaner. spray on wipe off. can't find it anymore :-(.

I just did mine. I don't think it had been detailed in its 31 year life.
Simple Green, a parts wash brush and a tooth brush. The only thing I covered up was the starter, used a piece of foil.
Took about 4 hours. Then spray all metal with metal protectant and everything else with 303, wipe down:

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b3...motorright.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b3...otor_front.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b3...motor_left.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b3...otor_left2.jpg

Goot lawd thats a clean engine bay. Wanna come over and do mine?:D

First thing I do is stop at the car wash then when I get home slide one of those plastic 'kiddie' wading pools under the engine and go at it with diesel fuel and a scrub brush then a wash down with Simple green. The air hose is handy also.

A fellow enthusiast once told me "a clean engine bay is the sign of a sick mind" - I argued with him for about 30 minutes, then gave up.

Beautiful engine bay!!

Thats one very fine job bio !!

Wow, looks great. What is the deal with the breather hose setup on there? It doesnt go straight from the vc to the af. Where does it go? Catch can?