Engine Cleaning:

How to Get Rid of Motor Muck


Whether you are preparing your car for resale or you just want to do a bit of spring cleaning, the engine is one place you rarely think about cleaning.

Maybe it is due to the fact that you never see the engine, unless you pop the hood. What you often see is the exterior and the interior and rarely what’s inside that keeps your vehicle running.

Also, it is much easier to wash the outside and spruce up the interior of your car and get immediately visible results. The engine, on the other hand, requires a little more effort to clean and even then, you don’t get to see the results unless you take the car out for a drive.

However, just because engine cleaning is a slightly more difficult task does not mean that you should forget about looking under the hood all together. There are various reasons why you should include engine cleaning in your car’s regular maintenance schedule.


Why Clean Your Engine?

For what other reason than to feel better driving a car with a clean engine? But other than vanity, there are a number of practical reasons why you want to clean your car’s engine. Here are two of them:


* Smaller Engine Compartments

“Small is in.” That seems to be the motto for today’s technological advancements. Everything, from cellphones to laptops to mp3 players to automotive parts, are getting smaller and smaller in size.

Perhaps, this is to compensate for the increasingly crowded world that we are living in. Who knows?

The fact of the matter is that things are smaller now and the smaller they get, the more susceptible they are to problems that are made all the more difficult to fix because of their size.

The same is true with car parts, particularly car engine parts and compartments. Because of the cramped space, heat and grime are concentrated closer to wires, hoses, plastic parts, wires, and vinyl trim covers, resulting in rapid degradation of the latter after a period of time.

With today’s soaring prices, this is one good reason why you want to clean and protect your car’s engine and its various parts.

* Added Resale Value

One of the first steps in reselling your car is to clean it. That means, cleaning not just the exterior and interior but also under the hood.

You can get a buyer to be even more interested in purchasing your car if you make your car as attractive as possible. Put in another light, don’t give the buyer a reason not to buy.

What use are all the bells and whistles that you bring up during a look-see when the moment the buyer pops the hood, all he sees is a dirty, grimy engine?

Think about it. Would you buy a car with an engine that looks like it is about a hundred years old and has gathered grease and grime for approximately that long?

So clean your car’s engine. It can’t be that hard. And the quick sale of your car more than makes up for the energy (and perhaps, money if you hire a professional car detailer to do the dirty work for you) you expend.


What You Need

It depends on your car. But just to be on the safe side, be sure to have a comprehensive set handy. You can start with the following:

* Tools

The most basic tools you need are one or two brushes and something hard (e.g. a screwdriver or flat metal rod) that you can use to scrape off grease and gunk.

* Cleaning Solvents and Soap

Be prepared to do a fair amount of scrubbing. The grease and oils from engine parts tend to stick to the surfaces, making them hard to remove without scrubbing them off.

Solvents won’t do the trick. If they are strong enough to dissolve the grease and oils, then they are probably strong enough to dissolve the plastic parts, wires and hoses of your car’s engine. The best solvents to use are those that are environment-friendly.

* Buckets

You may need to drain some fluids. You don’t want this gunk to end up on your garage floor, staining it permanently, or worse, get drained into the soil.

* Rags

You’ll need one to wipe your hands with and you’ll need a lot to wipe whatever else that needs wiping.

* Boxes and Markers

Many of the parts and pieces that you remove from your engine are very small so be prepared to lose stuff. Even so, you can lessen this by keeping them in boxes, appropriately labeled using a marker.

* Pressure Washer

This is optional. If you don’t know how to handle one, then leave it to a professional detailer.

* Sand Blaster

Alternatively, you can also use a motorcycle dryer, such as the Black Baron Dryer, to blast off any loose debris. Again, this is optional and should only be used if you know how to.


Cleaning Under the Hood

Everyone has a system to follow when it comes to cleaning the engine. You may have your own that you are more comfortable with following. However, for the benefit of those who do not know where to start, here is a basic step-by-step guide.

(Please note that before cleaning the engine for the first time always check with your dealer. The particular make and model of your vehicle may require certain special precautions to be taken.)


* STEP #1: Remove any loose debris.

Using a brush, a leaf blower or sand blaster, you want to remove any loose grime and debris found under the hood. Pay special attention to the grill or vents of your car. Often, leaves and pine needles are caught, and sometimes even small dead animals.

* STEP #2: Warm up the engine.

You want the engine to be warm but not too hot that you get burned if you touch it. After turning it off, block the air intake with a rag or a plastic bag. This will prevent water from entering the engine. If you don’t know where the air duct is, just follow the front grill until you find it.

* STEP #3: Cover the engine parts.

This is a very important step to follow if you are the owner of a collector car with a distributor.

However, even if you don’t have a collector car, it makes sense to cover everything that you don’t want to get wet with plastic or foil. This includes air filters, air inlet holes, oil filler caps, breather caps on valve covers and everything else that should not come into contact with water.

Electronic parts, such as relay boxes, wire connectors, fuse boxes, and sensors, should likewise be covered.

Use aluminum foil to keep these parts dry. Or if you do not have aluminum foil, plastic grocery bags will do just fine. Just use rubber bands or tape to secure them and seal them properly.

* STEP #4: Spray the exposed parts of the engine with cleaner or solvent.

Spray liberally but be sure not to get the cleaners on your car’s exterior paintwork. Some auto cleaners, such as P21S Total Auto Wash, will remove existing wax. So unless you were planning to wax your car anyway, be sure to spray only the exposed parts of the engine.

Let the cleaner soak on the engine for a few minutes. While waiting, you can use the time to brush the nooks and crannies of the engine. A small detail brush is very handy at this point.

Afterwards, while the cleaner is still wet, start scrubbing the dirt loose. Depending on how dirty the engine is, the process is going to be slow but the end result will surprise you.

* STEP #5: Rinse.

Before rinsing, get a bucket or drip pan and place it underneath the engine. Then, using a garden hose set for medium pressure, rinse the engine thoroughly. You can also use a sand blaster or compressed air sprayer, but be sure to wear protective clothing. The compressed air can cause dirt and water to get sprayed onto you.

If you find dirt and grease sticking to crevices of the engine even after the initial scrub, repeat the process until everything is spick and span and spotless clean.

* STEP #6: Add the finishing touches.

Finally, it is time for you to add the finishing touches. But before you do that though, start the engine first to allow the heat to make whatever excess water sticking to the surface to evaporate.

Remove the rag or plastic bag that you used to cover the air intake. Also, spark plugs with deep recesses tend to collect water. Be sure to wick the water out with a sponge or dryer before you star the car.

Let the engine run for a few minutes and then turn it off. After the engine is cool, apply protectant solutions to engine parts, including rubber hoses, plastic shields, vinyl parts and wires, taking care to wipe off excess solution with a dry rag.


Et voila! C’est fini! Take a good look at your car’s engine now. Wasn’t it worth it? Now, your buyers will know that you know how to take care of your car. And there is nothing more attractive to a buyer than a car that has been well taken care of.