Today, I'm gonna show you how to clean an engine bay.
There's a lot of ways to do this, you could do waterless or with water or quick detail spray and towel.
I'm gonna show you guys how I do it with a real dirty engine bay.
I'm gonna use a couple cleaners, a couple tools, and I'm also gonna use a pressure washer.
to clean down this 5.7 liter Hemi V8.
Now a lot people can go ahead and do this a couple different ways.
I'm gonna show you how I do it because I like the results this gives at the end
So I have this dirty engine bay right here on this Dodge Charger
It's got a 5.7 liter Hemi with a lot of dust and a lot of dirt
We got a little bit oil build up around the cabin, this is all normal
for daily driven car. A lot of people don't pay attention to the engine bay, but
when you detail a car and you detail the engine bay, it really brings the whole package together.
You could pop the hood and show how clean your engine bay really is if you have a nice looking engine
just like this Hemi. It also makes working on the car easier, your hands don't get as dirty
It's easier to change the oil or do basic maintenance without all this dirt getting in your way.
So I'm gonna go ahead and first rinse down the engine bay,
and then I'm gonna go ahead and use our new cleaner, I'm gonna use our All Clean+.
This is our citrus based all-purpose super cleaner and it works on
every part of the car. Works on the engine bay, the interior,
the exterior, works on wheels and tires as well.
You can dilute it to a bunch of different ratios but we recommend
10:1 for the exterior 20:1 for the interior. So I got this bottle right here already diluted 10:1
I'm gonna ahead and soak down the engine bay, use a couple cleaners
to make sure that we get that nice fresh look. So you can go and do this with a hose
But I'm gonna use a pressure washer today to make things speed along for that camera.
Before you go ahead and do your engine bay, you wanna make sure that you cover up
any exposed electronics. So if you have an alternator that's
exposed, you might want to cover that up. Also cover your battery or your fuse box
if you know that it's not sealed.
If you also have a cold air intake like an exposed air filter,
you want to take maybe a bag, trash bag, aluminum foil anything like that and cover
the cold air intake so you don't get that filter wet.This engine bay right here doesn't have
very much exposed electronics.It's all covered up
and our air box is sealed so I'm not gonna cover anything on this engine bay
I'm just gonna go ahead clean it as is. The cool thing about modern cars is
all the electronics like any plugs the mass sensor
any other sensor plugs are all weatherproof so they have a rubber seal
so water can't get in or out. So most of the time you have a newer car car
usually '96 or newer, you don't have to worry about any of the water getting into the
plugs and causing a check engine light.
So we let this engine sit for a few hours, it's cold to the touch
you don't want to do this on a hot engine bay, you wanna wait till it's cold.
Now that it's cold, I'm gonna fire up the pressure washer, rinse it down,
and start some cleaning. Let's get started.
Now that I've got my engine bay all rinsed down, I'm gonna start with the cleaning.
I'll grab my AllClean+, it's a new formula
already diluted 10:1, so I'll spray it on the engine bay.
I've also got some tools that I'll use to clean the engine bay.
I'm not going to use any towels to start the cleaning, I'm gonna first use one of our short-handle
bristle brushes.
This is a flagged-tip one, so it's a little more sensitive.
I'm also going to use this goat brush right here, to get into the cracks and crevices
see in any other areas like the fenders, or the
engine, detailing around the cap, and around the HEMI logo.
So let's go ahead and spray it down with AllClean and get started.
So if you notice I'm spraying all over the engine bay, tryin,g to get into all the cracks
because if I spray into areas I can't reach with my brush,
the AllClean is going to pull out all that dirt and debris.
Let's get down here on the hoses and the ABS unit.
Also back here on the fender.
If you want you can also take your stiff bristle brush, spray it with a few sprays of AllClean,
so we can get a little bit extra punch as we start cleaning.
I wet this brush a little bit before I started
so I get a little bit of lubrication, I don't want that dry friction going on.
Everyone knows you don't like dry friction, it hurts.
Wanna make sure you get that lube.
Since the brush has water on it, we're also getting a nice foam
and that'll help us take away any dirt and debris off the engine.
Make sure we clean this intake, get in all the cracks.
That's what's cool about this brush, you get in all the cracks and crevices
very very easily. Take my goat brush
get in around the oil cap. There was a bit of buildup--oil residue
on that cap, I want to make sure it looks real good.
Also around this radiator overflow tank
You see my brush is already getting dirty!
That's what we really want to see.
It's good to clean your engine bay once in a while,
because if you don't you'll find leaves and stuff that gets stuck in there. Pull those out!
We got some in this crack over here. Get those out of there.
You can tell this car probably sits under a tree
I don't think the owner wants these in the engine bay at a car show, that's just gross.
If you're doing a bigger engine bay like a big truck or an SUV,
or a big rig even, airplane--something huge, maybe even a bus,
we have a long handle bristle brushes,
so you can have full access when you're detailing.
There's a little bit of stuff right here on this overflow cap that I don't like,
and I wanna go ahead and scrub it off.
So I'll pay a little more attention to it
to make sure it looks good.
There we go.
Now we got it all agitated, we've agitated our dirt.
Now I'll take the pressure washer, rinse it all off for a clean look.
Now that we've got the engine bay all rinsed off,
I'm gonna start it up real quick
to make sure I don't have any check engine lights, bad sensors, or misfires in the engines.
So I'll grab the keys, start it up, and this will also help the engine dry.
When you start it up, the engine will get warm and evaporate the water in the cracks and crevices.
Let's grab the keys, and start it right up.
Now that we've got our engine running, you'll notice it started clean, crisp, no issues.
That's what we want, we don't want any check engine lights or damage to the engine.
So this way we didn't soak it with a lot of water, we just pressured washed it off,
and got it clean. Now I'm gonna grab two microfiber towels,
and I'll dry off all the little parts of the engine.
These are 16 x 16 workhorse towels,
so if they get dirty with grease, I'm not scared about ruining them, I can throw them right away.
So let's get drying!
You can also use air to help dry the engine.
A lot of you guys don't have access to air, but if you have an air compressor,
that really does help with the cleaning.
Right now I'm doing this the way you would at home, with no air, just some microfiber towels,
basic hand-detailing tools. Stuff every guy can do in their garage, even girls too!
Sweet! Now the engine bay is clean, it's fresh,
we have no residue or dirt, and our plastic is all dry to the touch.
Now I want to make the engine bay a little bit better.
So I'll spray the engine bay down with Silk Shine Dressing.
You don't want to use an oil-based dressing on an engine bay,
it collects a lot of dirt.
So I'm gonna use a water-based dressing
to make sure I get that nice sheen--not a shine, sheen.
Looks natural. I like natural, just like I like my women.
So I'm gonna go ahead and take the Silk Shine,
shake it up,
and I'm gonna go ahead and spray it all over the engine bay.
Now some people like to rub this in with an applicator pad,
But personally, on an engine bay full of cracks and crevices,
that are difficult to dress with an applicator pad,
I like to spray Silk Shine all over the plastics, and let it soak in.
Let the plastics absorb all the material.
Plus it gets in all those cracks and crevices that are hard to get to.
Move over to this side...
Get this on your hoses too, in they look a little dull.
You can spray Silk Shine on your hoses to make them look brand new.
Also the heat of the engine helps dry the Silk Shine,
so that's why I told you earlier to start the engine and let it warm up a little bit...
it helps the drying process.
Now that my Silk Shine is all spread out, I'm gonna take a
microfiber towel, this is another one, 16 x 16,
and wipe down all the excess.
This make take a minute, I am a perfectionist, and I like to do it perfect.
You can already see here on this corner
where the Silk Shine doing its job,
making it look nice and fresh. That's what we really want.
We want that fresh look.
Dressings are about personal choice. If you go to different parts of the world, or the country,
some people like a bright shine.
I like a nice natural shine
and a lot of detailers are starting to like that look too.
Some people don't even like dressings, but,
Silk Shine doesn't even look like a dressing
Silk Shine is also great because it works on the dash too.
In my personal car, when I detail it and clean the interior,
I give it a once over on the dash, door panels, all that good stuff, with Silk Shine.
Makes it look real nice and I like the look that it gives.
Gives that sheen. Everybody likes the sheen.
There we go, the engine cover is looking fantastic. I'm really liking that.
I love when you detail engine bays because it's a very rewarding task.
You take something that's completely filthy--destroyed, nasty
it's got grease, dirt, all this nonsense.,
and you turn it into something amazing like you bought it from the dealer.
This Mopar is looking really good,
every car guy knows it's Mopar or no car.
Now our HEMI is looking real nice.
Detailing engine bays is probably one of my favorite things to do.
It's not hard either, it's very easy, that's why I like it.
Easy jobs are fun when detailing.
Because you do not have to put a lot of work into it.
As you can see I'm not really working working really hard.
I'm letting the dressing and the chemical
do the work for me.
Once you got it all wiped down just go over it with your eyes, give it a second glance.
Make sure there's no areas you missed, no extra puddles of dressing, or water.
If you have water in the engine bay, it's okay with Silk Shine because
you can go ahead and still get that good look,
and the water won't interfere with the Silk Shine like an oil-based dressing.
So that's it!
We have a nice, clean engine bay and that really is gonna stand out.
I believe this charger is going to a car show tonight in SoCal,
since we're located in Los Angeles.
It's actually 90° out here, so tonight is gonna be one of those great car show nights.
So if you have any questions about AllClean+,
our citrus-based all-purpose super-cleaner!
Great for cleaning engine bays, awesome for cleaning interiors.
It does everything, it's a true all-purpose cleaner.
If you have any questions about this awesome product,
you can check it out on our YouTube, our Facebook account,
or you can find me and AllClean+ hanging out at ChemicalGuys.com