The SECRET to Wet Wash Engine Detailing by Mike Phillips

[Mike Phillips]

The SECRET to Wet Wash Engine Detailing by Mike Phillips



The secret is all in the sprayer....

(plus good products and brushes)






This will be a text book example for how to SAFELY take a really dirty and neglected engine compartment and do what I call a,

Wet Wash Engine Detail

A wet wash engine detail is when you use RUNNING WATER to wash the engine compartment. It also means you're going to use a dedicate ENGINE DEGREASER with a variety of brushes to SCRUB the engine and then FLUSH the engine compartment with water without causing any electrical or sensor problems.

And for those that might not know, the other type of engine detailing is called,

Kosmetic Engine Detailing

And this is where you DON'T use any source of running water, i.e. a garden hose or pressure washer. You clean using a spray-on cleaner and the cleaning comes for the cleaner, some towels and elbow-grease.


Now this is neglected and about as dirty as they come...













See the bucket-o-brushes in the lower right hand corner of the below picture? You NEED a variety of great brushes to be effective with your time and energy.






One reason I feel comfortable teaching complete strangers how to do a Wet Wash Engine Detailer is because the SONAX Engine Degreaser not only works great but it's safe on any surface. Thus no worries about it STAINING any surface under the hood of any car. Like polished aluminum.





ALWAYS clean the underside of the hood first.





Here's the Mike Phillips SECRET to never having electrical or sensor problems - use a sprayer with a SHOWER setting.

DON'T BLAST WATER INTO PLACES IT SHOULDN'T BE!

And this is done using a shower setting on your spray nozzle.





After you wash and rinse the inside of the hood, now clean and scrub the engine compartment.





My favorite engine scrubbing brush is also my favorite interior scrubbing brush and my favorite wheel face brush.






Wheel Woolies Boar’s Hair Wheel Brush



Low pressure - not high pressure

And this my friends is how you work smarter, not harder. You use the cleaner, great brushes and elbow grease to do the cleaning work and the sprayer is ONLY for rinsing. People that use Pressure Washers are using the POWER of pressurized water to both clean and rinse and this is when you can create an electrical or sensor problem.

I care not how YOU do your wet wash engine detailing but when I'm TEACHING complete strangers the art of engine detailing - I teach them the SAFE way. Later in their lives they can do it however they want to.


Here's working smarter - not harder and most important - NO FEAR of causing a problem in some other persons' car. $$$$$$$$$$$$










Next - blow out any standing water from any electrical connection.







Non-sticky Engine Dressing

Next PLASTER the entire engine compartment with SONAX Plastic Care.









Yep - just spray this stuff EVERYWHERE!

When done, close the hood and run the motor for about a half hour. It's the engine heat AND the moving air from the engine cooling fan that acts to quick dry the Plastic Care.






Results are DRY to the touch.











The above was done in about 25 minutes as that's what I teach in the class. How to do it safely and do it fast.


Nice work everyone at the Colorado Roadshow Class in 2019

Pictures: Colorado Roadshow Class- Denver Auto Shield



Just one of the things I teach in my car detailing classes.




On Autogeek.com


SONAX Engine Cleaner

SONAX Plastic Care

Speed Master Wheel Brush

Wheel Woolies Boar’s Hair Wheel Brush

Famous Detailing Brush

[Mike Phillips]

More....


Here are examples of the other type of engine detailing without a source of running water....


How to do cosmetic engine detailing


How to Clean Your Car's Engine - Both Cosmetic Engine Detailing & Engine Degreaser and Water Detailing - New Video Series

[Mike Phillips]

More...

Here's another example of what a nice brush this is and how handy it comes in for all types of cleaning projects besides cleaning wheels.
















Full interior article here,


How to use 303 Aerospace Protectant to Restore Vinyl Seats by Mike Phillips

[Mike Phillips]

More....

And of course this brush works great for wheels too....

Must Have Wheel Cleaning Brushes that make cleaning wheels fast and easy


The perfect wheel cleaning brush
This is my favorite wheel cleaning brush. Why? Because the bristle are perfect for effective cleaning. They are stout enough to agitate the wheel cleaner but still flexible enough to bend and flex so the ends of the bristles can get into intricate areas. At the same time they won't scratch so they're safe for any finish.





Not only are the bristles the perfect combination of not to soft or not to stiff but the ends are flagged so they thousands of tips can agitate wheel cleaner in tight cracks, crevices and other wheel designs.





After you use the Wheel Woolies black wheel brush one time you'll agree they are the perfect wheel cleaning brush. I use them for cosmetic engine detailing for the same reasons I like them for wheel cleaning.











Makes cleaning any type of wheel fast and efficeient....




The most awesome wheel face brush...
I teach a lot of classes and one of the things I remind people of is out of all the "things" you do to your car... washing is the most common and most repeated thing you do. So it only makes sense to have GREAT car washing tools and products to make a job I really don't like doing as fast as possible while keeping my results professional quality consistently. Make sense?









Not too soft not too stiff - the perfect balance...
The bristles on the Boar's Hair Wheel Face brush work so well because the bristles are the perfect balance of medium stiffness, that is not too hard and not so limp they are useless.

[PA DETAILER]

I will add, the Sonax engine cleaner is the good stuff. All I use. followed by Sonus engine kote.

[ntwillie1]

Good post Mike. I was expecting to see a bag cover certain components under the engine. Surprised not to see any. I have wet washed the engine bays in my cars in the past and have always had good results. Had my brushes, degreasers, and a bag to cover the areas I felt had exposed electrical wiring.

[Mike Phillips]

I will add, the Sonax engine cleaner is the good stuff. All I use. followed by Sonus engine kote.

I have read enough horror stories about people using "something" and then RUINING some "surface" in their engine compartment and then... trying to find some easy fix.

The easy fix doesn't exist.

I have an e-mail from someone, I don't think I ever shared it. The person used something to clean their engine compartment, the intake manifold was polished aluminum.

The product completely stained it.

He asked me,

How can I fix this?


I'm confident he didn't like my answer. The fix wasn't cheap. The fix wasn't easy.

My guess is the stained intake still looks like crap today.



There are lots of great engine cleaners on the market. SONAX is one of many. I always feel "comfortable" recommending their degreaser when I don't know the SKILL LEVEL or KNOWLEDGE LEVEL or EXPERIENCE LEVEL of the person I'm trying to help.

I'm sure there are stronger cleaners.

When it comes to YOUR engine compartment - hey... it's all yours.

When it comes to SOMEONE else's engine compartment - if your in my position - be careful about making recommendations.

[Mike Phillips]

Good post Mike.

I was expecting to see a bag cover certain components under the engine.

I can probably find just about anything anyone wants to see photo-documented.

Check this write-up out,

How to clean an engine compartment


See the carb, distributor and alternator covered up? There's also a microfiber cloth under the tape over the 750 Holley.














Much better....





Ready to cruise...

[ducksfan]

I hope this doesn't sound picky. But, after watching your video, thinking about my experiences, and others I've watched, wouldn't you say that more times than not the engine compartment gets divided in thirds rather than quarters? It seems to be work one side of the compartment; work the motor area; work the other side of the compartment.

[Mike Phillips]

I hope this doesn't sound picky. But, after watching your video, thinking about my experiences, and others I've watched, wouldn't you say that more times than not the engine compartment gets divided in thirds rather than quarters? I

t seems to be work one side of the compartment; work the motor area; work the other side of the compartment.

Sometimes the way a person teaches - his way of explaining a process can evolve. Such is the case here.

A one-size fits all approach doesn't work because engine compartments are all different.

How I teach cleaning really dirty engine compartments is like this,

Let the engine compartment be your guide

What I mean by this is look for NATURALLY defined sections that make for easy cleaning at one time.


Make sense?