Idea for cleaning under the hood, good or bad????

[cfiiman]

So I was thinking about cleaning my engine and all the parts under there but was wondering what to use. For the most part it is very clean and I certainly do not ever want to spray it with a hose as some folks do (too chicken ) Everything I find on cleaning engine areas is spraying APCs or Gunk or something like that, then agitating and hosing. My engine is all aluminum so I need to be careful and need something that is WOWO b/c of the no hose thing. I started thinking about the parts under the hood and how there is plastic, rubber, aluminum, etc., all things that can be found in the interior of a car. Then I remembered I had Griots Interior Cleaner which is very gentle, safe for EVERYTHING apparently, and has no dies, perfumes, etc. This seemed to be the perfect thing at least on paper, so I thought I'd ask, would this be a good idea?

[BobbyG]

I use Meguiar's Super Degreaser as a cleaner. I spray it liberally where it's needed most, agitate with a wide variety of brushes then hose everything down with with clean water. I try not to force water directly into any of the electronics or connections then blow off as much as I can with my Metro Master Blaster....

Works like a charm and I've never had a problem....

[dcjredline]

Also a pressure washer held back a ways is a big help...the volume of water is MUCH less than with a hose and you won't have to be so chicken.

Sent from my XT1030 using AG Online

[JVD]

Ya, I've never had any issues spraying an engine.

[cfiiman]

Thanks for the replies guys, and I agree on my daily driver, I wouldn't mind. But on a car that you can no longer find parts for, if you ruin a computer it is much more than an expensive mistake, it may render it useless so I will not take the chance even if there is a small possibility, no matter how remote that water may do damage. I want to use a product that is WOWO that is why I thought the gentle Griots would be good. I'm going to try it and see how it does.

[Klasse Act]

Now that I have the 2 gallon hand pump I will be using this on my car now. I've used the quarter carwash in the past w/o any problems and need to on say something like my wife's Mazda 6 because it wasn't bought new and maintained from the beginning.

On my current car, because I got it fairly new, I just wipe down after a carwash and I'm good to go but over winter I'll just use the handpump from time to time, using a product like Purple Power or Alien Kleen to clean-up when need be.

Sent from my SPH-M930 using AG Online

[conman1395]

So you just want to wipe your engine then? That's what it sounds like to me. I would just use a rinseless wash like ONR. If you want to remove something stubborn that requires a degreaser/apc then forget it. In my opinion it's risky to use a degreaser without a hose to ensure it's well rinsed. Engines get hot and any little by of left over degreaser will heat up and do damage.

[FUNX650]

My engine is all aluminum so I need to be careful

I remembered I had Griots Interior Cleaner which is very gentle, safe for EVERYTHING apparently, and has no dies, perfumes, etc. This seemed to be the perfect thing at least on paper, so I thought I'd ask, would this be a good idea?

Apparently is the definitive word here:
Never, ever, settle for that!!

Instead...To be absolutely sure:
The best idea is to do a test spot (in an area usually hidden from "normal viewing") to find if this GG Interior Cleaner is compatible with/on the all aluminum engine---and/or any other under hood aluminum components.

Bob

[Don M]

Simple Green is a good (on the milder side) cleaner that is safe for many different things. You can mist a little bit on and use a cloth to wipe away the cleaner and dirt, that way you don't have to use water. BUT like the others, I have used the garden hose as well as a pressure washer for years and with judicious use, I've never hurt anything. Just run the engine until it's warm and that will help dry out the tight areas.