Hey all... How do you wash your engine bay? I'm coming from a 2007 Jeep Wrangler and just opened the hood... yes I know its a bonnet now I just set the self wash to the engine cleaner setting and blasted away, no problems at all. Can I do this with the Mini?

 

Here's my method:

Warm engine. Not hot... warm.

Cover my CAI filter.

Spray entire engine bay with Simple Green.

Close bonnet and let sit while I wash the car.

Rinse the engine bay.

Any areas still grimey... spray again with Simple Green.

Let that soak in while I dry the exterior of the car.

Use a toothbrush on those stubborn areas.

Rinse again.

 

Any advise to cover or wrap the electrical?

 

Never covered any electrical components and never had any issues. Only thing I ever covered is the CAI.

 

If your ever really skeptical about the electricals, I.E. the coil pack just put a grocery bag over it for peace of mind. Cars are designed to take it but I have seen people regret not trusting there gut, Example At Laconia one year a guy pressure washed his harley and it never fires after he soaked the coil pack in a bad way, next day the dealer near Laconia sold him the part at quite the mark up, if you get skiddish cover it up, but I doubt its an issue like CR&PW&JB said.

 

I like to do it similar to CR. I usually cover the coil and altenator just to be safe on customers cars. Everything in the engine is ok to get wet but not rated to have water sprayed directly into it.

I spray any apc let it sit for a couple mins. I don't usually wash the car well I do it. I usually wash it last just in case I spray crap out of the bay (if very neglected).

I have a couple of soft bristle brushes I like to agitate the grime with so it just sprays right off with water.

When rinsing I use low pressure and the least amount of water possible.

I like to dress the hoses and plastic pieces with a waterbased protectant. I find that silicone based products (armor-all) tend to cause more dirt and dust to stick to everything.

 

What is an example of a water based protectant?

 

I'm really interested in giving flashwax products a try. They make Royal brown wheel cleaner which is supposed to do wonders on rims as well as is a degreaser period.

 

http://stores.shopprimacarcare.com/-...ero/Detail.bok

There are bunch of them out there. I'm not sure if you can get any over the counter though.

 

Once I got my engine bay clean I maintain it by using the jet air blast at the coin wash, then I just wipe down with a damp towel.

 

Has anyone used Dr. Color Chip, is this a good product?

 

Probably should have started a new thread for this one but I have used it and it isn't bad. It won't fill deep chips, but it will cover them protecting you from rust and making it a lot less visible.

 

Don't expect it to be perfect but it is way better then the little touchup paint things you get from the dealer.

 

Agree that t/up straight out of the bottle like the factory/deler stuff often makes a larger mess then you started with

MANY threads about this btw

properly erasing a decent chip is an art and there is no 'easy fix' for every situation.

Dr CP is a product many have had good experiences with. Another is LANKA http://www.langka.com/ . Both require some practice to get the best results.

One universally accepted hint - never apply t/up paint with the bottle brush. Go to an art store and get a decent REALLY REALLY fine brush. A 0 or a 00 or even finer, and a little thinner. Use the bottle brush to put some paint on a 'pallet' - a glass slide is good, and a business card will work. Use a little thinner to thin the glop you get from the bottle then apply with the brush you bought ... you'll have MUCH more control.

I'm a LANKA person myself but DR CP has as many fans or more.

 

on a new note i was using simple green and my hand to rub the strut towers and the paint started coming off my hand was blue....nice one MINI, dont use simple green again on mine thats for sure, what did they use water based paint...sheesh.

 

+1 on NOT using full strength Simple Green on any painted surface. If you dilute it, it is pretty safe to remove grime on surfaces that are not waxed or meant to show.

 

Simple green is also rumored to pit aluminum. I'm not sure how much of the engine block is aluminum so that might be a long term concern. I'm sure some pro detailers out there have some better tools. Looking for similar advice on our dirty engine bay of our 2009.

 

I go with highly diluted Meguiars all purpose cleaner. You could also use the P21S Total Auto Wash at a diluted rate or Chemical Guys Grim Reaper at a very diluted rate as well. By very diluted, I'm using a 10-1 ratio of water to product, if not even less so on a delicate surface.

 

Spray it on, wait, scrub a little and spray. Easy peasy....

http://www.adamspolishes.com/p-121-a...e-cleaner.aspx

 

I've been using Adam's APC for a lot of stuff. It's replaced Simple Green as my new favorite.

Terpsred, Simple Green doesn't pit aluminum. I was a truck driver for years, and used it on my polished aluminum wheels and tanks every weekend. It took off the grease and road grime and never hurt the polished surfaces.

My old office:

 

Honestly once you try a good apc you will never go back to using that over-the-counter crap. I've never used Adams but they make a decent product line. I like optimum power clean personally.

 

I have some APC from Mark V but its so strong you can use it at 20 percent and it starts to dry out rubber, It worked great for engine bays back in the day but these new engine bays use such soft and tempermental paint that the Mark V stuff is virtually useless unless im stripping paint off my house..

 

So i received my gallon of Brown Royal yesterday from ups. This stuff is wonderful! You can also use it at full strength i believe on the engine bay. I'll give it a shot this weekend and shoot some before and after pics.

 

careful under that hood man