Tips on How to Clean Your Car's Engine

A clean, shiny engine always looks good when you open the hood of a car. Your car will also run better when its engine is clean. Here are several tips and tricks on how to keep your engine looking great, with just a few supplies.

Some things you'll want to have on hand for cleaning your engine include: a plastic bag and aluminum foil (I'll explain why you need these later), dish soap that is good at getting rid of grease (like Dawn), a sponge or mitt that is tough enough to clean the engine without ripping or tearing, an old toothbrush or small bristle brush, SOS pads, baking soda, several hand towels, a bucket and a hose with high pressure water.

Once you've gathered these supplies, you're ready to clean. The outside of your car should also be cleaned, prior to cleaning the engine. Make sure your engine isn't hot, because if you clean a hot engine, if could damage some parts of the engine. To prepare the engine for cleaning, you'll need to cover some parts. That's where the plastic bag and foil come in handy. The first thing you want to cover is the air intake, so that water doesn't get into the engine itself. Place a plastic bag over it, and you can even secure it with tape to make sure it stays in place. The distributor, battery and any electric parts should also be covered. Any parts that can't be covered in plastic should be covered with foil.

After all of the parts are covered, mix a solution of water and dish soap in your bucket. I don't recommend using some acid-based car wash solutions on the engine, because these can harm some metals. Spray the engine down with water first to prepare it for cleaning. Next, scrub down the uncovered parts of the engine with the sponge and solution, using the toothbrush or bristle brush for the small crevices that a sponge can't reach. Engines tend to get a lot of grease and oil on them, so the cleaning process may be difficult. If it's really bad, you could try using an SOS pad to clean the grime.

I've also heard of some people using a mixture of kerosene and water to clean the engine. You shouldn't have to worry about scratching anything, unless you have parts of the engine that have a glossy finish. For those parts, use a soft cloth to clean. After a good cleaning, let the soap soak for about 2-3 minutes, then rinse off the motor with the high pressure water. Then check to see what parts need a second scrubbing. Go over the extra-greasy parts again, then rinse again. Repeat this process until most, if not all, of the grease and oil has been removed.

Next, uncover the battery and prepare a 50/50 solution of baking soda and water. This solution works best to get rid of battery corrosion. You can clean the entire battery box with the solution. Wipe clean with a damp cloth, and then dry. Do not use the same towels on the battery as you will use on the engine.

Dry the engine thoroughly with hand towels. To completely get the engine dry, take the plastic or foil off of the covered parts, start the engine and let it run for about 5 minutes.

Finally, you should spray the hoses and plastic parts with a protectant dressing, to prevent them from cracking. Wipe off any excess protectant with a cloth. You shouldn't use protectants that you spray on and you don't need to wipe off, because it attracts even more dirt and makes your engine look even dirtier. To top everything off, you can also apply a coat of wax to the underside of the hood to make everything look shiny and clean. Now your car is ready to be on a show floor!