[afiy2k]

Hi guys, been searching the forums and found a few posts about cleaing the engine bay using water and degreaser DIY. I cant seem to find anything on Steam Cleaning the Engine, Is it recommended? i have a local hand car wash who provides the service, can i get some advise on this please, thanks.

[J u s t]

Quote: Originally Posted by afiy2k (original)

Hi guys, been searching the forums and found a few posts about cleaing the engine bay using water and degreaser DIY. I cant seem to find anything on Steam Cleaning the Engine, Is it recommended? i have a local hand car wash who provides the service, can i get some advise on this please, thanks.

Hmm. Never heard of anyone doing a 'Steam' clean as such. I've actually even wondered how safe it was to use the High Pressure spray in the Engine Bay.

[theminiv]

Quote: Originally Posted by afiy2k (original)

Hi guys, been searching the forums and found a few posts about cleaing the engine bay using water and degreaser DIY. I cant seem to find anything on Steam Cleaning the Engine, Is it recommended? i have a local hand car wash who provides the service, can i get some advise on this please, thanks.

You will find that most dealers will steam clean the engine before doing anything on the part ex's - I bought a 1 series that was gleaming on the inside, and mankin on the outside lol! - It is 4 years old, the engine looked like new.

Steam cleaning is quite good, it is a localised steam spray that gets everythign off. Jsut dont stick it in the electrics!

[BRG/Blk Cooper S]

I've cleaned the engine bay on both my previous Cooper (bought almost new so was pretty clean to start) and also my current S (bought at 10k and engine had never been cleaned) on several occasions without any issues.

I wouldn't personally let the local carwash/handwash etc do this, but it is safe and easy to do yourself.

Run the engine for a minute or so so it's not stone cold then give the engine bay a very liberal soak with Autoglym "Engine And Machine Clean" or Megs "All Purpose Cleaner".

Leave to dwell for 5 mins and then agitate any dirty areas with a soft brush.

Gently rinse without soaking the bonnet insulation or pushing water into the electrics - high pressure water is a no-no and shouldn't be necessary anyway..........less is more on the water front....

Soak up the excess water with an old microfibre before a generous spray of Autoglym "Vinyl And Rubber Care" - this is a great product that provides protection for all your underbonnet areas and makes it super easy to clean (10 minute job) next time round.

If the engine bay is really dirty you might need to go through the cleaning stage twice or even three times, but this is much better than making a mess of it by trying to do too much the first time.

Here's a couple of pictures to show how the bays end up looking - these are not freshly cleaned, once in this condition they stay this way providing you give them a quick going over every month or two.

Cheers.

[afiy2k]

nice, thanks for the advise guys, off to sweden for the weekend, i'll come back and treat the car to a proper scrub.