what's the best way to clean the engine bay...??

[KenC]

well ive got a new strut brace on the way , and i have to get my engine "ready" for it. Jordan, what did you use to get your little brother's e30 engine bay to look like that?

Gunk and Castrol Superclean.

[nando]

what about cosmoline on painted surfaces? a wire brush isn't going to work there.. later cars have CAKED on cosmoline. I can scratch it off with my fingernail, but I'm not doing that to an entire engine bay.

how about under the motor, my car is extremely dirty down there. there was a power steering leak, and I have a small oil leak somewhere but it's hard to tell with all the caked on crud. maybe take it to a detailer and have them pressure wash the underside of my car? I don't trust other people to do work on my car though..

[natorious]

later cars have CAKED on cosmoline. I can scratch it off with my fingernail, but I'm not doing that to an entire engine bay.

tell me about it... the cosmoline that was on my valve cover is like a 1/16 of an inch thick in some places

[KenC]

Chris,
You can get that caked on grease off. Just get some Gunk spray in the can. Shoot it under there and let it sit for 10-20 minutes. Then get a brush of somesort and start brushing. The brush will become caked with the grease rather quickly so you'll need to keep hosing it off. It'll take a while and probably a full can of the Gunk, but it'll come off.

[nando]

I'm talking about under the motor (k member, diff, etc).. I don't really want to crawl under my car to clean it with harsh chemicals :P

my engine bay is fairly clean from the top, I spent a few hours removing all the crud that accumilated during the winter.