How to clean your car engine?
Don’t you feel good when your car is all shiny clean inside out? Apart from the feel good factor, it also helps with fetching a higher price when you sell your car! Everyone knows how to wash the car body with simple household tools, soap and water hose, but do you know how to clean your car engine in the proper way without damaging your engine? Here is how you can learn to do it yourself in 9 simple steps!
Step 1: Pick the right time
It is recommended that you pick a warmer and windier day. This helps to dry up the engine and its components after a good wash!
Step 2: Cool down your engine
If you drove the car earlier during the day, lift the hood and allow the engine to cool down, preferably away from the sunlight. This is crucial as not only can hot engines burn you when you clean it, the engine may also be damaged by the drastic drop in temperature when sprayed with cold water!
Step 3: Remove covers and terminals
Remove any plastic covers under the hood. These plastic covers can be washed and scrubbed separately, away from the engine. Remember to remove the negative terminal from the battery as this will help to protect the electrical components from getting damaged in case they got wet from the washing.
Step 4: Cover and protect
Cover all sensitive electrical components, such as battery (if not removed), ignition wires, and engine control unit, with plastic bags. By protecting these electronics, you can then clean more thoroughly with less risk and worries about damaging anything. However, do rinse with extra care!
Step 5: Degrease thoroughly
Spray the entire engine compartment thoroughly with any household degreaser, such as kitchen cleaner or a purpose-made engine degreaser. Make sure to have all visible parts covered with the degreaser!
Step 6: Scrub properly
Certain areas, such as the valve cover, may have years of caked-on oil and dirt. A small brush with synthetic bristles (do not use metallic ones to prevent scratching your engine!) helps tremendously in working the degreaser in and cleaning away the gunk. You may add more degreaser as you see fit.
Step 7: Rinse away
Rinse the entire compartment, from back to front, making sure to wash away all of the degreaser. Avoid directly spraying water onto electrical components! Try to prevent spraying much water into areas that won’t dry easily as well!
Step 8: Dry the engine
If you have an air compressor, blast away to remove excess water quickly! Alternatively, wipe everything within reach with a towel or used cloth. This helps to remove water as well as remove any remaining grime on the surfaces.
Step 9: Reinstall removed components
Reinstall the negative terminal on the battery and remove all of the plastic bags covering the electrical components.
Make sure to clean your car engine regularly to prevent the engine from getting too dirty and becoming too difficult to clean! A quick degreasing every year will help keep your engine looking clean with no more than an hour of work! This helps maintain the lifespan and value of your car, especially when you are planning to sell it in the future. Interested to learn more on how to sell your cars the ez way? Visit our website at www.ezauto.my to locate our ez Inspection Centres today!