Honda Car Forum

Hi
I have Honda Civic 2001. I take care of my car. When I open the hood, the
engine look not clean, some oil, dust, dirt etc. Is it good idea to clean
the engine (whatever inside the hood)?? if yes with what I should clean it?
water and ?? thanks

On Wed, 30 Jul 2003 21:52:05 GMT, "lastnn30" <lastnn30@yahoo.com>
wrote:

>Hi
>I have Honda Civic 2001. I take care of my car. When I open the hood, the
>engine look not clean, some oil, dust, dirt etc. Is it good idea to clean
>the engine (whatever inside the hood)?? if yes with what I should clean it?
>water and ?? thanks

Pick up a can of engine degreaser. And when rinsing it down, be very
careful not to drench a fuse box/computer/anything electronic.
Covering these items with plastic would be a good idea. For parts
like alternators that may be dirty but you don't want to "drench", try
some brake-kleen as it evaporates quickly and it melts grease away
effectively.

__________________
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N38.6 W121.4

Thanks a lot for the help and th epicture, I appreciate it very much.. but
what is the "green"? from where I can buy it?
and also what is "armor"? are these products available in Canada? thanks

"John M" <johnst@netsol.com> wrote in message
news:kd%Va.137694$xg5.111178@twister.austin.rr.com ...
> Engine needs to be a little warm, not hot. Cover alternator and fuse box
> (there maybe other important things to cover, somebody check on that) with
> plastic bags
> Buy some Simple green and spray it all over the engine. Try not to spray
the
> paint, since it will remove the wax.
> Let it sit for 5 min or so, then rinse with a hose, low pressure. Run the
> engine for 10 min to dry the water.
> With a rag, dry as much as possible then apply a small amount of armor all
> or better quality cleaner on a towell, and apply it to the houses and
black
> components.
> I have a 98 civic with 98,000 miles on it, I work in a very dusty place
and
> the engine get very dirty really quick, but simple green and armor all
makes
> it look really good.
> I will post a picture in here, I apologize if I use html with this message
> but I want to show how clean it looks.
>
>
>
>
>
> "lastnn30" <lastnn30@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:96XVa.39091$rsJ.37042@news04.bloor.is.net.cab le.rogers.com...
> > Hi
> > I have Honda Civic 2001. I take care of my car. When I open the hood,
the
> > engine look not clean, some oil, dust, dirt etc. Is it good idea to
clean
> > the engine (whatever inside the hood)?? if yes with what I should clean
> it?
> > water and ?? thanks
> >
> >
>
>
>

"lastnn30" <lastnn30@yahoo.com> decided to join the conversation on 31
Jul 2003 with message news:dp8Wa.44021$rsJ.14773
@news04.bloor.is.net.cable.rogers.com:

> but
> what is the "green"? from where I can buy it?
> and also what is "armor"? are these products available in Canada?

http://www.simplegreen.com/
http://www.armorall.com/

I'm not sure where you would buy it, or even if you could buy it in
Canada. If it's sold outside the US, I'm sure you can find it at any
major auto store.

Simple Green can be found at Wal-Mart (or the Canadian eqiuvalent) and on
their website there's a list of dealers, including a few internet sites.

HTH,

--
-Chris

http://www.ChrisGarcia.com <- My Homepage
http://starwars.chrisgarcia.com <- Centerpoint Station, the "ghost-town"
of the Star Wars Universe!

Just spray it with a hose. Do it a few times a year. You need to use chemical
when the engine leak a lot of oil.

I spray the engine bay more than I wash the car.

lastnn30 wrote:

> Hi
> I have Honda Civic 2001. I take care of my car. When I open the hood, the
> engine look not clean, some oil, dust, dirt etc. Is it good idea to clean
> the engine (whatever inside the hood)?? if yes with what I should clean it?
> water and ?? thanks

In my view, the best cleaning idea is to get a device, not a really
particular solvent (although water IS a solvent): I'm talking about
one of those small steam cleaners available nowadays. Not only do they
clean, but leave no residue and you aren't dealing with more
solvents/chemicals on top of the oils/dirt/grease on your engine that
washes off onto the ground/parking lot.

There's one I've seen advertised on TV, the stainless-steel and
apparently pretty powerful one for about $200 (I think you can find it
somehwere else for less), just don't get one that's too "wimpy" in its
steam output.

Otherwise, I take my time...a small paintbrush, some liquid
dishwashing soap solution, and a 1-gallon pump-up garden sprayer. If
the car is done regularly, this is all you need, often meerely a
rinsing-off with a mild soap solution on the gallon sprayer. If it's
really crudded up -- as most people's engines are -- you need a
serious cleaning with chemicals first, or steam.

But the small steamers are best.

John D.





"lastnn30" <lastnn30@yahoo.com> wrote in message news:<96XVa.39091$rsJ.37042@news04.bloor.is.net.ca ble.rogers.com>...
> Hi
> I have Honda Civic 2001. I take care of my car. When I open the hood, the
> engine look not clean, some oil, dust, dirt etc. Is it good idea to clean
> the engine (whatever inside the hood)?? if yes with what I should clean it?
> water and ?? thanks

I usually just spray with a hose being carefull not spray the alternator and
electic components for no reason.
Done that on my past 5 cars and never had a problem. You shouldn't need any
special stuff unless you had some serious oil leaks.

"lastnn30" <lastnn30@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:96XVa.39091$rsJ.37042@news04.bloor.is.net.cab le.rogers.com...
> Hi
> I have Honda Civic 2001. I take care of my car. When I open the hood, the
> engine look not clean, some oil, dust, dirt etc. Is it good idea to clean
> the engine (whatever inside the hood)?? if yes with what I should clean
it?
> water and ?? thanks
>
>

In article <96XVa.39091$rsJ.37042@news04.bloor.is.net.cable.r ogers.com>,
"lastnn30" <lastnn30@yahoo.com> wrote:

> Hi
> I have Honda Civic 2001. I take care of my car. When I open the hood, the
> engine look not clean, some oil, dust, dirt etc. Is it good idea to clean
> the engine (whatever inside the hood)?? if yes with what I should clean it?
> water and ?? thanks

If you don't want to do it yourself, call some of the repair shops
mentioned in the local phone book. Some of them will offer (for a fee) to
steam clean your engine. They cover up the elec. parts with plastic before
they spray the engine. You may not know this but many used car
salesmen--including Honda Dealers--steam clean engines on used cars to
make the potential buyers think that the past owners actually kept the
engines really clean.

In article <e821bab6.0307311205.63d02aa6@posting.google.com >,
jcdech@hotmail.com (John D.) wrote:

>In my view, the best cleaning idea is to get a device, not a really
>particular solvent (although water IS a solvent): I'm talking about
>one of those small steam cleaners available nowadays. Not only do they
>clean, but leave no residue and you aren't dealing with more
>solvents/chemicals on top of the oils/dirt/grease on your engine that
>washes off onto the ground/parking lot.
>
>There's one I've seen advertised on TV, the stainless-steel and
>apparently pretty powerful one for about $200 (I think you can find it
>somehwere else for less), just don't get one that's too "wimpy" in its
>steam output.
>
>Otherwise, I take my time...a small paintbrush, some liquid
>dishwashing soap solution, and a 1-gallon pump-up garden sprayer. If
>the car is done regularly, this is all you need, often meerely a
>rinsing-off with a mild soap solution on the gallon sprayer. If it's
>really crudded up -- as most people's engines are -- you need a
>serious cleaning with chemicals first, or steam.
>
>But the small steamers are best.
>
>John D.

The small steamers are a scam. They're only sold on TV because every
single one purchased at a store would be returned. It takes a lot of
pressure and power for steam cleaning; much more than you get from one
that plugs into a wall outlet.

The easiest way to clean an engine is to hook up a garden hose to the
hot water faucet at your clothes washer. Wear gloves so you can hold
the nozzle. Cover all fluid tanks and don't directly spray bearings.
Drive the car after it drip dries so pockets of water are boiled off.

> The easiest way to clean an engine is to hook up a garden hose to the
> hot water faucet at your clothes washer.

some water heaters have a spigot as well. crank up the water heater
temporarily to get the hottest water possible.