Engine Cleaning

Today's Topic deals with cleaning your engine.
Most people don't clean their engine often and its a shame, a properly cleaned engine is a thing of beauty. Even if your engine is bone stock it will still look better with a fresh coat of clean. There are a couple of ways you can clean your engine, one of the easiest is at a DIY power wash.

Disclaimer Attempt at your own risk, I have performed this walk through multiple times, but things can always go wrong.

In my experience you can spray down your engine just fine without any trouble, I would avoid spraying the ECU of Battery but these things get wet when it rains so a little water wont help them. You can use the foaming cleaner and then spray rinse that most DIY spray car washes offer and that's it, you may need to apply a little silicon to your hood latch and actuators to keep them from sticking.

A better way is to gather the following:

• Simple Green
• Hose with spray attachment
• Q-tips
• Turtle Wax Tire Foam and Shine
• Sea foam spray
• Old rags

I have found this works best if the car has not been run recently, a hot engine dries up the cleaner to fast before you can rinse it off.

1. The first step is to spray down the exterior of your car, this will keep the simple green from taking the wax off your paint. Now pop open the hood.
2. Spray down the entire engine with a generous coat of Simple Green, Avoid hitting the serpentine belt, battery and ECU directly. If some splashes on them don't worry.
3. Now take the rags and q-tip and wipe down every inch, be sure to get the grime off the tops of the fluid canisters (for example the oil symbol on top of the oil add location) this will make your car really POP.
4. Use the rages to wipe off the inside of the hood, not forgetting the actuators, the hood latch, and pretty much any part of the engine that is dirty.
5. Now rinse it all off with the spray hose, again avoid hitting avoid hitting the serpentine belt, battery and ECU directly. You may see some spots you missed, clean them again.
6. Let you car dry, the next step will work best on a dry engine, you can get out more rags and pat down the engine to speed this up.
7. Spray the engine with a tire foam spray, avoid hitting the serpentine belt, battery and ECU directly. Take a rag and spray it with the tire foam spray, wipe down the battery and ECU. BE CAREFUL NOT TO LET THE RAG TOUCH THE NEGATIVE AND POSITIVE TERMINALS AT THE SAME TIME!!!!
8. Turn your car on, your serpentine belt is probably squeaking, spray it down with some sea foam spray, now its clean, lubricated, and silent.
9. That's it, sit back and enjoy your engine!

Good reads

If you would like more information on how to keep your car looking its best, check out some of these books:

This little book not only touches on car detailing, but basic car care, how to keep your car running smoothly and how to get the most out of your ride.

The Haynes name is known as the go to reference when it comes to car repair, but they are also very knowledgeable when it comes to car detailing.

Keep your tires looking like new

What Can You do?
If you have ever seen old dull tires on a nice shiny car, you know they can ruin the apperance and make the car look like a junker. But with so many options out there what should you choose.
There are a few types of tire care products, so here it goes!

Spray-on
If you want easy this is for you. Simply spray on wet or dry. The end! Many spray on tire producte will clean and protect, some even have adjustable settings. Always make sure you hold the spray can a foot or so away to get even distribution of the spray, allowing for a smooth glossy finish. Be careful that you wipe off any overspray that gets on your paint or you will end up with greasy drips on you side. One way to prevent this is apply in the garage to avoid the wind.

Gel
Gel is a little harder to apply, but the results are usually better and almost always last longer. SOme can stand up to rain and last for over a week. To apply you must rub the gel over the tire as if you were painting it, make sure to stay in one direction. If you want let the gel dry for a few minutes and apply a second coat for a shiny gloss. One downside to gel is it often holds dirt and dust.

Foam
Foam tspray is similar to the liquid spray, with the exception of better cleaning. Foams can often bubble away dirt and leave a better gloss with less work. IF you want a quick touchup without washing your car foam is the way to go.

How To Do It
Always follow the instructions on your tire shine product, but keep these general rules in mind.  Even if you have a tire care product that claims to work on dirty or wet tires, clean and dry your tires and wheels before applying. Make sure to get any dirt out of the grooves and treads on the sidewals.
Pay attention to the wells and grooves that your tires have. Apply your chosen tire shine product evenly on the side of the tires. Let it sit for a minute or two and then wipe off the excess. If you dont wipe off the extra it will fling all over you paint making your tires look great, but your car look awful.

Conclusion
Making your tires look great is easy and will make you car POP.  But if you want to get the best bang for your buck, and the best performance always seek a review.  There are many great products out there, but really its your call. Having shiny clean tires will make your car look better, and make your tires last even longer.