Call me crazy, but when I cleaned my engine bay I sprayed simple green on everything, and then took a water hose, no nozzle on the end, and just ran cold water over it, STAYING AWAY FROM THE FRONT OF THE MOTOR. Worked like a charm. You can hose the engine off so long as you KNOW what you won't want to soak.

What's this CD2 stuff though?? I'd like to check it out. Any before/after pics?

 

Once you simple green everything for the first time, you shouldnt ever have to use a hose. I have had my engine bay clean for about a year and a half. All I have to do is just dust the engine now and again, and sometimes I spray a little more simple green and do some light cleanings. If you guys wanna risk it with a hose then be my guest, but I sure aint coming near my car with a hose while the hood is up.

 

I'll post some up tomorrow after work (6pm CT) of before/after, and the product as well. It's a simple off-the-shelf product at my local Autozone. If the pics I find are poor, I plan on doing this again Thursday, so I will have some up then. It's called "CD2 Engine Detailer", "CD2" is at the top in red-orange color over a yellow circle, while "Engine Detailer" is underneath in whine, under that is a shiny engine. It is made by CD-2 Company, Chicago, IL.....if nobody else has heard of it, maybe it's just because I'm in the suburbs?

 

http://www.midwayautosupply.com/deta...ption.asp?1079

Bottle on the right is a little different, but similar. The one on the left is simply a degreaser, so nothing special there. There are cheaper degreasers, and A/Z only sells the detailer here.

 

I cleaned my engine bay over the weekend...it took a couple of hours to get it clean, but it was well worth it.

1. Wiped everything down with a wet rag and semi-soapy water.
2. Sprayed most everything down with 409 degreaser and let it sit for a while.
3. Wiped everything down again with a rag and clean water.
4. Wiped down all the plastic parts and hoses with Armor-All.

It looks way, way better than it ever has after all of that and it didn't take nearly as long as I had expected it to (I figured on spending at least 4 hours to get it clean...it was pretty nasty in there).

 

for a year and a half I was afraid to let a single drop of water under the hood. I gave up a month ago. I let the engine degreaser fly and used a garden hose widespread stream attatchment and went to town , avoiding the front of the engine. Engine looks better and runs the same . Just be careful of the electronics.

 

Besides the distributor are there any other critical electrical components that I should keep water & humidity away from?

 

PCM in passenger side corner. It's weathersealed but I still wouldnt chance it.

 

Thanks that's one of the things I was wondering about but now I know

 

spray down your engine with cleaner/degreaser while leaving your engine running...

then spray down your engine with a water hose, just try your best to avoid the front of the engine where the opti sits.

the heat from the engine should help dry up any ACCIDENTAL water on the opti

i was skeptical but i friend who has done it for a while helped me do mine.... and it ran just like it did before the bath