Well, I finally got sick of the amount of caked on crap under the bonnet! This was what I was dealing with....

 

 

 

 

 

So I set to work. Ripped off the bonnet sound proofing at last! Sprayed everywhere with AG Engine Degreasant, waited 5 minutes before agitating it all with a brush. Then carefully hosed everywhere off.

 

For a mere 30 minutes work, I'm really surprised and chuffed with the results...

 

 

 

 

Next thing I need to do the same again, but take more time on it to really get the stubborn grime off. Then get the metal polish out along with the plastic restorer stuff. Should look brilliant then :-)

 

Surprised me how well this stuff works!

Looks smart.

 

What areas if any did you cover ? I want to do mine but cant pluck up the courage to dump loads of water over things lol. Yes they get damp in the rain but its not quite the same :p

that really looks good. any chance you can link to what degreaser you used and mark on the photo what you waterproofed please?

 

this is something i really want to do, but scared of knackering something up.

I wanted to clean my bay but was scared to put the hose in there just settled for a brush and couple of cloths came up ok but not as good as this

I often snow foam my Bay

No problems what so ever

aslong as your not steam cleaning , washing while running or concentrating the pressure washer on the ecu you should be fine washing in there 

I'd never, ever power wash an engine bay or even run a hose pipe over it...

Cheers guys!

 

Joel, I actually didn't cover a thing!!! I basically just caked everything in the degreasing agent, then brushed everywhere to loosen the grime. Then hosed it off. I was just careful around certain areas such as the air filter and the ECU. Obviously I did it with the engine turned off for obvious reasons. I just didn't concentrate the water in any single place for a long period of time.

 

Thisday, this is the stuff I used: http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/engine-and-exterior/exterior-degreasers/autoglym-engine-and-machine-cleaner/prod_745.html   I'm sure there's other stuff that does a similar job as well, but as you can see it worked well for me! Still have to do some more work on the more stubborn stains though.

 

Just for the record too.... I pressure washed the bay about a year or so ago with no negative effects. I didn't use a cleaning agent though, so it was just as dirty when it dried ha ha!

ive pressure washed the fabia and others without any issue ..... we pressure wash machines weekly at work some of which run dpf's etc so are slightly more advanced than a pd.... again no negative issues with the engine turned off 

Nahhh. Leave the engine bay go natural

Its an often trick to clean your engine bay when selling a car to hide oil leaks or work done on the car. Oil is a natural water repellent. Leave it be. All I do is give the engine cover a little wipe with interior cleaner lol

I find if you leave it alone its ok. If you start playing around with stuff and electrics. They start playing up. . Sometimes not for a week or two till after you do it

Oh. Pluss they dont break down often and shouldn't use oil or water. So no need to open the bonnet :P

As long as it's not petrol you tend to be fine don't you?

thanks alex, I will look at getting some of that next time I am in an appropriate shop.

 

 

So I set to work. Ripped off the bonnet sound proofing at last! Sprayed everywhere with AG Engine Degreasant, waited 5 minutes before agitating it all with a brush. Then carefully hosed everywhere off.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After you hose it off spray on some AG vinyl and rubber care on the wet engine and leave to dry naturally

 

Good tip that Sean! I presume it doesn't dry unevenly then?

 

I actually use AG Vinyl & Rubber Care for the interior anyway...  Good stuff!

Your uneven / sideways oil cap would annoy me.

Otherwise, nice clean engine bay!

Hutchy I was literally just looking at that! As I've taken the engine cover off permanently today, so got rid of the oil filler neck that's there. In doing so you now have to put the oil cap on in that direction.

Do you just use the hose using the very light very wide spray?

Nope! Had it on a relatively short width to be honest....   I just used common sense about where not to concentrate it.