DIY Maintenance- Washing your car’s engine

Be it be for cosmetics, maintenance or to stop deterioration, you need to clean up your engine once in a while so you can detect untoward problems such as belt wear and tear or the build up of grease in the engine compartment, which could pose thousands of dollars in losses just for repair in the future.

To soften things up a little bit, start your engine and let it warm for a few minutes and shut it off. You need to warm up your engine a little bit (just enough to put your hand over it) then as the engine cools to proper temperature, use the time to cover the few openings on the motor that needs to be waterproofed. Among the key areas to watch out for include the air intake / air filter, distributor, the coil and oil stick.

Materials you’ll need:

1. Plastic baggies
2. Rubber bands
3. Absorbent Rags / Towels, Paper towels
4. Commercial Engine Degreaser
5. High pressure hose / sprayer
6. Rubber protectant
7. Lubricant

You can use plastic baggies and rubber bands to cover the air intake / air filter(s) and the distributor / coil. Double the layers of bags on the air intake and place them securely with rubber bands. Use a pair of two gallon sized baggies to cover the distributor and plugged wires around the distributor cap. Though this might be difficult to seal, you need to see to it that the distributor has been thoroughly sealed to prevent shorting of the distributor. Check the tightness of the oil filler cap, power steering cap, windshield washer cap, the oil stick, battery filler caps before cleaning them.


You can then proceed with spraying the entire engine / engine compartments with a commercial engine degreaser spray from the bottom going up, this way you will not have the chemical dropping on your face as you clean the underside areas. Allow the degreaser about 3-5 minutes to work and using a soft brush, rub gently to clear out heavily soiled areas. Repeat the process in areas if necessary, depending on the heaviness of the build up.

After the engine compartment has been cleaned, remove all the plastic baggies and rubber bands. Using a rag or towel, dry all the puddles and dry the battery with paper towels. Proceed starting your engine and allow it to warm up, this will help dry the rest of engine parts and evaporate any moisture left in the more sensitive parts.

Provided that everything has completely cooled and dry, apply a coating of rubber protectant to the rubber hoses, rubber, plastic shields and rubber gaskets.

Wax the painted areas of your engine compartment. If the uncoated aluminum areas are dull or have whitish corrosion deposits, metal polish will help restore the finish. See to it that the battery terminals are clean. If they’re not however, disconnect the cables and clean both the cable terminals and battery posts using a wire brush. Reconnect all terminals and tighten.

Spray all hinges, throttle cables, cruise control cables and hood shocks with lubricant and you’re done!

Note: See to it that you have removed all extra debris such as plastic baggies, rubber bands etc. before capping the hood.

Buckle up when you're driving… Heaven can wait.

Jovir Amatong

All About the Iron Wagon