Muddy engine cleaning help and tips

[garner]

Ok so went mudding about 6 months ago and didn't notice all the mud till about a month ago...well didn't pop the hood


Then today I cleaned the major things with some water and simple green: engine cover, airbox lid, radiator cover, fuse box lid, wiped off power steering and brake fluid reservoir some so I could see the level, and ripped off the hood insulation


How do I clean the rest of it(fan shroud, brake booster, battery, rest of fuse box, etc)? And what are some good products to use?

 

[dodgeman2007]

pressure washer thats what we do at work all the time. just make sure you let it run for a while to dry up some for the water

 

[Kevin1106]

You need gunk engine cleaner, brush, pressure washer, rags, engine bright... And a lot of wiping after spraying engine bay with engine bright... GL!

 

[HemiBabe]

What I did once was dilute some Simple Green with water, spray it all over everything (cover up anything you don't want to get wet with a plastic bag)

Let it soak a little, and then rinse it all off with a water hose, with the truck running.
It will get almost all of it off

 

[Hemi450hp]

I dont even dilute the simple green. Unfortunately, with all that mud caked on, it is going to take more than spraying some chemicals. Time to get out a brush and some rags and go to town.

 

[garner]

Yeah I knew I was gonna have to scrub. Just wasn't sure if there was any products(other than undiluted simple green) to make it easier and didn't wanna mess up any electronics without guidance. What kind of brushes would you guys recommend?

 

[garner]

Any tips on cleaning the battery blanket thing?

 

[pd298]

Pressure washer would be the best bet if yours is the same as mine.

 

[garner]

Got some more cleaned today after sitting in the engine bay(yes I fit lol). This was done by hand again cause the engine was still hot after a late morning run of errands. Mainly got fan shroud, upper radiator hose, the little cowl thing, master cylinder, and air intake inlet tube from the fenderwell. Then sprayed most of it with wd40 so stuff hopefully won't stick as easily


Over time how it's changed

 

[ZakkBaker]

Lol! Looks good. I'm waiting for the weather to warm up before I can wash and detail my truck and engine bay...Mines all muddy as well, gonna be a pain. Esp since I dont own a pressure washer.

 

[WhiteExpress]

Looking better! I remember how nasty the engine was on my Cummins when I bought it. I must have spent a week of evenings under that hood with various scrub brushes cleaning it off.

I keep my new truck shiny clean. It might get dusty, but that's it!

 

[ZakkBaker]

Did you just get your brushes from an Auto store ?

 

[Hurley91]

Get truck hot, cover anything you dont want wet (computer, etc), spray the crap out of it with engine degreaser, let sit for around 10 mins, then blast away with a power washer. Usually works for me and my Dad.

 

[garner]

Lol! Looks good. I'm waiting for the weather to warm up before I can wash and detail my truck and engine bay...Mines all muddy as well, gonna be a pain. Esp since I dont own a pressure washer.

Thanks. Yeah it's stuff, especially the little stuff which I haven't gotten to yet. I don't own a pressure washer either so I'm just gonna use a nozzle on my hose when I get to it, I've been lazy about getting back to it lol

Looking better! I remember how nasty the engine was on my Cummins when I bought it. I must have spent a week of evenings under that hood with various scrub brushes cleaning it off.

I keep my new truck shiny clean. It might get dusty, but that's it!

Thanks! And yeah it's a pain to get it all showroom clean which I'll probably never get it to

Easy to keep it shiny when you barely drive Mine has almost 29,000 miles on it lol

Did you just get your brushes from an Auto store ?

All I used was a tire brush and a soft wheel brush from Walmart. And then some red shop towels and some terry towels

 

[Unfused]

I'm a fan of the rag and a bit of elbow grease. I'm always worried about messing **** up if I pressure wash it. I'm a lineman and have no mechanical knowledge. So anything I break has to be fixed proffesionally at high cost. Haha.