Engine Bay cleaning tips, Maintenance Options

[ziyadkahid928]

Does anyone have some tips on the best way to clean the engine bay area of our celica? I had mine super clean as I would wipe everything down with a soft cloth but let my little brother use my 94' for about two years while he went to high school and he completely jacked her up(He forgot to change the oil so I had to buy a new engine, he never waxed the carbon fiber hood, thus, cracking it from all the sun's heat, he left a mess of fast food restaurant receipts inside the car).

I just recently got the car back from him since he did not take care of it, popped the trunk and everything is completely sandified!(We live in a desert area and all the sand got into the hood's air vents for two years of non cleaning, thanks lil bro!)

Should I just run some water from the water hose through the engine bay compartment and wipe off all the sand and dirt or are there any other better ways of getting the bay area back to its new self?!

P.S.-Thank you for any good answers/recommendations left for this question, as I do REALLY care for my celica!

This post has been edited by ziyadkahid928: Nov 11, 2008 - 5:41 PM

[zero07]

Id say no to runnin water over it if its that bad you might get sand somewhere that will make it worse. Id say shop-vac it just in reverse to blow as much of the sh*t outa there as possible before you wash it.

[slick_celica]

cover the alternator, spray the rest in a degreaser and pressure wash it! just be careful where you spray obviously

[RickJamesBish]

WOW, I would have to kill. I'm super OCD about my car as well...I don't even like the lint/dust I see when I'm looking at the dash in the sun.