Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Keeping your car engine clean.


Not only can a clean engine increase the resale value of your car should you consider reselling it but it’s also a great way to keep watch for any service issues and also ensures that your used car will run smoothly for years to come AND let’s not forget how good it will look when you open the hood of your car.

Before you start you must take these precautions – Refer to your vehicles service manual for any cleaning instructions or precautions for your particular engine. Always wear good eye protection when using chemical agents like engine degreasers and you MUST disconnect your vehicle’s negative battery cable.

To begin, you should start the engine and let it warm up for a few minutes and then shut it off. This is done in order to soften up collected grease and grit in your engine compartment. Remember that your engine should be warm and not hot. You should be able to hold your hand to the engine without burning it.

You will want to cover all electrical and mechanical components beneath the hood to protect them from water damage. You will also want to tighten all caps, the power steering cap, the windshield washer fluid cap, battery filler caps etc.. It’s a good idea to cover the distributer, coil, air intake/air filter and oil dipstick/breather with plastic baggies sealed with rubber bands.

An engine degreaser is a great agent that will help remove the grease from your engine parts. Spray all over the engine and engine compartment with a non petroleum based degreaser. Using a degreaser too often can cause the rubber to break down, especially if it is petroleum based. Citrus based degreasers may require a little extra elbow work but they are worth it. They will not harm the paint or the finish on aluminum components and are biodegradable. Start from the bottom and work your way up. Wait 3-5 minutes before you scrub the heavy dirt with a towel or brush. Once the whole engine is clean, rinse thoroughly with water.

Remove the plastic baggies and dry off any collected water. You may want to start the engine and let it warm up in order to dry off any moisture in the engines sensitive components.

You can apply a thin coating of non-silicone lubricant to all hinges, throttle cables, cruise control cables and top off all fluids.

Your hard work has now paid off and you’ve got yourself a shiny engine compartment.

Go to http://www.prudentvaluecars.com/ for more useful information!

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