Washing Your Engine Bay - A Step By Step Guide

[VR Shenoy]

I did my first DIY Engine Bay cleaning on 13th June 2017 at 54334 kms. Though it was looking clean, wished to do it since Monsoon is almost over . Got a LiquiMoly Engine Bay cleaner from Amazon and rest of the items like 3M- Shampoo, Vim Liquid etc were readily available.

So followed the same procedure ( at 55137 kms on 18th Nov 2017 Saturday ) as I did in June 2017 and surprising, this time there was no much blackish came out after LqiuiMoly Spraying, later with Shampoo - cum - Vim Liquid and finally rising by water. So I was relieved from flushing it from our private approach road to the Main road. Added to the surprise this morning we got heavy rains for an hour ( may be last rain of this year, that too after about 20 days) and our Road became cleaner again as before.

Attaching 4-5 photos clicked this time. Once I get feedback from dear Adil about that cut oil , I will apply the same to get shiny blackish.
PS : Not able to make the last photo straight, though it was straight on my computer.

 

[swiftshashi]

A quick half hour detailing session results in this:

Before





After

 

[J.Ravi]

Clean Bay.

Thanks.

How old is your Mahindra XUV 500 now?

Four years.

What you do after the monsoon when lot of sticky mud gets deposited ?

The last few trips of Bangalore - Chennai were driven in heavy rains. After every rainy drive, I wash the wheel arches and tyres before tackling the alloys. The engine bay remains almost dry even after monsoon drives.

you never wash at all?

No. I don't want to take the risk of water entering ECU and other sensitive electrical/electronic parts. The engine bay gets washed only during the periodical servicing.

 

[Cooldammy]

Very nice Task.The Engine bay looks cleaner. If you buy a cane of Engine bay cleaner from Amazon as I bought, it would help you to remove most of the grit / sticky oil at the bottom of Engine bay.

Always remember to cover up some areas as I have done, for the protection. You can use Industrial thinner and use a thin screw driver by wrapping thin cloth helps you to clean the firewalls but remember to spray 3M Shampoo plus Vim liquid in those areas and later use water spray to get rid of everything, allow it to dry by blowing air from vacuum cleaner and don't start your engine for a couple of hours.

First of all, apologies for the late reply. I'm glad that this thread is still alive and active. Thanks for your comments and expert advice, will definitely try my hands on that, next time.

which model is your car and what is the odometer reading?
Take care

Mine is a Maruti Suzuki Esteem, Vxi, 2005, pure petrol car and currently clocked at 95k with no abnormalities except for the rusting, keeping in mind the age of the vehicle.
Take care please and keep in touch.

 

[swiftshashi]

One thing I'd like to point out: Liqui Moly engine cleaner is Useful if you have super dirty and oily engine bay. If it's mildly dirty, you can use other options too like diesel plus warm water etc etc

 

[access.aditya]

Regarding coolant flush, the best way is to do multiple flushes. For example, get one bottle of flush. Link to Flush which I use. Add 75% of the flush to your radiator, and drive for 10-15 kms. Keep an eye over temperature gauge. Drain coolant. In second step, use pure distillled water(no antifreeze/coolant) for the entire volume, and add remaining 25% flush. Again run for 10-15kms or let your car idle for half an hour. Drain again. Again add pure distilled water and let it idle or drive for 10-15kms. This step ensures that the whole system is free of any flush. Then drain it, and add antifreeze and distilled water in the required concentration.

Dear fellow gurus, I have a doubt. I performed the flush on my alto which has intake capacity of 3.5Litre. But during each flush, water that came out was close to 1.5 to 1.8 Litres only. And during the refill, it was nearly the less or same capacity. Though after multiple flushes, water was free of coolant additive ( Dark green to green to light green to colorless). Does it have anything to do with thermostat not letting the remaining coolant to come out? I have now poured 1.5 litres of Castrol Radicool coolant additive into the radiator with the thought of remaining distilled water already present inside the hoses and body. Also, some coolant diluted with water into reservoir till max level. This was my first time doing the flush. Did I do it the correct way? Please reply.

 

[swiftshashi]

Dear fellow gurus, I have a doubt. I performed the flush on my alto which has intake capacity of 3.5Litre. But during each flush, water that came out was close to 1.5 to 1.8 Litres only. And during the refill, it was nearly the less or same capacity. Though after multiple flushes, water was free of coolant additive ( Dark green to green to light green to colorless). Does it have anything to do with thermostat not letting the remaining coolant to come out? I have now poured 1.5 litres of Castrol Radicool coolant additive into the radiator with the thought of remaining distilled water already present inside the hoses and body. Also, some coolant diluted with water into reservoir till max level. This was my first time doing the flush. Did I do it the correct way? Please reply.

A lot of coolant is trapped in engine cooling galleries and jacked and pipes. I did a funny thing to drain everything out. Removed the thermostat, and using a high pressure jet, flushed all coolant from water intake side. I also did a total of 6 flushes with distilled water(total unnecessary, but I didn't want any trace of flush in the system). But yes the amount of dirt which came out, despite doing all correct practices for all these years, the extra effort was well worth it.

You can see my thread in the other forum. If simple drain is done, not all coolant will come out.

 

[access.aditya]

Thanks dear swiftshashi for confirming that some coolant is present inside there. So, 1.5 ltrs of undiluted coolant additive is okay na or should I top it up with water (or additive which ever you suggest) if level in radiator goes down (in morning)?

Even I was expecting something similar, dirt etc as my car is about to enter it's 8th year but to my surprise and relief, there was nothing just coolant nothing else that came out.

 

[swiftshashi]

Thanks dear swiftshashi for confirming that some coolant is present inside there. So, 1.5 ltrs of undiluted coolant additive is okay na or should I top it up with water (or additive which ever you suggest) if level in radiator goes down (in morning)?

Even I was expecting something similar, dirt etc as my car is about to enter it's 8th year but to my surprise and relief, there was nothing just coolant nothing else that came out.

One should keep an eye over the coolant levels and also your temperature gauge always after performing any maintenance jobs on cooling system.

The love of my life: A 2000 Maruti 800 DX 5-Speed - Page 20 - Team-BHP

 

[access.aditya]

Hi leoshashi sir. Earlier I was searching for you with the other user name.

Yes, I checked it today, and coolant level was low in both the radiator and reservoir so immediately filled them up with more diluted additive. Heat inside the cabin is same as was before so I don't think there's any more air trapped inside the system but will keep checking for few days till the level stays the same.

One thing that I noticed while I was doing the flushes, with less or no antifreeze/additive present (only water) in the system, the cabin heater takes longer than the usual to provide the heat. Maybe it was the trapped air or the water that requires more time to heat up as compared to antifreeze solution . Based on the latter, can we conclude that water with antifreeze/additive helps the engine to reach the optimum temperature fast?
P.S. pardon my ignorance.

 

[access.aditya]

The love of my life: A 2000 Maruti 800 DX 5-Speed - Page 20 - Team-BHP

By the way, this is the 2nd time I am going through this post. And getting inspired by this, I'll be cleaning my hood soon too.

 

[swiftshashi]

Hi leoshashi sir. Earlier I was searching for you with the other user name.

Yes, I checked it today, and coolant level was low in both the radiator and reservoir so immediately filled them up with more diluted additive. Heat inside the cabin is same as was before so I don't think there's any more air trapped inside the system but will keep checking for few days till the level stays the same.

One thing that I noticed while I was doing the flushes, with less or no antifreeze/additive present (only water) in the system, the cabin heater takes longer than the usual to provide the heat. Maybe it was the trapped air or the water that requires more time to heat up as compared to antifreeze solution . Based on the latter, can we conclude that water with antifreeze/additive helps the engine to reach the optimum temperature fast?
P.S. pardon my ignorance.

Don't worry about the heat yet. Atleast till the trapped air is released. Level falling is a sign of trapped air in system. Also, you can try releasing air by pressing upper radiator hose slowly and carefully while refilling

Another tip for you will be that say our car needs 1L coolant and 2L distilled water. You have seen the way I flushed, so there can be no residual coolant in the system. What I recommend doing is add 1L coolant in the system(the antifreeze) and then keep adding distilled water till the system is full. When level falls down, add only distilled water and nothing else. This way your ratio will be close to perfect.

Plz notice in that link, my older coolant was too dark(the one in which some dust was floating). Whereas the later pic was a nice clear green. That's how 1:2 ratio should be

 

[VR Shenoy]

Dear Shashi,
I am surprised to read about the details on Coolant change done by you by 6 flushes and 6 days to perform it.

I got the Coolant change done in the 1st week of June after about 5000 kms run. The FNG said there was no need to change the coolant as I never faced any hike in the temperature gauge, the coolant was clean and green in the Bottle as well as in the Radiator. Yet I asked him to change it by flushing as I had taken 10 litres of Distilled water ( Rs 100 for the cane) and 1 ltr MGP Coolant costing Rs 285 purchased from Maruti dealer. He first drained the coolant from the Radiator by opening the cap at the bottom and taking out the bottle too. It was almost 3 litres. Then he pored the distilled water in the Radiator as well as in the bottle, almost 3 litres and kept the car at idle for 10 minutes. While draining, the water was very light greenish but there was no dirt or any deposit. However he suggested to pour more than 1 litre of Coolant and rest with distilled water. So I bought one more MGP Coolant and we poured 1 1/4 litres Coolant and balance with distilled water. As per him most of us pour only 1 litre but 1 1/4 is good for better performance of cooling.

So far, so good. The Balance Coolant is still with me. So also the Distilled water, as I use only distilled water for the Windscreen spray along with Zessta Liquid.

It is always better to keep a bottle of distilled water in the dicky while travelling for long, because adding just tap water causes sediment build up. Majority of the MASS and also garages use only tap water and not distilled water.

One more thing, I made him to dispose off the old coolant in the guttar as I know it is not good to throw any where.

 

[swiftshashi]

I agree the amount of effort I put was somewhat unnecessary. But to put in so much effort and not go for the best, then it's a wasted exercise anyway.

2ndly MASS or FNG or any other mechanic won't care for so minute details. They don't go on cleaning every single crevice of the radiator and straightening every single fin. Hence it had to be a DIY. A simple drain or flush won't take so much dirt out which came after 4th and 5th flushes.

3rdly, the DIY proved to be a blessing in disguise as it revealed a rusting front crossmember. It wasnt visible from outside at all. Inside it had all flaked up.

More details here: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/long-term-ownership-reviews/173454-love-my-life-2000-maruti-800-dx-5-speed-21.html#post4300830

 

[access.aditya]

Don't worry about the heat yet. Atleast till the trapped air is released. Level falling is a sign of trapped air in system. Also, you can try releasing air by pressing upper radiator hose slowly and carefully while refilling

Another tip for you will be that say our car needs 1L coolant and 2L distilled water. You have seen the way I flushed, so there can be no residual coolant in the system. What I recommend doing is add 1L coolant in the system(the antifreeze) and then keep adding distilled water till the system is full. When level falls down, add only distilled water and nothing else. This way your ratio will be close to perfect.

Plz notice in that link, my older coolant was too dark(the one in which some dust was floating). Whereas the later pic was a nice clear green. That's how 1:2 ratio should be

Yes, that hose thing works, created more air bubbles to escape. I did both the upper and lower hoses.

Thanks for the tip sir. Cleared my doubts.

Oh, and I thought fresh MGP antifreeze had dark green color only. Because same was the color of my MGP coolant as well before flushing it out. I guess, during earlier services MASS guy would have kept the ratio of antifreeze on the higher side, assuming we might be frequenting Kashmir. Now it's fine green as yours.

One doubt that popped up while writing this, does coolant change its color with aging, like green into dark green? Whats your take?