[jake_b]

that looks great!

which parts of the engine do you cover? which parts are the sensitive ones?

[SA]

Originally Posted by P1et

How long to you let the Simple Green sit before pressure washing it? Also, do you cover up any components and if so, how?

Just a couple a minutes. Don't cover anything.

Originally Posted by supercharged

I'm really sceptical about spraying down an engine of a german car...way too many sensors

I have been cleaning my 6 year old Benz with the same method every 3 months and my baby still drives like a dream.

Originally Posted by budman3

And Simple Green... I don't use it anymore. No one should use it while detailing. Unless it's that aerospace certified one. The typical simple green will fade/bleach/stain plastic and will stain metals....

No fading here on my 6 year old engine that I clean every 3 months.

[JLs Detailing]

Originally Posted by budman3

I wouldn't reccomend this method at all...
The typical simple green will fade/bleach/stain plastic and will stain metals.... I don't think a customer would like to have their aluminum block or other metals stained... there are plenty of other APCs that are just as effective yet safer.

Man look at those engines and I find it hard to believe that the owners care about ANYTHING under the hood!

Maybe I'm just lucky but I don't cover anything either. I don't flood the engine compartment, but rather use a light rinse and have yet to have a single problem.

[Asphalt Rocket]

There is nothing wrong with using simple green, just dont let it sit on anything too long and dont apply it to anything hot. It all comes down to common sense, I wouldnt hose an engine down on full blast but there is nothing wrong with a gentle rinse at all. Like SA, I have been using simple green for years without any problems, so it comes down to user error not teaching an old dog new tricks.

[FMJ]

Originally Posted by SA Detailer

The average time to detail an engine is about 5 minutes.

5 mins??? I use that much time to cover up my electronics parts...

do you have a quick video showing how you do it? If i can do it for 5 mins, i would do that more often.

[Strs90]

As long as he's using SuperDressIt every three months to cover up the fading then I don't see anything wrong with simple green.

As for damaging the engine. I compare it to what happens to cell phones when they get wet. Most cell phones shut off when they get wet. If you disconnect the battery and let them dry for a day or two then they will work 99% of the time. If you try to turn it back on while its still wet you if will be ruined forever 99% of the time.

I disconnect my car battery(drain the caps) then degrease, agitate, and then spray down my engine and radiator with the a regular hose nossle. Then dry it with an air compressor and then let it sit and dry for about two hours. My only fears are that the alternator is completely dry and that no water got under spark plug wire ends. Outside of that I don't see how water can get in anything else. I don't have a distributor, nor is my air intake in the front of my engine like some.. but those are things I worry about on other cars. Once dry I clean the battery terminals, reconnect, and top them with some anti-corrosion spray.

Bottom line.. I have seen a whole desktop computer dropped in a pool and it still worked once it was dry... so long at the caps are drained and it was FULLY dry before being plugged back in.