Aatish11

Hello All!

I have decided to clean the engine bays of my A6 and my dad's A8l. Mines not too bad…may dad's is a mess.

I have cleaned engine bays before by spot cleaning with simple green and a terry cloth. On my R500 and SL500, I just rinse the engine down lightly, spray on the Simple Green, lather and rinse.

However I have heard that Audi engine do not react that well the rinsing method, well at least RS4 engines.

If this is true, then I'll just spot clean. But If anybody has any tips on how I should clean the bay, please do reply.
Sincerely,
-Aatish

subterFUSE

I remember seeing a DIY on cleaning engines in a BMW forum, where the poster used Scrubbing Bubbles on an M3 engine. He covered up just a few critical areas and went crazy with the hose. The method worked miracles for the cleanliness, but I was always too afraid to attempt it myself.

Something about spraying water on the engine just frightens me.


Personally, I use the "wipe it down every wash and don't let it get dirty in the first place" method. Works pretty well.

Aatish11

Lol, same. I feel that it's close to water boarding an engine…but I guess (most of the time at least) it's fine to do.

I just cleaned my engine bay. I drove the car around, let it sit for 20 minutes so it would just be warm and not hot. I carefully wet the engine bay, sprayed on some simple green, and went at some tough spots with a a toothbrush (oral b of course ). I let the cleaner sit for 3 minutes or so, started up the engine. So far so good, no weird sounds, no strange lights. I then held my breath and thoroughly rinsed the engine with the "cone" setting on my hose. I let the engine Idle for 5 minutes to let some of the water dry up and then used a cloth to finish up. I'll post some pictures in a bit.

Aatish11

Some pictures:

Before:




In Progress:


Final Product:

CRAMAZING

that looks great! after about 2 and a half years my engine is dirty as hell!
will try this simple green stuff

Aatish11

I would highly recommend rinsing thoroughly. Also, let the engine bay air out a bit. If you leave it in the garage, like I did, it will start stinking...

Aatish11

I'll probably hit up the A8's bay sometime next weekend. Pics will be posted of course.