I like keeping my JK clean especially after using it in the trails..Is it alright to soap and hose-down dirt on the engine and the compartment? of course not squirting a lot of water on the electrics and putting a plastic bag over the CAI....

 

sounds about right to me...I usually just hose everything down real good and try not to get water down in the air intake box, no problems YET.

 

I use a powerwasher with no problems, someone told me to try using PURPLE engine degreaser when I do it. I haven't tried it yet.

 

I'm abou to do this today.

Last weekend I discovered my favorite automotive general cleaner: Simple Green Auto.

I couldn't believe how awesome this stuff was. I had dirt from mud on my wheels that was so sticky pressure washing from 1" away did nothing. I sprayed on Simple Green let it sit for a minute, and wiped with a paper towel and the dirt basically fell off.


Anyway I heard that this stuff is awesome for the engine bay so I'm going to give it a try. Spray on, let sit for a few minutes, and hose it off. Probably won't even need to pressure wash it off.

Also I read that after its clean spray everything down with a tire shining spray and rinse off before it drys. Supposidly helps with cleaning down the road.

 

I don't like to use SOAP setting in my engine bay, I just don't like the look of some soap spots drying to a few parts of the engine. I just strickly use RINSE. I have used PURPLE engine degreaser once a year on all my vehicles especially SPRING to get all the winter road grimme and should there be any oily drips or run off. WORKS GREAT!!! To make it look good I get a nice plastic/rubber cleaner and go over all the hoses and plastic to make them look shiney....CALL ME ANAL!!!

I do the same...plastic bag around the CAI but if the Pre-filter is dirty I just avoid spraying around my CAI as it's time for a CAI recharge.

 

As said above Simple Green works well, you can mix it 50/50 with water, dilutes it a bit, but it's still very capable of cleaning. Try to keep it off the paint of the Jeep, as it will dull your wax over time.

 

I would not use "That Purple Stuff", now called Castrol Super Clean. It reacts badly with some plastics. I think you would have to dilute it beyond the point of it being effective for it not to damage things. It's very strong. I've used Gunk Engine cleaner with good results. Smells like diesel fuel for a day or two, but it works.

 

SDMF recommended Simple Green to me, and I was amazed at how well it worked to clean off the baked on mud and desert dirt.

 

Simple Green is the best.

It cleans lots of other things really well too.

 

I have been using that castrol purple stuff for years and never had a problem. Works great.