Cleaned Engine Bay & throttle body
 

Bought my car a couple weeks ago with 60k miles and me being an OCD type of guy, likes everything clean. So I decided to spend the weekend cleaning out the throttle body, MAF sensor, spark plugs, and finally detailing the engine bay. here is the results

****i apologize if the images are too big, this is my first post with images. pictures were taken with an iPhone 5.***

This is how it looked when i bought it
http://www.the370z.com/members/steal...3-img-2787.jpg

http://www.the370z.com/members/steal...4-img-2863.jpg

http://www.the370z.com/members/steal...9-img-2882.jpg

took off the throttle body only to find thick grease and dirt
http://www.the370z.com/members/steal...6-img-2875.jpg

http://www.the370z.com/members/steal...7-img-2883.jpg

Spraying only throttle body cleaner wasn't enough, had to really get in there to remove that grease. result..
http://www.the370z.com/members/steal...8-img-2884.jpg

http://www.the370z.com/members/steal...9-img-2885.jpg

Next, replace spark plugs with NGK
here are the stock plugs
http://www.the370z.com/members/steal...1-img-2891.jpg

Finally, after 2 cans of Gunk engine degreaser/handy dandy paint brush and a can of Gunk engine shiner, here are the result
http://www.the370z.com/members/steal...2-img-2893.jpg

http://www.the370z.com/members/steal...7-img-2895.jpg

http://www.the370z.com/members/steal...4-img-2898.jpg

http://www.the370z.com/members/steal...3-img-2896.jpg

Hood also had some thick dirt
http://www.the370z.com/members/steal...6-img-2897.jpg

http://www.the370z.com/members/steal...5-img-2899.jpg

good job cleaning. is that oil from the intake filters then? should clean that and very lightly oil or just get a different intake?

I did clean the intake with the K&N intake cleaning kit, but i do plan on getting a new pair of intakes since these spectre are crap.

Holy crap! How many miles do you have on it? The previous owner must of lived in the sticks. Good job on the cleaning though, looks good.

O.O Very very nice. +1

Thx :) it took about 2 hours cleaning but well worth it
Currently has 60k miles

I think you and JARblue will get along fine. :p

Good work!

Looks good man! I need to do the same thing, but I'm not sure mine is that dirty since I do try to take care of it for the most part. Just needs a deep clean. I've been thinking about replacing my plugs too.

GReat job. Thanks for the detailed pictures.

Nice job!

That throttle body looked normal dirty at 60,000 miles. It's not due to the intake filter oil. They just get nasty like that with mileage and time.

Looks great.

Question: Did you completely disconnect the throttle bodies before cleaning them? If so, what's the safe way to do this? Last time I cleaned mine, I didn't disconnect them and it was a pain in the *** to clean them like that so I didn't do a great job. I'm gonna clean them again soon and I'd like to make it an easier process, hehe.

Thanks

I actually tried cleaning it without disconnecting the throttle body and I agree, it was a pain. so i went ahead and disconnected the whole throttle body and the sensor plug but left all the hoses attached. since this throttle body is electronic, its important to remove the sensor plug so you don't have idle issues after cleaning.

Here is my process which i think is pretty safe.
1. unplug negative terminal battery
2. remove engine cover and strut tower(this is a must to get access to the throttle body in ease)
3. remove intake pipes
4. unplug throttle body sensor plug
5. unscrew the throttle body
6. with the hoses still attached to the throttle body, you'll still be able to clean it without any problems

ps. when attaching everything back on, don't forget to plug the throttle body sensor plug back in.

Hope that helps :)

What did you use to clean the engine block?

I used Gunk Original Engine Degreaser, walmart has it dirt cheap $3
Gunk Original Engine Degreaser, 15 oz: Motor Oil, Transmission Fluid & Car Lubricant : Walmart.com

and Gunk Engine Brite Engine Protector Shine
- Gunk Engine Brite Engine Protector Shine, 15 oz.: Motor Oil, Transmission Fluid & Car Lubricant : Walmart.com

I want to inspect/change my plugs but for my 1st time I'm afraid of messing with the sensors and such. Anyone in the Maryland/VA area wanna make a few $$?

Thanks dude!

it's not hard, pop hood, remove strut bar, remove engine cover, loosen manifold bolts, lift manifold an inch or two you can just shove a book under it, remove coils remove plugs, reverse procedure.

Awesome job man! Way to have some pride of ownership! That car deserved every minute

Question? Ive been wanting to clean the engine with degreaser but did you clean with a rag or did you throw on the water hose on it??? Thos has been my biggest issue and never touched my bay -.-

Nice work man, I'm cleaning my MAF's today, Just the MAF spray correct? An those TB's were horriable. Be they used cheap gas. Mine at 60k looked closer to the clean pic :/

Yea just buy the MAF cleaner, it literally takes 5 min or less to unscrew the MAF and spraying them down. And yea, i only use Premium gas in all my cars.

Cool thanx man, I'm picking up some CRC today on the way home. I cleaned my TB's a few when I bought the car and changed the plugs while I was in there. Just some finishing things before the dyno trip tomorrow :tiphat:

This is how i cleaned it

items used:
-2X Gunk Degreaser
-2X Gunk Protector (i had to use 2 of each, as you can see how my engine was)
-1 roll of Scott Blue Shop Towels
-patience

-covered all the electrical components(alternator, intake, MAF sensor)
-sprayed (gunk degreaser) the whole engine bay including the Brake fluid area and battery area
-let it sit for like 5-10 minutes
-spray some more while using a small $1 paint brush to go over the whole engine bay
-rinse the whole area down
-let it dry itself for about 5 minutes(dont need to be completely dry)
-spray Gunk protector throughout the whole engine bay
-used Scott Shop Towel to wipe everything down(i prolly used about 40 sheets of the shop towels)
-the intake manifold has lots of small square pockets, it took a while to stick shop towel into each one of them to clean and get the water out
-took me about 2 hours to clean it

Hope this helps :tup:

Awesome thanks for the detail BUT dId you literally use your water hose and sprayed the whole engine bay, that's my quiestion?...if So Thank You (Noob questions, but been afraid to do it and mess up all the electricals) lol

Yes i used the water hose to rinse the whole engine bay down, if you cover the intake, intake maf sensor and alternator with a plastic bag, you have nothing to worry about.
Give the engine bay some time to dry and when you start the car youll notice some smoke coming out, but dont panic. Its just water evaporating. Good Luck!

Detergent Gasoline
 

Good point on the gasoline. Quality gasolines have additives that help keep the intake tract clean. The same is true of quality engine oils. They have additives that keep the pcv valve and intake tract free of varnish and gum. Here is a link to Top Tier Gasoline web page. It has a list of gasolines that have effective cleaning packages in the blend.

Top Tier Gasoline

When you disconnected the TB's and cleaned them did you move the butterfly in order to clean inside better or did you just spray them with throttle body cleaner and used a brush and towel to clean inside not moving the butterfly? I'm asking because I've heard people clean it incorrectly moving the butterfly and the sensor inside gets decalibrated and after finishing cleaning and installing back people have issues with their idle and can be a pain to fix it.

I've also heard if people disconnect the wiring harness you have to do a relearn procedure after you install it back.

I first unplug the TB sensor plug before touching the butterfly, then sprayed and cleaned with shop towels, i had to move the butterfly in order to remove the gunk build up on the edge of the butterfly and had no issues with idle after cleaning this way. I took my time and was careful when cleaning them out, not to let the butterfly slam shut itself or anything in a forceful manner.

Where is the Maf sensor and alternator? What does it look like? Stupid question for most people i know.. :ugh:

The alternator is down low on the front of the engine, its the one driven by the belt that has holes you can see wires through. The Maf's are directly on top of the intake tubes right behind the filters, theres nothing you need to remove to see and access them. Be gentle with them, just spray them off only with MAF cleaner and let dry. Youll break them if you try wiping the insides with a rag.

Alright thanks!

Gasoline quality has no effect on the intake tract cleanliness. The gas is injected right into the cylinder at the intake valve in most modern fuel injected engines. The detergent packages will only have an effect on the intake valve, the combustion chamber, and pistons.

The throttle body gets gunked up from minute dust particles that make it past the air filters that combine with the oil vapors from the PCV valves that gets sucked back into the engine.

What's the best way to cover alternator for cleaning engine? Since its pretty far down in there.


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Honestly, the only time I've ever washed the engine, I didn't cover anything. I made a damn fool mess with spilled oil, so I had to spray it all down after I gunked it all. Just don't use a pressure washer and just rinse it don't spray anything hard.

alright cool man thanks for the response