Most liked posts in thread: How I clean a MINI engine bay

Problem Corrected

Since I posted a photo of the damage to the paint under the hood caused by strong cleaners, I thought it appropriate to share, in photo format, the "after" image of the underhood paint.




(Yes, I know there are a couple screws missing.)

 

Hint; Little Wing isa Gurl.....

 

First engine bay cleaning.
I followed Mark's instructions, 1st post in this thread, paragraphs 1 & 2.

 

Paint Source

Not having an auto paint supplier near, I purchased rattle cans of paint through the Internet from Automotive Touchup Touch Up Paint and Accessories | AutomotiveTouchup I had read a thread somewhere and a poster had recommended this company.

Where the new Chili Red meets the cowl at the back edge of the engine bay, you cannot see any difference in color. Wish I could say the same for the white. At the top of the back of the car, where the white top paint continues under the hatch, the white had washed off leaving splotches of red. Where the new white paint meets the old, there is a color difference, with the new paint having a bit of a gray cast.

It took two 12.5 oz cans of Chili Red and 2 cans of Clear Coat to do the area under the hood.

 

I have been wiping down the engine compartment with a damp MF cloth every week since new, and was fortunate to never get any build up. Got bit by a road gator and took it to a dealer to get it repaired. The next week I opened the hood and saw the same thing as your picture -- dealer said they did not do anything that could have done that. I was fortunate that I had recent pictures of the engine compartment and they repainted it for me. Whatever they had used even damaged some of the under-hood labels.

 

Now thats getting a little carried away...we would have to list this thread as NSFW if you are gonna go and make it all STICKY:lol:

 

My sincere apologies Little Wing.

A superb job. Well done.

It is nice to see a female take notice of the importance of keeping an engine clean. Not only do I have to keep mine clean, I have to keep my wife's 2010 HzBl MCS clean as well. As a matter of fact, I just came back from washing it, cleaning the wheels, ArmourAlling the tires and cleaning the engine bay, which included polishing the strut bar. All this in 90 degree heat.

 

Strong Cleaners Under Hood

This thread has had some discussion on how strong cleaning solutions can damage the underhood paint, which does not have the protection of clearcoat. Thought a picture could be worth a 1000 words, so . . .





As one can see, cleaning solutions can disolve the paint and wash it away. Wish I could identify the culprit solution, but the damage occured during the previous owner's time. And, it was not just the underhood cleaning chemicals - the white top paint that extends under the hatch, also lacking clearcoat, has been washed away in the same manner.

The BRG MINI had some gunk looking like undercoating on the bottom side of the hood. Thought a mild solvent - mineral spirits - would remove it. Did so, but also removed the paint. Fortunately, it was just a small spot and repainting was not difficult task. Repainting the areas under the hood and hatch of the MC40 will be a time consuming, tedious task. Wished the previous owner had read this thread.

Hope this post helps others avoid such damage.

 

the damage occured during the previous owner's time.

Read more: http://www.motoringalliance.com/forums/detailing/909-how-i-clean-mini-engine-bay-2.html#ixzz3IhNyKO2B

 

Any body shop supply business can mix you the factory Chili Red in a spray can.

It will cost about anywhere from $15 - $25 a can depending on the shop.

BMW Chili Red (code 851)

 

I'll be doing this this afternoon---including the drinking-the-beer part. :cornut:

 

Thanks for the write-up. If you don't mind, can I hit you up on a few noob questions.

Since getting my MINI I have become somewhat OCDD, but these skills are new to the MINI and I've never cleaned an engine compartment in my life. As far as covering the air intake (I'm assuming CAI) are you in an S or Justacooper? I ask because I'm in an S, and since there's a cover on my CAI either I don't need to do this or am not clear on what you mean.

So if I hear you right after you apply 303/Nero you let the car sit for 10 minutes, then go for a hard drive for 10 minutes, and then wipe everything off?

How often do you need to do this to keep up with it?

I got my 08 in Nov., and as indicated haven't done a cleaning yet. Any tips for the first one?

So, you're just using towels? No brushes of any kind?

Any thoughts on that goldish/tan glue looking stuff that was there when I bought it?

 

Cool. I'm going to try this today. Maybe some before and and after pics. Thanks!

 

Engine cleaning / maintenance requirements vary widely depending upon driving conditions, too.

I almost never drive on dirt or gravel roads. In the winter here, we occassionally get some brine treatment on the roads, and very rarely get some sand and salt treatments. But my car never sees heavy snows and mag chloride and all the nasty stuff... so at it's DIRTIEST, my car is about 5% as nasty as folks who have to deal with real winter weather.

As a result, All I need to do is wipe down my bay with a towel once a month or so as part of my normal wash... and it's pretty much car-show clean all the time. But staying on top of it with whatever level of wipe down, cleaning, or whatever is needed where you live is the key. Lots of folks who live here and don't drive as many miles as I do have DIRTY engine bays at our club meets... and it's just because they never do ANYTHING to their bay... they just let the crud accumulate over time. And if you let it, it will.

 

Well, I got rained out today, but 03Indigo and I have an engine detail date for next week.

Paul, I'm hoping after this initial effort I get to the simple wipe down stage at least for most weeks. I pretty much do that anyway on every wash. The problem is I never cleaned it the first time so there's a lot of crap that should have been removed to start and I'm now seeing engine grime creeping in.

I do live in one of the nasty winter area's your talking about, so I'm probably prone to some extra effort. We'll see how it goes, but if last winter is any indication I don't see to many winter detail sessions. It's more of a minimum effort between snows at the self serve car wash to get the big stuff off and get by. We'll see how it goes, but I foresee a full engine cleaning once a year as part of my spring detail with regular wipe down and spot treatment as needed every wash through the summer and fall.

 

this is exactly what i did the other day! simple green and a tooth brush : )