We all know that beauty isn’t skin deep. When it comes to your car, make sure it’s looking good under the hood as well as on the surface. If you pop the hood and see nothing but a surface layer of dirt and grime on the engine, you’re failing in your responsibility of car care.

Why Auto Detailing Should Include The Engine

Cleaning the engine compartment is often overlooked. And yet restoring your engine to its as-new condition helps maintain its value. Anyone looking to buy your car will, at some point in their inspection, check under the hood. A clean, polished engine will inspire greater confidence in the buyer than an engine that is caked in oil, grease, and dirt.

It’s important to match immaculate paintwork with a shiny clean engine to optimize your car’s perceived value. That way you can be sure of getting the best sale price possible and avoid unnecessary haggling.

Grease and grime doesn’t just build up on the engine but also in the engine compartment itself. Salt, dirt, and other debris work up from the wheel arches and underside. It all needs removing.

Giving an engine a thorough deep clean, however, can be tricky. That’s why it’s best to leave the job to the professionals to ensure you don’t accidentally damage your engine.

A full engine clean needn’t be a costly investment. @ The Car Wash, a good Fredericksburg car wash, offers a complete engine clean starting from just $50.

Engine Deep Clean – The Process

Let’s take a look now at what’s involved. First, we make sure we only clean an engine that is cold. Spraying cold water onto a hot engine can damage it. Your engine is one of the most expensive parts of your car.

When cold, engines stand up pretty well to a rigorous deep clean, providing you don’t use too much water pressure or overdo the degreaser.

1. We start by protecting those vulnerable parts of the engine we don’t want water to infiltrate. We mold foil around all electrical connections and cover the air filter and alternator with plastic bags to protect them. If your car has an exposed air intake, we’ll cover that too.
2. We vacuum all the larger debris off the top part of the engine. There’s a lot of loose dirt here which can be simply removed without a degreaser.

3. Next we apply a quality degreaser to the underside of the hood, taking care not to get any on the hood insulation blanket. We ensure that we cover all round the perimeter of the engine compartment, paying particular attention to caps and hoses. It’s important to reach as far down as possible with the degreaser. Grease gets into all kinds of engine crevasses. Our technicians won’t be satisfied with anything other than the perfect deep clean.

4. Now we leave the degreaser a few minutes to work its magic.

5. Using a low-pressure washer, we spray the whole engine, removing the grime from all uncovered engine components. We’ll use a soft-bristle auto detailing brush to really get into those deep and difficult areas. Afterward, we remove the foil and plastic bags.

6. We wipe down as much as we can by hand using soft towels. Here’s where a little old-fashioned elbow grease comes in handy.

7. We spray a good quality lubricant, focusing on areas like the hood hinge, throttle cable, and all black surfaces.

8. We let the engine dry. A blower speeds up the process so we can get onto the final stage as quickly as possible.

9. Once we’re happy that everywhere is dry, we apply durable, hard-working sealant to all painted surfaces. We follow that with a quality vinyl protectant on all plastics and hoses. These materials give your engine a deep, attractive shine and help restore its perceived value. Maintaining the value of your cherished car is what auto detailing is all about, as well as giving you pride in your ride once more.

10. Close the hood. We’re done. For a professional, engine auto detailing isn’t the scary prospect many think it is.

Under The Hood Isn’t Necessarily Under The Radar

Deep cleaning your engine is an integral part of any car restoration. It’s easy to overlook it, but when you come to sell your car remember that you will be competing with many other sellers for a buyer. A shiny clean engine compartment could mean the difference between getting a sale and that buyer moving onto to the next car.

@ The Car Wash has a simple pricing structure for engine cleaning. We charge just $50 ($60 for oversized vehicles). If you’re in the greater Fredericksburg area, give us a call today to discuss restoring your engine to its as-new condition.