How to clean an engine - Products used etc

I had a friend come by to get his engine bay cleaned up before he takes it in to get appraised for trade in....

Notes: The complete car was done before the trade in, some parts of the engine do not look completed as the engine was still wet in areas.
The hoses on B5 S4's turn green over time.


Take a look:

Hey guys thought I would share this...

2000 S4 Engine Detail

Products used:
P21S Auto wash
Boar's Hair wheel brush
Adam's In and out
Adam's Foam applicator pad
Adam's VRT


Before:




After:

 

just ordered some of the new formula in and out. i loved the old stuff.

 

very cool its great!

 

I love P21S for doing engine compartments. Did you use a pressure washer under the hood or just a regular hose set-up?

I find using cheapo brushes (chip brushes) works well for the sticky stuff on the clutch and brake reservoirs.

 

this was a while back so just a regular hose attached to a fire hose nozzle.

 

Very helpful, thanks Phil!

 

Did you cover anything when sprayer the engine down with water Phil? And did you let the engine run for a while so it would dry?

 

typically a warm engine

on audis just watch out for coil packs

 

Looks great Phil! I have also found that using an EZ-Detail brush works great for getting in between tight areas.

As for Audis, where exactly are the coil packs located? I'm not really familiar with where they're at.

 

looks good phil

 

swissvax wheel brush and detail brush work well too.

pics of coilpacks



Note this engine pick is to show where coil packs are this engine was not detailed.

 

I don't mean to demean you but the first engine doesn't look very good to me. There are areas that were missed with whatever you sprayed on it. It looks okay but incomplete. Again, no personal affront intended but I don't see where any congratulations are in order. Just my take folks, look at the pictures for yourself. To me it needs more work and "detail" if you will.
It does look better than it did though. Maybe the product was still drying but that's not the time to take pictures. Impressed, I'm not. You can't blame a guy for being honest, and I am that. I may catch heat for this comment but if I can't say things the way I see them, and say them nicely, then why would I come here?

 

No worry, the car was for resale I believe, so to a average buyer, I think this is more than good, but the inter-cooler hose needs to be change or recondition it back to black. a great detail can make a big difference in resale. I own many used cars for under $5,000, I took very good care of it n in the end it paid off.

 

believe it or not the nothing was missed the hoses on B5 S4's turn green over time, the pieces that look missed are not missed its product that needs to be even out, which was done.

As well the motor had over 100k plus logged on it, its not going to look new.

 

the pic of the audi engine on this page was to show the coil packs its not an engine that I did.

 

every other week I get a car back from our detailer with misfires bcuz of the coil packs! luckily I have a steamer for those areas. hehe

 

It certainly doesn't help that all you have to do is look at Audi coil packs and they fail.

 

Jus a tip for anyone who buys used cars, Those coolant bottles do crack, but yellow is pretty normal for these Audis. If I was buying this car now, I would change the green color coolants hoses n the coolant bottle n do a coolant flush. why? after few years down the road, it will still look new and its also a maintenance item, then the next buyer sees this engine, they will be pleased to pay your asking price.

 

the complete car was detailed prior to the trade in.

don't all of you detail your car before you get it appraised or trade them in?

 

Always, my dad tells me I am crazy for doing it but I think it's well worth it.