Outer Limits 4x4 Board

Hey fellas, just wondering wat everyone uses after a big day offroading? Just water or is there better stuff for the engine?

i mostly use water but clean it as soon as it gets a little dirty.

easier to spot for leaks etc... when its clean.

every now and then i will use degreaser and car wash etc... if it gets really dirty

Spray on a strong, foamy mix of CT18 superwash, leave to soak, then high-pressure rinse. As good as it gets without getting in there with a scrubbing brush.

-Stu

I do this with my 4x4 and my skyline.

Cover up things you don't want water in, with plastic bag or Al-foil (works great for the smaller things)

If it's been ages, I put degreaser on ( I use 'Green Goblin' it's environmentally friendly, and is the best degreaser I have used) , then hose off with pressure hose (carfeul where you shove the pressure though)

If its just the regular after 4x4 clean, I use the garden hose to soften up the mud, then I use CT18 at about 10:1 (water:Ct18) leave for 10 minutes then come back with the pressure cleaner.

Once that is done, if you want it clean as in show room clean, I do the truckwash again with a brush/cloth. Then hose off, then I use Inox on the plastics, which makes them look new (Inox doesnt attract the dust like a lot of other products)

Make sure you wash the car itself aswell, cause CT18 is not good for paint - Make sure you get it all off properly (I am pretty sure they use CT18 or equivilent at the car washes, so make sure you hose it off real well too!)

dont go puttin tooo much degreaser around your diesel injection pump as the seals dont like it and sprinkler time

not just diesels..
all engine seals dont like it too much

dogbreath_48 wrote:Spray on a strong, foamy mix of CT18 superwash, leave to soak, then high-pressure rinse. As good as it gets without getting in there with a scrubbing brush.

-Stu

x2

No high pressor needed.
CT18 stuff is CRAP.
I use Kenco Shift IT Heavy Duty Cleaner, just get it from Autobarn or the like.

Hose rig off with just the hose, get all clumpy bits off so you are only left with the smear so to speak.
Use a squirty bottle to spray Kenco Shift it on straight, do not add water.
Leave for about 5 or 10 mins.
I do my engine bay and then work my way down the hilux's under belly till I get to the back.
Then I just pickup the hose again and start at the engine bay hosing it all off.
Your paint will come up perfectly clean, or atleast the cleanest it can without and sponge usage.

Now I think I can honestly say I have the cleanest engine bay in any 4x4 on this site.

From this


To this with NO use of a sponge. This pic was taken when I was about to pull the starter motor out after it died from that mud in the 1st pic.


and just to doubly prove that this engine bay does get dirty

Guts wrote: Now I think I can honestly say I have the cleanest engine bay in any 4x4 on this site.

Hell yes, where did everything go?

I've had poor results trying to use CT18 as an engine degreaser (dirt caked with oil). Works okay as a window cleaner, will try kenco if I can find any.

KiwiBacon wrote:
Hell yes, where did everything go?

The h0mo's Quarter panels are full as!

big bundy wrote:

KiwiBacon wrote:
Hell yes, where did everything go?

The h0mo's Quarter panels are full as!

Ummm nope, only a few extra wires in them, but its a pain in the arse if I want to weld to one of my chassis rails

i use that cheap crap koala care degreaser useless on grease but works wonders on dirt and mud

Guts wrote:No high pressor needed.
CT18 stuff is CRAP.
I use Kenco Shift IT Heavy Duty Cleaner, just get it from Autobarn or the like.

Hose rig off with just the hose, get all clumpy bits off so you are only left with the smear so to speak.
Use a squirty bottle to spray Kenco Shift it on straight, do not add water.
Leave for about 5 or 10 mins.
I do my engine bay and then work my way down the hilux's under belly till I get to the back.
Then I just pickup the hose again and start at the engine bay hosing it all off.
Your paint will come up perfectly clean, or atleast the cleanest it can without and sponge usage.

Now I think I can honestly say I have the cleanest engine bay in any 4x4 on this site.

...where would i get this? and how much?

...where would i get this? and how much?[/quote]

autobarn, bunnings, repco, supercheap as for $$$$$$ not too sure can't remember but it is good stuff

Jesus Guts I've got your video of that hole, saved to favourites! (VERY NICE)

I'll be useing this Kenco Shift IT Heavy Duty Cleaner on my next wash
Have been useing all of KITTEN products upto now.

you're all wrong!

the best and cheapest by far way of cleaning the engine bay of all of my 4by's has to be "Dynamo" yes, the washing detergent, no this is not a joke.

Put about an inch of it in the bottom of a hand trigger spray bottle of even better put 50mm in the bottom of a 5-10L weed sprayer pump up bottle, spray it all round the engine bay and under the car. leave it for 10-15 mins then hose it off!

even gets rid of Menai mud, those who wheel out there know this stuff is radioactive and turns your tyres blue.

Try it, you won't be dissapointed.

I've been using it for a few years now and its great. Makes your hands feel slimy afterwards but

Some types of mud it doesn't like as much as others, but with that said it still does a great job. One thing to note thow is my paint is near new, don't know how it works on older paint.

Boy I should hit them up for some free bottles now

"Dynamo", Kenco, and anoher good one is NIFTY....

Roctoy Designfab wrote:you're all wrong!

the best and cheapest by far way of cleaning the engine bay of all of my 4by's has to be "Dynamo" yes, the washing detergent, no this is not a joke.

Liquid or powder?

KiwiBacon wrote:

Roctoy Designfab wrote:you're all wrong!

the best and cheapest by far way of cleaning the engine bay of all of my 4by's has to be "Dynamo" yes, the washing detergent, no this is not a joke.

Liquid or powder?

I am guessing the liquid. But it's a good question ...

so with this "Kenco" will it get rid of sticky anti rust coats?....sand is trapped all through the crap... and i can't get to it

For the hard to get off caked on grease stuff use oven cleaner. caution, it is caustic, so wash it off after 10-15 minutes. It even gets off rover oil.

chikoroll_ wrote:so with this "Kenco" will it get rid of sticky anti rust coats?....sand is trapped all through the crap... and i can't get to it

I don't know, as I've said earlier it works well on my almost new paint. I also use it on my 80 series engine bay and it comes up nice and clean to. I normally keep my cars fairly clean (except atm because of stage 4 water) so I never have that type of bad stuff on them.

Roctoy Designfab wrote:you're all wrong!

the best and cheapest by far way of cleaning the engine bay of all of my 4by's has to be "Dynamo" yes, the washing detergent, no this is not a joke.

Put about an inch of it in the bottom of a hand trigger spray bottle of even better put 50mm in the bottom of a 5-10L weed sprayer pump up bottle, spray it all round the engine bay and under the car. leave it for 10-15 mins then hose it off!

even gets rid of Menai mud, those who wheel out there know this stuff is radioactive and turns your tyres blue.

Try it, you won't be dissapointed.

haha thats where i had just returned from when i posted this thread!
Ill have to get some of the stuff u were talkin bout GUTS, considering my engine bay was clean enough to eat off 3 weeks back, its messy as faark now haha

Here are some before and after pics from when I cleaned it up just before xmas.
The engine bay was very dirty and I hadn't cleaned it in months so some of the dirt was cooked on. Because of this, this time I used a sponge on the under side of the bonnet and the open part of the inner guards, but I didn't use it at all on the motor.
It doesn't look as bad as it was, weird

In the after shot Guts, you are looking alot younger

i thort the b4 photo looked clean

chikoroll_ wrote:so with this "Kenco" will it get rid of sticky anti rust coats?....sand is trapped all through the crap... and i can't get to it

Kenco is awesome degreaser .. $20 odd for 4 litres @ Supercrap .. but to remove sticky anti rust formulas try KERO first.

Kenco degreaser is the best degreaser I have found. good for cleaning oil spills off concrete too.

Kenco degreaser rips into alloy parts. It seems to strip the surface off, so after using Kenco degreaser I find that alloy parts will look real shiny for a while but then quickly go dull and get a powdery oxide on them says on the bottle to keep it off alloy parts too.

Guts are you using the degreaser or is it different?

No NOT the degreeser
I use Kenco Shift it heavy duty cleaner.