We had one of the worst sandstorms on Friday, and the aftermath wasn't exactly very pleasant. Brown and blue skies are nothing new, so it isn't uncommon to wash your car and see it covered in dust before you're even done. But seeing my engine bays covered in sand (not dust) was something new.
Just wanted to share a couple of before and after pictures of the Grand Marquis' engine bay. It took me just over 5 hours to clean it up, and I ended up devoting 2-3 afternoons per vehicle to clean them all up.
Started at 7:30 am on Saturday and finished at 1 PM, after going through nearly a case of beer, and couple of liter bottles of water. Had a well deserved lunch afterwards.
Before even doing anything to the engine bay, I used pressurized hot water to clean the area under the hood. The insulator 'soaked in' a lot of sand, and it would be pointless to detail the engine bay without cleaning that off. Otherwise every time I shut the hood, the sand caught in the insulator will break loose onto the engine.
Next, I used a blower to blow all the sand off. The next step was to remove all the coil packs and cover the spark plug holes with aluminum foil, and seal them off with duct tape. I then removed the alternator and used 3 cans of compressed air to blow out all the dust inside.
Next up, I blasted the engine bay with pressurized hot water, then liberally sprayed every nook and canny with 2 cans of WD-40. After letting it sit for about 30 minutes, I used my steam cleaner, followed by a pressurized mixture of dish washing liquid and hot water. Then used a set of brushes to clean up any stubborn dirt, and sprayed another can of WD-40. After allowing it to soak in for 15 minutes, I repeated the above.
Final step was to liberally blast the engine bay with pressurized water, and blow everything off with a blower. I then installed the coil packs, coating the boots with dielectric grease. Installed the alternator back on, along with the serpentine belt and the engine beauty cover. Here are some before and after pictures:
Didn't forget about hidden areas later. Removed the headlights, parking lamps and grille as well to clean up all the sand in there:
Finally, just to show you how quickly things get dusty, here are a few pictures I took today, as I was installing a new engine beauty cover. This one's off a 2004, and I used aluminum air conditioning tape to 'chrome' the V8 logo. I'm on the lookout for a cover off an early production 2003, which is a lot nicer than both this cover and the one the vehicle was originally equipped with.
Just wanted to share a couple of before and after pictures of the Grand Marquis' engine bay. It took me just over 5 hours to clean it up, and I ended up devoting 2-3 afternoons per vehicle to clean them all up.
Started at 7:30 am on Saturday and finished at 1 PM, after going through nearly a case of beer, and couple of liter bottles of water. Had a well deserved lunch afterwards.
Before even doing anything to the engine bay, I used pressurized hot water to clean the area under the hood. The insulator 'soaked in' a lot of sand, and it would be pointless to detail the engine bay without cleaning that off. Otherwise every time I shut the hood, the sand caught in the insulator will break loose onto the engine.
Next, I used a blower to blow all the sand off. The next step was to remove all the coil packs and cover the spark plug holes with aluminum foil, and seal them off with duct tape. I then removed the alternator and used 3 cans of compressed air to blow out all the dust inside.
Next up, I blasted the engine bay with pressurized hot water, then liberally sprayed every nook and canny with 2 cans of WD-40. After letting it sit for about 30 minutes, I used my steam cleaner, followed by a pressurized mixture of dish washing liquid and hot water. Then used a set of brushes to clean up any stubborn dirt, and sprayed another can of WD-40. After allowing it to soak in for 15 minutes, I repeated the above.
Final step was to liberally blast the engine bay with pressurized water, and blow everything off with a blower. I then installed the coil packs, coating the boots with dielectric grease. Installed the alternator back on, along with the serpentine belt and the engine beauty cover. Here are some before and after pictures:
Didn't forget about hidden areas later. Removed the headlights, parking lamps and grille as well to clean up all the sand in there:
Finally, just to show you how quickly things get dusty, here are a few pictures I took today, as I was installing a new engine beauty cover. This one's off a 2004, and I used aluminum air conditioning tape to 'chrome' the V8 logo. I'm on the lookout for a cover off an early production 2003, which is a lot nicer than both this cover and the one the vehicle was originally equipped with.
