How do you guys keep the engine bay so clean? Just spray it with the water hose? I see pics of engines and they are spotless and clean. Then i look at mine....
Occasionally I'll use Simple Green, then take a rag and wipe everything down real good. Be carefull with the wiring and vacuum lines. Rinse. Start car to dry.
Otherwise I just rinse with water and maybe a light wipedown.
My engine bay is almost all stock with all of it's 220,000 mile goodness. The only shiney parts are chrome headers and alumnium UDP's.
When I get all my upgrades done I'm going to have mine professionally cleaned once, then I feel that I'll be able to keep the bay clean myself with regular maintenance.
Normally I wont touch anything with water under the bay. Use a degreaser on a rag or if its caked on shiz spray it directly on there. Gotta be careful with some degreasers though as they will stain metal and plastics when not diluted. After I get everything clean I take a rag and spray it down with some Chemical Guys Blue Guard II and wipe everything down.