Well, I did it for the first time today. I had been wanting to do it since Saturday's meet but I didn't have time to do it until today.
I took the advice given to me by BOXER and Celtfire and sprayed Simple Green everywhere in the engine bay and the inside part of the hood. Now, the bottle of SG we had at home was only 1/6th full and it didn't seem to be enough to adequately cover and degrease all the components of the engine.
Anyway, I sprayed it on and let it sit for about 10 minutes. Afterward I turned the hose on the Jet setting and sprayed the greasiest parts of the engine. I then put the nozzle to the Shower setting and continued spraying the rest of the engine bay for another 5 minutes or so.
Afterward, I used the blower on my shop-vac to blow dry most parts of the engine, paying special attention to any electrical connections. The Simple Green and water was enough to clean the engine bay thoroughly and I did not need to wipe down any part of the engine.
All in all, it took about 30 minutes to complete the whole process, with the blow drying step taking the longest.
What did I learn?
1. Use more Simple Green next time - There were some spots that were still greasy due to the fact that I simply did not have enough product to saturate the engine bay.
2. Cover my alarm speaker - After letting the car sit for 30 minutes or so to dry off, I closed the hood and pressed the "lock" button on my alarm system. The usual hearty "boop" had turned to a muted and emasculated version of its former self. Hours later, the alarm was back to normal..
3. Do this about once a month or so - In the nearly 3 years I've owned the E I had never cleaned the engine bay. In fact, I have never cleaned the engine bay in any of the cars I've driven. It seems easy and safe enough to do, as long as I allow adequate time to dry.
Hope this helps some of you!
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