Engine bay cleaning methods

[mauro12]

Hello guys, I would like to ask you how you clean the engine bay of your car. Is it safe to use a weak spray of water to clean all parts ? What is your procedure?

[Benz Dr.]

Well........ get your engine hot before you start so that it will start again. I use an engine degreaser and a power washer.

[mauro12]

Do you cover the distributor and the relay to avoid water contact? Our engine is quite difficult to clean 100%

[Benz Dr.]

As much as I can. That's why you want your engine hot before you start so that heat can dry everything.

[Steve.k]

I recently did this after I acquired my Pagoda earlier this year.   Take your time and do one small area at a time. 
A pressure washer is a lot of pressure that can damage parts.   What I did was use engine degreaser and a pressurized water sprayer by Griots https://www.griotsgarage.com/product/pump+up+sprayer.do
I found it very effective to spray on the degreaser, scrub with bits of 3M scrubbing pads, rags, etc. and then rinse with the sprayer.   Way less water is used and not spilled all over the floor and you can control the spray much better. 
To really scrub the tight spots I wrapped cloth around the end of wooden paint stirrers and chopsticks.   
Here’s the sprayer looks like, and the before and after photos

[mauro12]

Wow what a great result! Have you covered something with plastic?

[Steve.k]

Mauro,  I didn't need to cover anything with plastic since the spray is controlled very well with a minimal volume of water.