so ive never cleaned under my hood, do i justg cover the distrubutor and spray away? probably not right?

what I have done is spray engine degreaser on the engine when it is cold. It's very important that the engine be cold. Let it soak for a while then spray it off. Whatever is left over, I get simple green and scrub it off. I have never covered anything, but am careful around the distrubutor. I wouldn't use a high pressure spray either. Just a garden hose.

All the electric and intakes are vulnerable as well...and the alternator needs special attention as well.

Simple Green is great when greasy, but I think for mud, not as effective.

Lots of water, not pressure washer, just hose, but lots of it, and time to soak and soften it. I get this adobe-like coating on things that can resist submarine duty...but with enough patience, it does come off.

Ordinary car wash soap works ok on mud...and it helps to break the surface tension of the water, making it soak it better....simple green is ok for that part, but it won't work w/o the water too.

After getting it clean, spray all those parts of concern with Si spray....especially into the alternator.

Si spray?
never heard of it

Silicon spray

my truck started to over heat yesterday on the way home. So when I got home, I rinsed off my radiator. Holy hell there was alot of mud in there.

I really have to get in there and clean my engine better. I hit it yesterday with the hose pretty good, but that red clayish mud residue refuses to be evicted. How do you use the simple green on the engine? spray on or brush or what?

Spray bottle.

Any home inprovement store will have a gallon of Simple Green for about $8. It can be diluted 5:1 (or more).

I usually let the engine cool. Then spray the heavy areas with simple green. Then I start the engine and hose it off. It works pretty well. It doesn't do such a good job on rubber, so your rad hoses and such will still look dirty.

Yeah, I have a gallon of simple green. the stuff works great on nearly anything. So you hose it off with the engine running?

I always do. It dries off the electical parts faster. The only reason you would not want to is if you have an open air intake.

Sounds good, I'll give it a shot tomorrow.