Keeping your engine clean is beneficial in many ways.

We all know what we want out vehicle’s to look sparkling clean at any given time. That’s why we’re outside washing and waxing our vehicles several times per month. While many people are great about keeping the outside of their vehicle in the best possible shape, not many people understand the importance of a clean engine.

When grease, oil and other fluids start to build up on your engine, it can degrade many different parts in your vehicle, including the belts, the hoses and other rubber pieces, as well as the radiator itself. Furthermore, when you can’t properly see your engine, it makes it difficult to spot a fluid leak. And, the longer a leak goes undetected and unrepaired, the more severe the damage it can cause to your engine.

How to keep your engine clean.

Now that you know why keeping your engine clean is so important, you need to know how to go about keeping it clean. Cleaning your engine isn’t as simple as grabbing the hose and some soap, like cleaning the exterior of your vehicle is. Here are a few steps you can take for a cleaner engine:

• Eliminate the excess grease in your engine by spraying it with a degreaser. Make sure that you read and follow the manufacturer’s instructions carefully.
• Clean out your radiator hoses (See the section below to learn how to properly clean your silicone coolant hoses).
• Wash away the dirt, grease and oil that has accumulated on your engine using a high-powered hose.
• Using a clean towel, wipe up any water that has pooled in the engine. Then, use an air hose to get your engine as dry as you can.

How to wash your silicone coolant hoses.

Just as keeping your engine clean helps to extend its life and increase its performance, so does keeping your silicone coolant hoses clean. This is not a task that has to be done all the time, but it’s important to keep an eye on your hoses and clean them as needed. Luckily, it’s easy to clean your silicone hoses, and there are lots of great way to do so, including:

• Hot, Soapy Water - Silicone hoses are an incredibly high-tech product, but they don’t require anything high-tech to keep them clean and in tip-top shape. In fact, the very best way to clean your silicone hoses is with hot, soapy water and a clean, microfiber cloth. This is a cheap, simple way to keep the shine and finish on your silicone hoses looking its best, and it will do so without discoloring your hoses of hindering their shine.
• Baby Wipes - You don’t always have the time for a full wash with soap and water, and that’s okay. When you need to quickly rid your hoses of grease and oil, baby wipes will do the trick. Baby wipes are designed to be gentle and safe enough for a baby’s delicate skin, and they are also gentle enough to remove grime from your silicone coolant hoses, and you won’t have to worry about them discoloration or damaging your hoses in any way.
• Unscented bleach - Soap and water and baby wipes are both excellent options when you want to clean the outside of your silicone hoses. But, how do you get the inside to be just as clean? Boil one part of water and add in one part of unscented household bleach. Then, simply submerge your hoses. This method requires no scrubbing, but you will want to ensure that you give your hoses plenty of time to thoroughly dry before using them again.

How not to clean your silicone hoses.

You don’t need anything special to clean your silicone hoses, but whatever you do, don’t try to clean them with WD-40. WD-40 may do an excellent job of removing grease and grime, it’s not the best option when you’re cleaning your silicone hoses. That’s because WD-40, as well as the other petroleum-, gasoline- and oil-based, aren’t ideal for use with silicone hoses. They can damage the chemical makeup of your silicone hoses, causing them to break down prematurely.

For the highest quality silicone hoses for your radiator, choose Flex Technologies.

Keeping your silicone coolant hoses, and your engine as a whole, clean is incredibly important to both the performance and life of your engine. But, if you’re still using rubber radiator hoses in your vehicle, the first step you should take toward better performance is upgrading to silicone radiator hoses, and luckily, Flex Technologies is here to help.

We’re proud to be your premier source for silicone coolant hoses, and we even offer custom options, so you can rest easy in knowing that your hoses were made specifically for your vehicle. And, we’ve got a variety of colors to choose from. Don’t wait! Visit us online today to get started.