Dirty engine bay

I picked my 2008 Gt today and it has obviously been displayed at the lot with the hood up in pretty crappy weather. Lots of settled dust. They claim they detailed it but did little more than hosing it down and maybe wiping it off. It looks like an easy fix to clean up the engine bay and Ford even suggests a cleaner in thier manual. Any suggestions other than running a bunch of hot soapy over it at the pressure washer?
 
I have a suggestion; DO NOT PRESSURE WASH YOUR ENGINE!!! Ok, got that out. You can really mess it up. The spark plug wells hold water, not to mention the pressure can mess up electrical systems and tear up gaskets. I just use a rag and either soap and water, glass cleaner or armor all.
 
I have a suggestion; DO NOT PRESSURE WASH YOUR ENGINE!!!

That was worth a double post:nice: Once those spark plugs boots start leaking it can be a BEAR to stop. I had such a rough time with my wifes F150 I can't bring myself to even do more than a simple rinse on the top. But a good wipe down and rinse, it still looks good. Dress it up with sprays and it looks GREAT.
 
If your engine is only dusty you can get away with a quick careful powerwash. But if you have a lot of built up or caked on dirt/grease
it time to do some hand cleaning.... rags, brushs, screwdrivers etc.
You need a water base cleaner for dirt areas and a petroleum based
solvent cleaner for the grease/dirt areas. My therory is to never let
your engine get past the dusty stage.