Product to Slow Down Corrosion of Components in the Engine Bay

[Marc Boucher]

Sorry if I was too long winded before...I'll be more succinct:  what products do you guys generally use to protect the metal components inside your engine bay?


From: mboucher70 at hotmail.com 
Sent: Monday, October 24, 2011 8:33 PM
To: quattro at audifans.com 
Subject: Product to Slow Down Corrosion of Components in the Engine Bay


Preparing the car for winter and thought I'd reach out to see what recommendations I could get for a product to slow down corrosion of components in the engine bay.   The roads are salted in the winter, and sooner or later a certain amount of salt must make its way into the engine bay.  Otherwise, its just the combination of heat, oxygen, and time that's at work.

I've got corrosion starting to form over multiple components.  It might be purely cosmetic in some cases, such as the fuel filter which will probably be replaced soon enough anyway.  And I believe that the fuel filter, and other items are made from aluminum or a type of metal where the corrosion (Aluminum Oxide) prevents further corrosion.  Same thing for the fitments that connect the fuel line to the fuel filter and then the Fuel Injector distributor...they're either copper or brass, so they won't rust through, but they will get surface oxidization.

Other items, like the sleeves of the fuel injection lines, are iron, and I'm seeing rust come through.  Then there's the myriad of screws that aren't painted.

If its something that I was going to use to coat much of the engine, some of it might end up on rubber or plastic components, thus the ideal product would also protect rubber and plastic, or at least not harm them.

One substance often used to prevent rust is oil.  But coating your engine with Oil makes for something very unpleasant to work with.  And from what I understand, engine oil causes rubber hoses to deteriorate.

The next item that came to mind was Armor All.  But further reading led me to believe that Armor All and other silicon based preservatives actually damage rubber and plastic over time.

So, what do people recommend for treating their engine bay components to slow down oxidation, corrosion, and general deterioration?

Thanks for any suggestions,

MC