Washing the engine bay

[Specter]

i am afraid if i wash it with a high pressure water pipe like at the gas pumps i might get some sensors wet and will be in trouble? Havent washed it after the swap, what should i do? Should i clean it all by hand? Or should i shower it hoping that all will end well?

 

[pwrneeds90]

Put engine degreaser and let it sit for a bit and rinse it off.Should be clean after that if you see anything left just clean it with your hand thats how I do mine hasnt let me down. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[turbowop]

This has been discussed before with mixed opinions...

I have washed the engine bays on both my cars hundreds of times with no issues. Just use common sense and don't put the nozzle right up against anything that could potentially go bad due to water. Spray everything down really well with SimpleGreen first and scrub the really bad areas if you feel the need to.

 

[cheekychimp]

Mark,

Do you 'wrap' any of the sensors prior to pressure washing? Having seen how clean your engine bay is this is something I'd like to do on several of my cars. I appreciate that the engine compartment should be able to be washed with limited repercussions but like the OP I too would value some advice on any areas to be careful. I know the MAF (including the air filter if it is open and anything to do with spark are areas to avoid flooding if possible, but anything else?

Paul.

 

[CarRacer]

I'd watch out for the CAS. I helped out a member who had washed his engine. It fogged up the photoreceptors and wouldn't let the car fire.

Other than that, use common sense and you'll be fine.

 

[turbowop]

I don't wrap anything. I also don't hit the air filter directly if I'm just doing a quick rinse down. When working on a really dirty bay I'll remove intercooler piping and other things in the way to get deeper into the engine bay and clean those parts by hand if needed.

 

[4thStroke]

Quoting turbowop:
When working on a really dirty bay I'll remove intercooler piping and other things in the way to get deeper into the engine bay and clean those parts by hand if needed.



Oh, the pitfalls of OCD. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[turbowop]

It's weird though. I'm only like this with cars. For instance, I thrash my ski gear and ski good/newer skis in probable rocky terrain without a care, while others are worried about scratches on the tops. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/dunno.gif

 

[atc250r]

I do pretty much the same thing as wopper does. If you can, grab the water outlet off the bottom of your hot water heater, not only will it help loosen up the stubborn stuff you'll be getting the sediment out of the bottom of the heater at the same time. I prefer to use either Castrol Super Clean or Spray Nine over Simple Green for really tough jobs. For a "maintenance" cleaning the Green is perfect. Avoiding the CAS sounds like a good idea, maybe just put a sandwich bag over it and wrap it with tape.

John

 

[turbowop]

I guess I'll add that with 503 I wasn't sure how well the MAFT box would handle water, so I put a grocery shopping plastic bag over it the few times I've washed the engine bay. I'll also put one over the filter if I feel like it, but usually just direct the water away from it.

 

[dsmless]

That was me, what i do is cover the CAS with a plastic bag and put a rubber band around it to keep it form getting water in there, dont get stranded at a car meet like I did and have to pay the tow guy to get your sh----t