My engine bayt is a little dirty and was wodnering if it was safe to spray the bay down with a hose?

 

Personally, I wouldn't.

There are far to many nooks and crannies for water to get into around the electrical system.
If you must, cover everything electrical with saran wrap or similar and don't use high pressure.

 

If you do a quick search both here and in the Engines forum (where there's a recent post on it), I think you'll find out that the short answer is "No." If you want the medium answer, it's "OK, take your chances, but most folks end up with all sorts of electrical problems." If you want the long answer, it's "You're more likely than not to be visiting your friendly mechanic, so if you're serious about putting bread on his table - go ahead." Get my drift? I've given up on spraying mine.

 

Very risky. The only engine compartment that I detail is my own... and it's not done with water. I will not do an engine for a client simply because I couldn't afford to buy a new BMW brain box or a similar part for a CTS... Just too risky.

Your best bet is to get in there with a light all-purpose cleaner and a lot of elbow grease IMO.

RP

 

Not sure what you guys are doing to screw up the engines... and maybe I'm the exception here, but I've cleaned the engine compartments in my vehicles numerous times.. as well has my brother with his BMW 740, 540 & 530.... no problems whatsover...

Warm it up a little, spray it down with Scrubbling Bubbles (yes, THAT Scrubbing Bubbles), rinse moderately with a hose (don't blast water naturally), blow off excess water using a leaf blower, spray entire engine down with Vinylex (or some other WATER-BASED) protectant, let sit a few minutes, blow excess off again with a leaf blower. Done... make sure you throw a towel over fenders & lower windshield to catch any excess that gets blown off.

Simple & very effective.... 20 min tops to complete.

 

Patience grasshopper, your time will come. I too did it for years with no problems. Then I gently washed my 2002 before dropping it off (as a trade in) to my dealer and picking up my 2005. You want to talk about problems?! I'll never do it again.

 

I do it but I'm very cautious. In fact the owner's manual recommends it and shows you what should be covered.

Now I would never do anyone else's but I do clean my motor.

Engine degreaser, Castrol SuperClean, brushes and hose.

I've never had a problem.

 

Doesnt your engine compartment get wet when it rains. When i look under the hood after being on the highway in heavy rain, the engine has water a ll over it. Im pretty sure with all the fine mist that gets introduced into the grill that some of the water gets places that we dont want.

 

yea but that isnt anywhere close to spraying it with a hose...

 

It's a truck for crying out loud. I'm thinking it is supposed to get dirty.

 

I don't wash behind my ears.

I did it once and ended up taking myself in to the dealer.

 

 

I spray my engine off with a garden hose every other week to get the dirt and crap off it from the muddy job site I'm on and I have had no problems with the engine at all. I think the worst thing that happened one day the spark plugs got filled with water and was causing a miss, but a 10 minute drive cured that in no time.

 

Sure it is:



But cleaning it is as much fun as making it dirty

 

This is sort of a weird question.

I worked at a Ford dealership when I was a young pup for my first job and we actually pressure washed EVERY single engine on every single brand new car when they were sold.

Never had a single problem.

However, I detailed my friends 89 Corolla once and we rinsed the engine and it caused all sorts of problems. So I think newer engines might be better off than the older ones.

Maybe read the manual and check on what needs to be covered?