I have had my 2007 F150 FX4 for a couple of months now. I opened the engine compartment and could not believe how much road grime gets splashed in there. Are the older F150's this bad. Did Ford leave out a fender liner or something that kept the engine compartment clean to cut costs?

 

They do get pretty dirty. I just washed mine. I have to do it more on this truck than others I've owned.

 

Can you give me some cleaning do's and dont's under the hood? I've never cleaned my 05 and it's nasty!!!

 

x2....I'm scared of spraying something like the starter thingy and then my truck won't start.

Also, what is the thing that is pooly placed on our trucks so when you go through big puddles it can get splashed and be damaged.

 

The easiest way to clean you engine is to let it run and warm up. Then spray it down with a hose. Then spray it with simple green and let it set just for a minute or two and hose it off. Nothing with get hurt from a little bit of water. Your engine gets wet all the time just from driving. Simple grren is strong though so dont over use it.

 

When I bought my 2000 F-150 about 4 years ago I thought I would clean the engine compartment. I warmed up the engine and used some degreaser and hosed it off. Within 2 weeks I had to replace two coils. I was told that water would short out the coils. I don't know if the newer models have the same problem.

 

O.K. sounds simple enough but are there any particular areas that I may just want to be careful around anyways?

 

Check your owner's manual for places to cover up or not to spray. You don't want to do this on a HOT engine. An engine that is mildly WARM will be fine. I use full strength Simple Green. I use alot of it. Spray down everything I can. Wash off with a hose. No pressure washers. Just let the water come out the end of the hose. I don't use any dressing afterwards, I find it tends to attract dust.

 

O.K. Thanks for the info.

I suppose a little common sense wouldn't hurt either huh?

 

Careful on using simple green on the aluminum heads. I remember when I was a helicopter mechanic for the Army, that they put out a warning about "hydrogen embrittlement." I guess that simple green causes many alloys of aluminum to become brittle over time.

Here's a cut-paste of the message:

Aircraft Cleaners
>
> Simple Green and other cleaners that are not listed in the
> Technical Manuals are taboo for a very good reason - they
> hurt the metal used to build the machine.
>
> It has been brought to the attention of the U.S. Army
> Aviation Missile Command (AMCOM) Depot Maintenance
> Engineering Team that numerous units are using the
> commercial product SIMPLE GREEN as an aircraft wash.
> STOP! This product has been through Department of Defense
> (DOD) testing and was determined to be highly corrosive
> on aircraft aluminum and also a catalyst for Hydrogen
> Embrittlement in high strength aircraft alloys.
>
> While a highly effective cleaning agent for floors and
> non-aluminum / non-high strength alloy vehicles this
> product is not approved for aviation usage. If your unit
> has been using SIMPLE GREEN on a regular basis, it is
> recommended that a thorough fresh water wash with the
> approved cleaners per the appropriate airframe maintenance
> manuals be accomplished as soon as practicable. This
> should be followed up with a corrosion inspection /
> treatment and application of approved Corrosion
> Prevention Compounds (CPCs).
>
> Mr. Richard Cardinale, corrosion@amcom-cc.army.mil
> (361)961-4041, DSN 861-4041
>
> http://safety.army.mil/pages/lessons...plegreens.html

Note: they do make a simple green that is specifically made to be safe with aluminum called "extreme simple green"

 

DO A SEARCH!!! This has been discussed MANY times.

 

Do a search before starting a thread? sure. Do a search before EVERY reply, I dont think so.

BTW, I did a search after I just read your post, and although there were a few mentions of it, I would by no means agree that this has been "discussed many times before" At least, not in depth.

This is assuming you are referring to my post, not the OP... if I am mistaken, my bad

 

Although this one's been discussed many times, well meaning folks keep getting burned by cleaning under the hood. Funny thing though, some folks have never had a problem - even when blasting away with pressure washers. I myself got flamed by another member last week for suggesting that doing this wrong could lead to problems. Oh well. By the way, if you look in the Electrical forum today, you'll find another victim. I'd advise lots of caution here.

 

That's the key, common sense.

 

No man--your post was pretty interesting...(no need to apologize--it's hard to understand context on the internet sometimes...) the whole engine bay cleaning was what I was referring to. I don't mind obscure questions, but when something like engine bay cleaning comes up and it's not a specific, but a general 'how do you clean it?', I get agitated. That has been discussed many many times... There's even been one from a couple of weeks ago. Some of the people neede to realize that there MUST have been a discussion on something like how to detail an engine bay before... It's a popular area to keep clean.

Sorry fo the rant, but seriously- Sometimes, you should do a search beforehand. THEN ask your question.

I wonder if RP is allowed to say something like that since he's a mod...I know he thinks it...

BTW-- I definately agree with you akheloce: do a search before threads, and post w/o searching.