I need a little help here. Yesterday I sprayed down the engine bay with some simple green and hosed it off with a small mist. Now the truck runs rought at WOT. It idles fine and easy in-town driving it runs great. However, when I put a load on the engine and the supercharger starts to make boost it feels like the engine is missing a little and/or the blow-off valve is always open. The check engine light is NOT on. It's scheduled to be looked at tomorrow, but I would like to get some ideas of what to expect.

Perhaps its a good time to go ahead and invest in a Kenne Bell.

 

probably a coil pac.

 

I still don't understand what causes this. I've drenched my engine with simple green and then pressure washed every inch of it (except the filter) and have never had any issues. I must have done this 50 times.

 

that is comforting. i am scared to do this and have been doing it by hand with a rag for years, and the engine nevers gets very clean this way. I was planning on doing it this weekend for the first time. so **** i think i have read every engine detailing write up on the internet and I am still scared!

 

when i bought my L the dealership had washed the engine bay....3 days after i bought i blew a plug. water got down inside under the coil pack. so i havnt washed mine. but i usually have worse luck then most so thats holding me off from doin it

 

I have actually washed the engine like this numerous times as well. When I dropped in at the dealership to schedule the service, I made the mistake of telling them that I washed the engine bay with water. Just like a dealership service rep, he acted like I was pretty stupid to clean it that way.

Oh well. I guess this just happens once in a while. If this is the first time it's happened to me out of the numerous times I've washed the engine, then I'm doing pretty good.

Perhaps we need to do a poll and find out how many people have had problems after washing the engine. Be interesting to know if it happens more so on specific years.

 

I wash mine 5 - 10 times a year and have never had a problem.

 

At least in the old distributor days, it was advised that it's best to wash the engine while it's running (but not HOT). That way, if water got into the cap, it could be spun off as quickly as it got it.

That's an old habit I still use. While there's no distributor, at least if the engine stumbles, you might have some indication of where not to let the water go next time.

 

I have been washing the engine, at least once a month, for the past 7 years, I use that engine wash foam, then hose it off. Then I use the air compressor to blow all the standing water, never had an issue…

 

I POWERwash my motor once a year. I first spray it with Total Cycle Cleaner made by S100. Use a clean paintbrush to loosen the grit. Then I power blast it with a pressure washer. I let it air dry for several hours. Yeah it sometimes misses for a little while but it steams out and the motor still looks new, 2000. No problems.

 

Well, when I was driving it to the shop the other day it stopped acting up. Guess it dried up by itself. However, come to think of it this was one of the few times I washed the engine while it wasn't hot. Typically I turn the engine on right after I wash it and drop the hood and let some of the water burn off. I didn't do it this time because the K&N was off getting cleaned.

All that said, maybe I should tell the wife the eaton is bad and I have to get a new KB.

 

Yea I wash my motor bay all the time and never had a problem. I just try to lightly sprinkle water just enough to rinse and nothing more. I just need to find something that gets the grime off the motor nicely that doesn't corrode or leave a white film looking residue. I heard Simple Green can corrode or leave a film on metal? Regular engine degreaser doesn't really get the metal pristine looking like the way I want it to.

I used to get this stuff for my dirt bikes in the mid 90's that was purple in color, smelled like grapes, had a thick almost goo-like viscosity, and when sprayed on metal ALL grime melted off the motor and metal parts effortlessly and it left the metal looking brand new showroom - it really "brightened" metal as well as cleaned. Wish I could remember what the stuff was called. More opinions on Simple Green? I hear a lot of good stuff about it for cleaning engine bays but never tried it myself for fear it might turn some parts white!