My 2000 F150 4x4's engine compartment is starting to look really dirty. Quite a bit of sand in there. I have seen on this site that people have washed their engine compartment but many have had a problem with misfiring afterwards. What is the best method to wash the engine compartment? I have a spray nozzle I can put on the end of a garden hose that I can set to spray very little water, but still at enough pressure to wash everything off. Do I just need to be careful not to directly spray the coil packs? How do you guys do it?

 

Best method? Don't. You can be as careful as you want or can be, you're still probably gonna end up with more problems after washing the engine.

The most I do personally is blow the dirt and dust out of nooks and crannys with compressed air.

 

personally i know the feeling... i go mudding and a couple days later it looks like heck in there. i have tried the car wash thing.. ya u misfire. i have resorted to good old fashion paper towels water and some soap... dont use a hose or u might misfire again. its a long process.

 

I've spoke to a lot of people about it. People, for instance, very experienced people that are in the automotive industry recommend you not to touch it, because, most don't know how and end up ruining costly parts. and I guess an old saying is that the reason cars have hoods is so nothing gets in there. They just are giving you advice to say don't risk ruining any engine parts. You pretty much just need to know what you're doing. Like cover up fuse boxes, alternators, etc. Anything that you think you should cover, do it just to be safe. Because newer vehicles are designed to have their engine compartment pretty much sealed off from water, you should not have a problem. Again, if you know what you're doing and have the right procedures down. Here check out this link, I'm sure it'll help you and so will the website. This is a link to when I detailed my engine compartment a couple months ago. Just click on the link and scroll down, I have a lot of before and after pics. Have any questions, just join the forum and ask anything, everyone will be more than happy to help you out. I'm not saying that you should detail your engine compartment, I'm just saying, if you have the confidence, the proper procedures, products/tools, and knowledge. You shouldn't have any problems. But of course it's up to you whether or not you want to take the chance because I know the other guys are telling you not to and it's making you a little up tight about it. But just check out the link. I had no problems whatsoever and was very happy I did it. Plus, it's actually very easy. BTW my posts are under F-150 on that forum.http://meguiarsonline.com/forums/sho...0&pagenumber=2

 

I third the motion, if you don't know what you're doing, don't do it. And (no offense meant here) if you're asking for the best way, you don't know.

I don't like to do it and I do it professionaly. Fortunately, over the years of doing it I have only had one car with an issue, and somehow it got water into on of the cylinders. (old isuzu)

 

Really, I'm getting a little apprehensive about washing it anymore. My friend even calls me gay, joking and envious because I have some time to do it and he has a family, haha.

From now on all I'm going to do is lightly mist trying not to get electrical, and mist on some all purpose and use a old wash mit. After it's all soaped up, a light mist to rinse then use a strong wash cloth paper towel whatever to soak up and hit spots I missed. You're never going to be perfect so why try. Make the plastic look good and other spots.

Nothing bad has ever happened as a result before, (knock on wood) but when I replaced the plugs I noticed some had a lot of rust, so now I'll be more careful. Actually, alot of time I just use a damp cloth and that works good. Good luck. We must like our trucks if were this **** right people?

 

I have the 4.2V6 and dont have to worry about coil packs.I cover the coil and alternator,spray it down with de-greaser,wait about 15-20 minutes,then rinse it off.I then use my leaf blower to dry any excess water and start it up.After I see there are no problems I then use STP silicone spray on the whole engine compartment.It looks like factory when i'm done.And,no misses,rough running,or hesitation.

 

steam cleaner then shut the hood and let the engine idle for 15 min.. it will boil off any water

 

I spray everything down with Malco Red Thunder (1:2) let it set a few and then wash everything down with a 1300 PSI washer using a 30deg tip, never had any problems with it.

 

I have always taken my vehicles, for the last 40 years, to quarter car washes to wash my engines. Nothing is sacred, except my last truck, I had a K&N filter, on a AirAid pipe. I hit intake, heads, front of engine near the water pump, etc. I've never had a problem (YET) But with my 06 F-150, I will go easy on the passenger side of the firewall, due to the HUGE electrical connections.

Wish me luck

 

I use the Armoral tough dirt removal wipes (Dont know what they are really called ) and just spend some time wiping down all the major plastic and lines in there.

 

I think he's refering to opinions on the safest way to detail an engine compartment and still get great results. (the link I posted shows what I used)I didn't know how last year, doesn't mean I couldn't learn though, considering there's a first for everything, right? But I did talk to a professional detailer, because, I was once skeptical about it, he told me what to use and procedures and assured me that there'll be no problems because I have a newer model vehicle.

 

please disregard this post. I hit back to edit the last post and accidentally reposted the same thing.

 

I myself i'm not much into detailing the engine compartment (call me lazy ). I cover everything the owners manual specifies and use my presure washer....at a distance of course. Works great for me, but that doesn't mean something might happen in the future.

 

Yeah, but the problem is that more and more these days they are putting a greater quantity of exposed electrical components under the hood. And yeah, you can learn new things everyday, and maybe 99% of the group never has an issue, but what about the poor sap in the 1% that ends up with $2000 worth of electrical damage? I've seen it happen. Is getting a little dirt off worth $2000 to anyone here?

Also
Check that bottle. Alot of those sprays are actually flammable and I have seen pictures of a select few that ignited. Not pretty