well i just took my truck in to have the oil and the coolant changed. i was watching them as they changed the coolant. when they were doing it one of the hoses blew off the tank and sprayed coolant all over my engine bay. pretty much covered the whole front of the truck. i went out to ask what happened and the manager was like "im trying to find that out". i told them they need to clean ALL the coolant off. and he just looked at me and said that they would wipe it down. long story short, they didnt wipe it all down. my distributors and wires and battery and intake filter had coolant all over them. they offered to spray it down with water. i almost hit the guy in the face when he said that. the manager proceeded to tell me that he had a mustang with the same engine and more performance parts than mine and that he sprays his with water all the time. and he tried to tell me it wouldnt hurt anything. so i flipped him off and left the place. is all the coolant on my engine going to hurt anything? im really just worried about my wires and distributor, they have gotten wet before and it didnt turn out too well

 

Talk about sh*tty service.....I avoid the car service chains like the plague, espically since my mothers car blew up the day after it got a major service. Likely cause was determined to be spilled fluids/gas that hadn't been wiped up.

Anyway, getting the engine all wet with anything isn't a great idea. Sure, it's meant to deal with moisture from the rainy day or wet roads but it one little droplet of anything gets in the wrong place all sorts of wonky issues can result.

You should be okay, but I'd make a stink about the service out of principle. If the actual air filter element got coolant on it, replace it, and make them pay for it. If they give you a hard time, just even mention "lawsuit" even if you wouldn't dream of having one. That gets them to cooperate REAL fast.

If any issues arise with poor performance or spark issues, haul it right back there and get it fixed on their time and parts.

LOL...gotta love the techie who "does this all the time to his car". He doesn't mention his performance mods are fake carbon fiber pedals, a giant-*** spoiler on his 1.2L 90hp Hyundai, and a stereo that rattles all the tinfoil door panels.

Coolant leaves a smelly residue(even after wiping) that attracts animals and small children. Next thing you know a family of chipmunks will take up residence under your hood.

 

You're talking about your 98 right?

It doesn't have a distributer.

And it is really ok to hose off an engine. With the engine off the only thing you really need to worry about is the power distribution block and alternator (the alternator really won't mind it either as long as its not running).

Engines are a sealed mass of metal, plastic, and wire, water won't hurt it. How do you think they get the engine bay of new and used trucks so clean at the dealer? Magic?

Don't get me wrong, it sucks that they got coolant all over, but accidents happen and water wouldn't hurt to rinse it off with.

 

It should have been wiped down and BLOWN DRY immediately!! I would be pi$$ed!!

Blow both coil pacs dry w/compressed air.

Blow all spark plug chambers out.

Water will collect on top of the block below the manifold if sprayed down and stay in there for awhile. You don't want that. What it will do is rust the water pump pipe stem and eventually compromise the two O-Ring seals that your heater core inlet tube connects to..

Water is hell on the ignition systems, specially if there not protected with dielectric grease and silicone wire sealer..

 

sorry i meant the coil packs

 

im gonnna clean my filter tonight. hopefully the coolant didnt ruin it. i will really be pissed if it did.

 

yeh ur fine get some mild degreaser cleaner spray it all down and lightly spray it down with water. try not to get to much around the plug holes and the alternator.

 

spray a bunch of wd-40 on important things (coil packs, alternator, etc) then wash it down (wd-40 helps displace water) then go back through with more wd.... just an idea. Sorry this happened to you bud, You'd think they would have better customer service (being a part shop owner, I appreciate ALL my customer's business... it puts food in my belly and pays for my nice truck!)

 

its not ok to hose off the engine. water gets down around the plug boots and causes a miss, not fun to fix...

 

thats exactly what i told him. and he assured me that he had done it on several cars before. i was like "well you're a dumb a$$" and thats when i left. lol

 

I have pressure washed mine every month since I purchased it and have never had a problem. Sure dont blast water near COPS or any other ignition components, but other than that he should be fine. My engine bay looks better than the day my truck drove off the lot

 

ya im not gonna take a chance

 

Well choose your poison, water or antifreeze all over your motor. I would take my chances with water and just be careful

 

I had a transmission flush. They removed my Intake. Not only did they lose some bolts for my intake and installed it improperly. but I saw transmission fluid was all over my left tire,suspension, engine, radiator and throughout the front of the frame. I Thought it was supposed to flush the transmission, NOT the engine. It was still leaking fluid from the overspray when I got home. Needless to say I was very PO, but just wiped it myself. If you clean the engine yourself at the pressure washers I believe they say to just cover the distributor cap, battery and any larger relays where water might get in. Also to not Force or spray directly on electrical parts but on solid engine surfaces. Unfortunately some shops don't hire professionals or are in such a hurry that they don't care to pay attention to details. They have so much work that they don't care if you go back or not. Sad truth.

 

KILL THEM!!!! lol Thats probably what I would have done!!! Thats exactly why I try to do all of my work myself...just because if I do the job I know it gets done right and I dont have to worry about some dumbass messing up my truck! I would make them pay for anything that is damaged.