Thought I would clean up under the hood and pulled out the power washer. I have done this in the past and the engine will run a little ruff but fine after a couple of trips.
After this cleaning it is running bad after three days but seems to be getting better. Any ideas on getting it dried out faster.

 

drive with the hood open....

power washing the engine isn't normally a good idea, for future reference.

I would open the hood and face it toward the sun (parked, dont drive with your hood open, doesnt normally end well.) Put box fans on it and let it dry. Take a good trip in it to heat everything up. Find some stop and go rush hour traffic to sit it to get it up to high temps.

Someone else probably has some better ideas. Good luck.

 

i would get under the hood with an air compressor and spray nozzle. get into every crevice that you possibly can and spray away. make sure you get the plug holes after pulling the wires or coils. driving might irritate the problem.

 

pull the coils out (if cop) and take the springs out and dry them out, id put money on that being your problem

 

The coils can get ruined from being wet. when there old the dielectric grease disappears and they are unprotected water gets in shorts them out and there history. You might need 1 or 2 new ones.

 

I had mine in for the brake hose replacemant yesterday and asked the Service Rep about this. He told me the newer 150s like mine were not quite as easily screwed up by washing but that older ones like yours were very prone to running badly after water was forced in around the plugs. He still recommended I keep water away from my plugs too though.

I like the suggestion of using forced air to dry things. Maybe a yard blower would work too if you don'r have an air compressor. And azmidget's advice is good too.

As an aside, every now and then I take my computers out on the back patio, open the cases and use my yard blower to blast the dust out. It's amazing how clean they are after this and I have not damaged one yet. Too bad a yard blower won't get rid of mud spots in the engine bay of our trucks!

- Jack

 

yeah i had it happen to me thats what i did(what i posted before) and the inside of the rubber tube on the coils was wet, i dried them out and put them back in and ran great

o and just thought i would add, that since this happened to my old truck(00 f150) this is what the engine on my new truck looks like....well actually this was almost 2 years ago.....

 

Thanks for all the options. Actually I ran it over the weekend a couple of times and it ran better each ride.
Thanks again. I will have to find another way to clean it next time.

 

Does the 4.6 have COPS?

 

^^ yes

The best way to clean your engine compartment would be to steam clean it. Hard to find a spot to do it though. I know a local place around here that charges $300 to steam clean. In this county you have to use a special process to "recycle" the water.

The only other way I'd even consider cleaning my engine compartment would be with a bunch of rags and hand power. Maybe some toothbrushes as well. Climb in and start cleaning.

My engine looks pretty damn similiar to AZ's. Dirty as chit. Its not a show truck, so who cares ?

 

I use compressed air once a month or so. A feather duster and red power ball on a drill motor. - IF I feel like it

 

I have a friend who sprays his engine with a cleaner from a fence/deck sprayer and rinses it the same way. He has a distributor that he covers with a plastic bag. Turns out great and still runs. Could pull the COPS, spray the crap out of it and the blow dry with a compressor and then put the COPS back on. Should that work?

 

Looks pretty much like my engine now. It is really clean but I was a little worried when it ran like that for a couple of drives.

I will look into the air deal each month. I just let it go for a bit too long.

 

Silicon wire sealer and di-electric grease. They are made for this reason and a very important part of any install. As soon as the Coil converts signal to pulse - it looks for any exit it can find. Sealing them all up directs more jiggs to the plugs were it's intended to go.

 

x2

I run this on my off-road rig. Helps seal up anythihng/everything and allows for some serious water crossings. (di-electric grease = awesome ! Repels water. Great for a distributor)

But I stand by my original post. unless its a show truck (which it wouldn't get very dirty anyways) its over rated and just too much of a hassle anymore on these newer engines. Maybe its just me.