Engine washing

[Beastly Power]

Is there anything i should be aware of before i pressure wash my engine?

[Ben]

Make sure you ge lots of water around your spark plugs and distributer. :thumbsup:

*do the opposite*

[BigShow]

It's important to soak your air intake and give it a good rinse, also use the foam brush on your distributor cap to remove the dirt...

[Luke 96 T/A]

Just in case you couldn't pick up on the sarcasm... Don't EVER wash your engine bay with a pressure washer!!!!!
Do it by hand, with a rag!!!
Pressure soakers can FORCE water into various parts of your engine... not good ;-)
Use some liquid orange, or some actual engine cleaner degreaser..

[BigShow]

Actually some coin-op carwashes do offer the lighter pressured "engine cleaner" which is safe to use if you know what your doing...

[Ben]

Yeah, Good ole elbow grease is the best way to clean the motor.

[mad_psyentist]

Degreaser and a garden hose on low. Just make sure to either bag up or remove and seal your air filter and other nasty exposed, aftermarket things that may not like a gentle mist (Do ya need to avoid a turbo?... dunno, I ain't gots one... yet). Usually the back of the can tells ya what to do. It's somewhat a no-brainer.

[rice_eater]

Dont be lazy dude and do it with a moist rag!

[SilverRex]

I was told by my dealer it is alright to wash the engine bay, they said if they were to do it for me, the ywould use a pressure washer. The only thing they told me is not to use the engine setting at the coin wash, they contain chemical that can remove the layer of seal or protection I have in my engine bay. So they just recommend me to use water.

so I washed last week and so far so good, clean and still running. OF course they also added, I should leave the engine on when washing it.

[vtec96]

so I washed last week and so far so good, clean and still running. OF course they also added, I should leave the engine on when washing it. [/B][/QUOTE]

:confused: leave the engine on when washing it ???
You sure ??

[RiceCake]

I think you can usually pressure wash most newer engines now due to the fact that the engine, distributer cap, and spark plugs etc are all covered with a big piece of plastic... :)

http://www.psylence.com/Automotive/SpecGTI-041803/005.jpg

[T5_X]

castrol super clean, a bucket of water, a scrub brush and a rag.

[SplineZ]

that castrol stuff is crazy, i was using some "citrus degreaser" and the castrol stuff is far better. Tooo bad its pretty expensive..

So heres what I do now:
get the cheap shit (gunk, motomaster citrus degreaser) spray it on (not on your electronics) and let it sit for a while. then wash it off... Anything that doesnt come off you will need to use the castrol stuff and a "parts cleaning brush" also from CT...

Be weary of using high pressure ANYTHING on your engine.. its just bad news. I have seen sooooo many idiots being pushed out of the carwash because they FORCED water into their distributor, or fuse box..

dumbasses :)

James Z