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**Rashiki** · 06-16-2007, 02:51 AM

ehhhh hit or miss really with washing an engine, especially a newer model with a multitude of electronics residing under the hood. In theory the connections should be water tight, and under normal usage i'm sure they are, however I doubt they ever intended to have a pressure washer aimed at them. My camaro is especially intolerant of water under the hood in certain spots, particularly the poorly designed ignition system, a costly repair. I've used enginebrite and a hose on my previous winter beater car, and it came out very well. I just used plastic bags and tape to cover ignition coils/fuse boxes before I started, and didn't aim the water stream directly at any electrical component, I specifically stayed concentrated in the metal areas. Some recommend keeping the car running when doing this. Also stay away from the air intake, I had a friend who inadvertently sprayed a stream in the air assembly and got about half a mile before the car quit. I remember taking spark plugs out and turning the car over to be greeted with a fresh stream of water coming from the empty hole.

All horror stories aside, I think if you stayed away from electrical components, used a pre-treat de-gunking spray, and used low pressure to wash, you should be ok. If you have qualms about it, just do it at home and take a few minutes to cover some of the larger electric components and take your time :)

06-16-2007, 02:51 AM	#2 (permalink)
Rashiki Mentor Hardware Team Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 878 OS: Win XP Pro SP2	Re: Engine cleaning ehhhh hit or miss really with washing an engine, especially a newer model with a multitude of electronics residing under the hood. In theory the connections should be water tight, and under normal usage i'm sure they are, however I doubt they ever intended to have a pressure washer aimed at them. My camaro is especially intolerant of water under the hood in certain spots, particularly the poorly designed ignition system, a costly repair. I've used enginebrite and a hose on my previous winter beater car, and it came out very well. I just used plastic bags and tape to cover ignition coils/fuse boxes before I started, and didn't aim the water stream directly at any electrical component, I specifically stayed concentrated in the metal areas. Some recommend keeping the car running when doing this. Also stay away from the air intake, I had a friend who inadvertently sprayed a stream in the air assembly and got about half a mile before the car quit. I remember taking spark plugs out and turning the car over to be greeted with a fresh stream of water coming from the empty hole. All horror stories aside, I think if you stayed away from electrical components, used a pre-treat de-gunking spray, and used low pressure to wash, you should be ok. If you have qualms about it, just do it at home and take a few minutes to cover some of the larger electric components and take your time :) __________________ ASUS P5WD2 Premium v0709 \| Intel Prescott 3.2ghz \| 2gb Corsair XMS DDR2-800 PC2-6400 \| Sparkle Power 550w PSU \| ATI All-In-Wonder X600 Pro \| Sound Blaster Audigy 4 \| CoolerMaster Aluminum Case \| WD Raptor 76gb 10K RPM SATA HDD \|ASUS CD/DVD RW Combo Drive \| Mitsumi 7-in-1 Floppy Combo Drive \| Coolermaster Copper Heatsink