So I sold my truck to a guy today, which was actually very sad and emotional moment for me, and was driving away and my phone rang. The truck wont start. I never new why the brake light and battery light went on after I pressure washed the motor, but now I know it means the battery is not getting a charge.

Does getting an alternator wet kill it?? I will replace the alt tomorrow, but I am worried I have some wire in there somewhere that got wet and that is the real problem.

Any ideas?

 

reason why not to power wash it forces water into places it dont need to be ... ive washed mine lots of times with the hose never had a problem i do unhook the battery then take a leaf blower or air compressor to get most the water off

 

lol! I owned an auto detailing business for three years, pressure washed engines avery day and had a problem one time with an older BMW. I also used a hard core engine degreaser.

 

Well idk. I power-washed the engine of my truck the other day and I mean like a thorough washing. I even scrubbed it down by hand. An I am not having any problems with mine. Heck if not anything it actually works better cause its now charging at like 14.7 volts instead of 13.8. Course that might be a bad thing too......

 

its probably just some moisture between the brushes and the commutator of the alternator. if you get water inside the alternator it will not be able to charge either because of what i just said, or because there is a direct short between components (ie: regulator, diodes, commutator, brushes..) tell your buyer to let the alternator dry for a day maybe. or even just let the engine run. and the heat from the engine will evaporate the water.

i usually let my engine run while i wash it off. but i stay away from my distributor and the alternator. although i have had my runner stuck in a sandy river bottom. and my alternator became swamped with water and stopped charging. but almost as soon as i got pulled out and the engine heat wicked the water away it started charging again.

so anyway...it may still be saved by just letting it dry

 

I have been driving it of and on for a couple of days allready since the wash, including some longer 20 minute drives. I would have thought it would have dried by now...

charge controller maybe?? I don't even know where that is..

 

You fried toa alternator by washing it, simple as that.

Replace the alternator, and chalk it up to a lesson learned.

 

I was doing some research on here and there is the possibility that I blew a fuse as well. I will check that for sure. Too bad my truck is at the guys house downtown.

 

Congrats, you just Failed.

 

I've never had a problem from washing the engine bay. I wouldn't spray the alt directly though....

 

My Son gave my engine a bath the other day after I replaced the valve cover gaskets. He used seom degreaser and a low pressure hose for the job. Let me tell you, that was one horrible mistake. The thing didn't run right for a week. I finally took it out and just drove it for about an hour until it completely dried out and now it's fine. I won't be doing that again.

 

alternator wasn't putting out any amps, easy fix. thanks for the help!

 

simple when alt get wet and you start the engine water as a simple rule conducts electriciti so every part is short and maybe the diodes cracks when heat goies up.
if you washed your engine hot the alt is going to be hot to so when you apply water or liquids the diodes cracks
simple simple simple !!!!
cover the alt and ignition and be aware of the ignition coil too!!!!

 

i warped the head on a pos civic one time doing that, engine off and warm i guess the water was cool screwed it up either way

 

I've washed my engines every other month or so for more than 25 years with a hose and spray nozzle attached. Always have done it with the engine cold and then ran the engine for a good half hour driving around. I've never had a single problem. Like the others have said, I don't spray directly onto the alternator or distributor.

 

I always wait till engine is cold and a warm day. I cover the alternator and distributor with foil. I double wrap it with plastic market bags as a double safety. Then, I gently blow off the water with an air hose.

I let the engine sit outside with the hood up for a couple hours - I live in a nice neighborhood. I've never had a problem.

For solvent, I use diluted simple green and a brush. Simple green does a great job and saves the environment since it is biodegradeable. I never use a pressure washer. Just a hose with no nozzle, just rising the engine as the water flows off the hose.

Just my technique.