how do you wash your engine bay after a day of mudding? is it safe to just hose it out or is there antoher way?

 

i use some of that purple power cleaner/degreaser along with my electric pressure washer...i use the electric instead of the gas one b/c i don't want to blow anything away...

 

If you are going to hose it off wait for it to cool. Cover your distributor cap with a plastic bag and go at it. Use simple green and let it soak for a few minutes then hose it off. If you want to get real fancy with it spray the engine and compartment with formula 2001 or armor all and let the engine idle for a few minutes. (that will dry it for you... no wiping!!!!)

 

water then Simple green then some more water.

 

I use my Honda 6.5HP Karcher pressure washer with simple green and cover up the water sensitive parts with plastic. It works awesome, I love blasting grime away with 3000psi! muahaha! its always a good idea to keep a good clean engine, you can see leaks when they happen and your engine will run cooler without caked grime on it to insulate.

 

thanks everybody i just wanted to make sure it would be okay and wouldnt fry anything.

 

Doesn't anyone use the engine cleaner/degreaser from the car wash? That is what I use. I'll spray the engine with the rinse, then use the degreaser, let it sit for a lil bit, then rinse it off. I never pull the trigger when I'm rinsing. My buddy did that to a truck of mine, the idiot, we had to wait at the car wash for like an hour til the distributor dried. When I use the automatic mist from the gun to rinse the engine, I've never had a problem.

 

I just use whatever clean water source available, and douche it out a bit. It is not good for your engine to pressure wash, or hose it down (esp. not with degreaser). just stick to the non wire looking areas, and AVOID the distributor, and the cruise sensors, and any airflow sensors under there, and you should be safe. Make sure you clean the fins out on your radiator.

 

Just in case you find your selves in Djlarroc's position. Make sure you have a can of WD-40 in the toolbox/gear you keep in your rig.

WD= Water Displacing = engine start again after getting distributor cap wet.


And for that buddy that got it wet. Take big Kindergarten pencil and connect all of the towers under his dist cap with a big fat pencil line.

 

I spray Simple Green on the engine while it's running. I then use the spray gun at the wash rack to rinse it off. I just put it on rinse but don't pull the trigger on the wand so I am not spraying high pressure in the bay. After it dries (usually on the drive home) I spray 303 Aerospace Protectant on all the hoses and plastic.

 

wouldnt have a clue. dont think my engine bays been cleaned since it was on the showroom in '86.

 

i've done it few times with just engine cleaners. disconnect the battery "-" first, than cover the battery posts with a sheet of kitchen plastic film, set a wet towl over the plastic film, that way the water wont get around the battery posts. turn the engine on for about 15 seconds, just to bring it to room tempture. spray the engine cleaner on lightly but throughly. let it soak no more than 5 minutes, rinse it done good with garden hose, don't spray, just a slow rinse. wipe-down is optional, i turn the engine on for a few minutes let the heat do the work. note, if you let it soak too long, there will be some white resedues stick on the rubber hoses after they dry out.

 

To get the mud off your vehicle from underneath after mudding...just get one of the sprinklers that arcs 180 from side to side and put it under your rig for about 2 hours. Then come back and rinse.

The Purple Degreaser stuff works good for "cleaning" up and old nasty, dirty greasy engine bay along with a pressure washer.

 

You just need to do a good river crossing after the mud. Personally I think the mud preserves my paint.