Washing your engines

losttourist · **Posted:** Tue Mar 07, 2006 11:30 pm

Well now that spring is around the corner it's got me thinking about cleaning my engine area. One thing I was very impressed when I bought my libby from the dealer last month was how brand spanking new the engine etc looked when I popped the hood. I mean it's an 02 , I traded my 02 dakota and while I regularly kept the engine clean it didnt look brand new.
Anyway I was talking to my supervisor at work who was admiring my libby , so we popped the hood open and he was like , is this a new jeep? ( even though now its not quite as clean as it was a month ago ) I told him that it was soon time to get my bucket and rags, tooth brush etc and start keeping her clean. He laughed at me and said why not just power wash it? That's what he's done for years with no problems...of course keeping the engine running while power washing.
Here's my question...is power washing the engine compartment alright? It sure would make maintaing a clean looking engine easier.! My concern is for the electronics and anything else that might be water sensitive.
Does anyone else here care to keep under the hood looking nice? I realize it's a jeep and it's not supposed to stay clean..but for me keeping the stuff under the hood as clean as possible has always been a source of pride for me.. I love it when Ive taken my past vehicles into the garage and the mechanic says ..you take good care of your engine huh?
Of course being able to speed up the process with power washing would be great , so I could spend more time driving .

let me know your thoughts on this
(sorry if my post is a little winded as well) :oops:

priell3 · **Posted:** Tue Mar 07, 2006 11:43 pm

I wash the mud off my engine with the garden hose and a fairly good spray. I do it with the engine running washing off the dirt and evaporating water at the same time. Then I leave it run for a while for the heat to dry things up.

crazydave · **Posted:** Wed Mar 08, 2006 1:40 am

I ususally used the degreaser function then rinse with the spotfree (both are light pressure) but I do keep the engine running.

JJsTJ · **Posted:** Wed Mar 08, 2006 8:32 am

Garden hose, engine off, elbow grease after to dry her off and wipe her down. If you use it, Be careful with high pressure around any electrical connectors and such as it MIght force water into places you don't want it.
My 03 engine compartment looks pretty dang clean considering all the dirt it has been subjected to.

Ron · **Posted:** Wed Mar 08, 2006 10:45 am

Cold engine, spray a liberal amount of simple green, let it soak for a few minutes and hit it with the hose. Just be careful of the electrics and connectors (no matter how water tight they say they are you can still get them wet if you're not careful) then fire it up to dry.

Jeepjeepster · **Posted:** Wed Mar 08, 2006 10:46 am

My engine looks like new if i just spray it with the garden hose. I usually drive it down the road after Im done then bring it back and wipe all of the plastic off. Looks like it did the day I brought it home! I dont get alot of mud in there though.

LibertyCRD · **Posted:** Wed Mar 08, 2006 11:22 am

I agree...engine OFF is the best way to go. If you spray a cold engine you don't have to worry about cracking exhaust manifolds, etc. Hot engine + cool water = bad news. I wash mine out with a powerful sprayer at the carwash or something...and I try to be careful around the air intake and electronics.

Se7enLC · **Posted:** Wed Mar 08, 2006 4:41 pm

Are there any particular places that would be vulnurable to water? This is good to know for washing as well as for fording deep water.

I know it makes sense to avoid hosing down the battery, but where else should I avoid? Probably the fuse box as well. I wonder if any of these things should be waterproofed?

As for the engine on vs engine off, I can see both cases. I would be very susprised if water from a hose could crack anything on the engine. The only time I've ever heard of cracking things due to temperature difference is throwing hot water on a frozen windshield (which is just stupid). I would personally leave it on so that way it will evaporate and move out the water that gets in where it's not supposed to.

Jeepjeepster · **Posted:** Wed Mar 08, 2006 4:55 pm

Do not leave the engine on when spraying it, thats just a bad idea. I dont mean to put anyone down either.

I would not spray the alternator, fuse box, any of the sensors on the intake, and stay away from elec. connectors. The battery is ok to spray all day long. When I did mine, the check engine light came on and the engine temp sensor threw a code. I unhooked it and let it dry then all was well.

raceinfan · **Posted:** Wed Mar 08, 2006 5:28 pm

Ron wrote:

Cold engine, spray a liberal amount of simple green, let it soak for a few minutes and hit it with the hose. Just be careful of the electrics and connectors (no matter how water tight they say they are you can still get them wet if you're not careful) then fire it up to dry.

DITTO,usualy do it first thing in the morning then take it for a drive I do the whole compartment everything gets done,battery,fuse box,etc.etc. no problems yet

Jeepjeepster · **Posted:** Wed Mar 08, 2006 9:29 pm

Those things can get wet, just dont hit them head on with the water.

losttourist · **Posted:** Wed Mar 08, 2006 10:53 pm

Well thanks to all of you for your help and information on this subject! I appreciate the time in posting all
of your advice.

thanks again!

vxla · **Posted:** Sun Mar 12, 2006 1:43 am

hell i just blast it wiht the power wash. just be careful around the air intake and the electronics. degreaser works great too. ive done this about 50 times now.

ZERO6 · **Posted:** Sun Mar 12, 2006 12:57 pm

Hey a little late with this, sorry new here. I use a power washer on low, with orange Gunk engine cleaner, and the trick to making it look factory shiny, is to use engine detail. Thats what it is called up here, use that and the dirt does not stick to good and hoses right off. And do it before the winter if your in the climate, and makes for easy clean up in the spring.

www.cardomain.com/ride/2291075/1

EugeneTheJeep06 · **Posted:** Sun Mar 12, 2006 1:23 pm

Heres a great page on detailing your engine, the site over all has alot for good detailing info for your rig. Hope this helps !!

http://www.autopia-carcare.com/inf-engine.html

losttourist · **Posted:** Sun Mar 12, 2006 6:53 pm

lots of great info thanks guys, EugeneTheJeep06 that link is extremely helpful ! Good find. !

mikemd · **Posted:** Tue Apr 18, 2006 5:26 am

I just came accross this post and was surprised at everyones thoughts. I too wash me engine every so often. I usually cover the air intake with a plastic bag and avoid direct spray to the distributer and other electrical components. Last weekend I used "Gunk" (great stuff by-the-way) And the next time I drove my lib the engine light was on. First I recieved eror code 2317 (packet coil short) and then P0304 (cylinder #4 misfire detected) in addition. I looked carfully at the packet coil connections and they appear dry. I don't see any puddles inside the engine compartment. The care certainly does NOT feel like a cylinder is misfireing. But that darn light bothers me to know end . I'm loosing sleap. Anyone else have this problem? Do I need to pull the plugs and wires to make sure they are dry inside? Help please! Thanks

Jeepjeepster · **Posted:** Tue Apr 18, 2006 10:25 am

mikemd wrote:

I just came accross this post and was surprised at everyones thoughts. I too wash me engine every so often. I usually cover the air intake with a plastic bag and avoid direct spray to the distributer and other electrical components. Last weekend I used "Gunk" (great stuff by-the-way) And the next time I drove my lib the engine light was on. First I recieved eror code 2317 (packet coil short) and then P0304 (cylinder #4 misfire detected) in addition. I looked carfully at the packet coil connections and they appear dry. I don't see any puddles inside the engine compartment. The care certainly does NOT feel like a cylinder is misfireing. But that darn light bothers me to know end . I'm loosing sleap. Anyone else have this problem? Do I need to pull the plugs and wires to make sure they are dry inside? Help please! Thanks

I would say it got wet when you first sprayed it and threw a code. I would unhook the battery and see if it comes back on. If it does I would remove the #4 coil and make sure its dry.

mikemd · **Posted:** Tue Apr 18, 2006 12:05 pm

Do you know how the cylinders are numbered (i.e. which one is #4). Sorry if this is a stupid question.

longarm · **Posted:** Wed May 10, 2006 5:45 am

I LOVE AUTOPIA. Most of everything I learned came from there. Thats also where I buy my stuff.

Washing your engines

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