Cleaning Muddy Engine Bay

[knightacoma]

Original link: https://youtu.be/Rd9adBHLJ48


Ready for @nickyreno to yell at me for doing it wrong

 

[nickyreno]

I’ll watch it here in a few. God help you.

 

[nickyreno]

Looked pretty good to me. You rinsed off the hood first which is correct. A lot of people go HAM on the first thing they see (which is typically the engine cover) and then get everything dirty again when they notice the hood, or they forget to do the hood entirely.

Pro tip - cover anything you are worried about getting too wet with a plastic bag/saran wrap, then spot clean separately with engine detailer. I typically do this to aftermarket parts and any sensors that look delicate.

I also like to put a towel on the windshield so I don’t get it too filthy.

One thing I will say though: I would not wash a running engine. I don’t see any benefit to it first off (especially considering you talked about potentially disconnecting the battery), but it’s already hot af and more heat will just dry out your products, and most importantly by running the engine you significantly increase the risk of the intake or PCV or something drawing water into the system. You also start drawing electrical from your alternator to critical components like the ECU and anything attached to your battery.

 

[knightacoma]

Looked pretty good to me. You rinsed off the hood first which is correct. A lot of people go HAM on the first thing they see (which is typically the engine cover) and then get everything dirty again when they notice the hood, or they forget to do the hood entirely.

Pro tip - cover anything you are worried about getting too wet with a plastic bag/saran wrap, then spot clean separately with engine detailer. I typically do this to aftermarket parts and any sensors that look delicate.

I also like to put a towel on the windshield so I don’t get it too filthy.

One thing I will say though: I would not wash a running engine. I don’t see any benefit to it first off (especially considering you talked about potentially disconnecting the battery), but it’s already hot af and more heat will just dry out your products, and most importantly by running the engine you significantly increase the risk of the intake or PCV or something drawing water into the system. You also start drawing electrical from your alternator to critical components like the ECU and anything attached to your battery.

Great tips thanks man!

I’ve heard conflicting stuff about engine running vs. unplugged completely, but yeah I can definitely see an argument for both ways. Also, I let the truck cool off before applying the degreaser & detail spray so it didn’t leave residue.

my logic was that the engine bay for just as wet but also muddy when I was offroad, so I don’t think a pressure washer (wide tip from at least 3ft away) would be any more volume of water.

At the same time, my worry doing it with the engine off is water getting into something electrical and sitting there for some time and when I turn it back on it shorts. Similar to how they tell you not to turn your truck off if you’re stuck in deep mud/water. Whereas with the engine running (and hot) there’s a better chance that the water either evaporates or gets blown away by a moving part.

Definitely something I’ll do some more research on. My intuition was telling me to do it unplugged, but my curiosity led me to do it running like I said I can see pros/cons for each method

 

[Tape]

0

 

[nickyreno]

I'm just the opposite, I won't pressure wash a motor unless it's running, this way if the motor start acting funny I know exactly where to stop and where I was spraying. I've never had any problem with any vehicles pressure washing motors, just use common sense and stay away from electrical components under the hood.

Just my professional opinion, but to each their own.