is it bad for the car if i hose down everything under the hood? its really dirty under the hood so i want to clean it... is it bad tho?

 

its not bad its a good thing to do once and a while jsut make sure u cover up ur dizzy and any major electrical wiring and ur good to go

 

what do i cover it up with?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ahloung &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">what do i cover it up with?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Zip lock bag with duct tape tightly around it.

 

my dizzy gets a little wet n no probs, just dont power wash directly on it

 

how about the alternator? theres vents and stuff in it, should I cover that too?

 

a guy at kregans told me to cover the starter too

 

Cover up alarm sirens and wires that are exposed as well. Cover up the air filter as well if you have an exposed one.

 

I wash EVERYTHING. I never cover up the dist or alt. Never had one issue either. When I worked at Toyota, we would wash everything when we were done working on the cars. Only had problems with a few REALLY old cars that were heaps to begin with.

 

ill just cover what i can with holes and wires.. and hose everything down..

 

i can spray the engine degreaser too right?

 

The best engine degreaser is this stuff called Mean Green. They sell it at Family Dollar, and it works very well.

If you have access to a pressure washer, use 1:5 mean green and water. You will be surprised how clean this stuff gets your greasy engine!

 

No matter what you cover and what not, let the engine run, otherwise no fun starting it when you are done

 

The only thing I've ever had a problem with is water getting down under the spark plug wires. I still spray out the engine, I also blow out the plug holes afterwards...

edit:
don't do it with the engine hot, warm is fine... hot + degreaser = carmelized degreaser...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by miahmouse &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
edit:
don't do it with the engine hot, warm is fine... hot + degreaser = carmelized degreaser...</TD></TR></TABLE>

Listen to him

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Dirrrty T &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">No matter what you cover and what not, let the engine run, otherwise no fun starting it when you are done </TD></TR></TABLE>
your engine will start fine, trust me...
You dont want to spray your engine while its running, the intake will suck up water..
too much water = hydro lock

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by EJ8VTEC &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Listen to him


your engine will start fine, trust me...
You dont want to spray your engine while its running, the intake will suck up water..
too much water = hydro lock </TD></TR></TABLE>

Its not going to suck up water man unless you sit there and HOSE the filter. Even then you would need an aftermarket intake also. We ALWAYS washed the engines at Toyota with the vehicles running. You don't want to use cold water on a hot engine though. It has nothing to do with carmalized degreaser... It has to do with cracking the block/head.

 

yeah, but if your using a powerwasher u really dont always have controle of the temp..

but yeah i feel u on that.. but who knows this guy doesnt even kno how to change his oil so to be safe i would say shut it off n wash it cold.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by EJ8VTEC &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">yeah, but if your using a powerwasher u really dont always have controle of the temp..

but yeah i feel u on that.. but who knows this guy doesnt even kno how to change his oil so to be safe i would say shut it off n wash it cold.</TD></TR></TABLE>

LOL. I guess with that in mind that it might be best.

 

so i will just wash it warm... and not cover anything.. thx

 

I turn mine off and wash it all the time, it's fine. Just don't be direct about it with the power washer whenever you are sparying the spark plug and major electrical areas.

It will be fine...just do it cold to avoid the steam

 

block off the distributor and intake if its aftermarket

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Hybrid93Eg &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Its not going to suck up water man unless you sit there and HOSE the filter. Even then you would need an aftermarket intake also. We ALWAYS washed the engines at Toyota with the vehicles running. You don't want to use cold water on a hot engine though. It has nothing to do with carmalized degreaser... It has to do with cracking the block/head.</TD></TR></TABLE>

So how does the cold water from the radiator (car just got to temp) not crack the block when the thermostat opens? If your engine is getting hot enough that tap temp water will crack it then you've got bigger problems...

 

coolant warms progressivly and even when coming out of the rad, its still warm. Just the extreme temp differences might crack it because the metal will expand a littlebit and then the cold water will cause shrinking on the surface, cracking the metal because the cooling is uneven.

 

if you wanna clean your engine bay don't half *** it, take out the intake manifold, take out the harness, and really get in there and clean it/paint it/wrap it, wire tuck, etc.. but if your asking to hose it down...

my guess is you have a intake a header, and a fart can. nuff said,

 

here's what I usually do.

with the engine off, but slightly warm I spray it down with degreaser (I usually use simple green, but if it's really bad I use Gunk). Don't spray directly on wiring connectors or the distibutor

start the engine and let it run for a couple minutes to warm up

hose off the engine and the warm oil/degrease mixture just washed right off.

If you're carefull about where you spray you should be fine. If you're worried you can cover the distributor, plug wires and fuse box with tin foil. It's not waterproof so don't blast it with the hose, but will keep direct streams of water away.

After you're done go for a drive to dry it off.