Car Wash Engine Bay Option

[Colin]

Hey kids. I was wondering, at the car wash (not like the song) is the 'engine bay wash' option a good idea, or a bad idea. I'd like to clean out my engine, but to me, liquid + air + metal = rust so I've never done it. Any info would be cool. Thanks.

[treklav]

Just be careful! i think when i did mine i shorted out some stuff so make sure that when you do it, you make sure to cover up the important stuff. if you do a search you can find that information. Also, i used Castrol Cleaner-Degreaser and that stuff works great to remove the grease and dirt and stuff.

[img]tongue.gif[/img]

[AMinor65]

One guy messed up his jetscu2000 (speedo calibrator) because it got water in it. I myself wouldn't do it on these computer dependent engines.

[nikon]

use a wet rag and then go over it with tire shine...really makes things look nice, thats what I do ;)

[NBMA4V6]

quit being pussies [img]tongue.gif[/img] it wont hurt the car unless you spray water into the alternator on purpose and in every electronic device in sight..

when i do my engine bay i let it sit over night and get cool cause hot parts and water dont mix well.. anyways..i spray instant green on anything and everything that i was clean..let it sit for 10 mintues and spray it off with the hose.. clean with a rag the parts that didnt come clean..start the motor and let it warm up to dry the water.. when let it dry somewhat then spray on the ArmorAll tire spray in the can and let it sit for a few minutes and then wipe off..looks 10X better than new and shines..

good luck..you wont hurt the motor..dont worry

[Loochy88]

its not that hard to mess things up. i tape plastic bags over my electric stuff when i wash the car out

[Ted]

I did it, make sure you don't have any exposed wires around (ie manual fanswitch wires), i washed my car and my mfs wire was right where the hood closes, i shut the hood with the car on and the whole cable started burning i got the hood up quickly enough. I dunno but do you guys experience that whiteish stuff on your engine? I guess is it a form of corrosion? Galvanic corrosion maybee? i dunno. I think after I washed my car it didn't really help with that. Go ahead and go for it though, it's probably jsut water from when it rains coming through my ram air hood.

[Steve Caroccia]

Aluminum oxide has a white residue ... and simple green may be a better solution than using tire shine if you want the rubber hoses to stay pliable

[strobhen]

and I have heard bad stuff about simple green as well.

military used to use it all the time, then they found out it can actually cause corrosion through the paint. (ie paint will look fine, but the metal under it will become damaged).

if you are really paranoid about hurting the electronics, disconnect the negative battery terminal and let the car sit for 24 hours after you are done

[xdamxincx]

i recommend that you cover up the coilpacks really well ... corrosion is common with them.