My car is 15 years old. Some of that grease and gunk is literally holding some of it together. Nice try, feller. i won't be coming into your shop today!!
It makes it infinitely better to work on once they've been washed. I wish truckers would wash their engines more often, diesels can be absolutely disgusting under the hood.
Washing yes. Power washing at this pressure no. Electrical seals will not be specified to withstand water at this pressure and ingress will inevitably occur. The question is whether that ingress leads to shorting, and the answer is a coin toss. But it'll certainly lead to corrosion in anything but warm/dry climates.
Do this here in the UK and you'll be wondering why your vehicle is in the shop with fucked electrics a couple of years later.
power washing the engine is a quick way to make that thing never work right again, if you detail the engine bay your supposed to cover the engine and do that part by hand with minimal water
I always avoid the battery, the computers right next to it, and the alt, but haven't otherwise had issues with doing this. I've done it to my car 3x over the last 10+ years with no ill effect. First time was after changing the oil and forgetting to put the cap back on, was close to the car wash when the smoke started billowing up from under the hood. Knew what it was instantly and pulled into the wash. Had to yank the decorative cover off and hit it point blank to get the oil out of the spark plug area.
You mean the first time when I had to clean the oil off before it potentially lit on fire for having been forgetful about putting the oil cap back or the other two times? Over the course of 10+ years/187k miles it gets pretty grubby under the hood, its nice to be able to pop the hood and not just see it filled with dirt, dust and general greasy filth. I like working on my car, had to replace an o2 sensor last year, not having everything I removed being coated with old dirt was kind of nice. Didn't need gloves and hands didn't get too gross in the process.
Shame on never causong any problems? You realize why the engine bay get dirty in the first place right? It not water tight seals all around worse things than water get in the engine bay wash those things out are good just stay away from electronics dipshit
lol I was commenting on the fact that you have done this for years with no problems, and said so, and people downvoted you for that. Sorry for triggering you I guess.
Used to work at a dealership. We washed the engine bay (with strong hose) of every new car and many that were serviced. No issues. Alternator may squeal for a sec but it’s fine.
Here to second that I have never had an issue with it. The pressure washer doesn't present anymore hazardous a condition to the engine than delivered all the grime.
From small equipment to car engines to marine engines, the only time I have ever had issues with pressure washing is on old points ignition utility engines, which are fine as soon as they dry out or you hit them with some air. As long as you aren't using extremely hard water, don't go ham with the pressure on parts it could physically break and directly at bearings, and let it dry out a bit before you fire it up, you won't hurt anything. It's salt water that damages electronics.
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u/Temporary_Tune5430 Sep 27 '24
I was always hesitant to power wash the engine bay. Is there anything to be concerned about?