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Washing the engine?

16K views 37 replies 19 participants last post by  XKJeep06 
#1 ·
Just wondering if any does this, or has, washed out the engine. I know of people who do this on vehicles. I personally have never done this, but did over the weekend wipe it all down a with a damp cloth, since it had plenty of dust and dirt collected from some of my last offroad outings where i had water up in to the motor area. I know there are people in the forum that work at dealer ships and others that may know how the used car dealers take a motor and make it look new again by cleaning it out. I know there are few tricks to doing this, but not sure what they all are with the commander, covering parts ,etc.....
searched but couldnt find any threads on this. Just wondering any thoughts on washing out the engine, good idea, bad idea, otherwise, how to advice advice, etc.
 
#2 ·
i use the pressure washer at the car wash. they have a spray for the engine, i use that first, let it sit. then i spray it off. keep the sprayer further back so you don't damage anything. don't spray water up your intake. i also like to keep the motor running while i'm spraying it off.
 
#4 ·
I would avoid Simple Green as a detergent. I used it once to clean my engine on an older car and it turned all the black rubber hoses white. Looked pretty funky, but it didn't actually harm anything.
 
#5 ·
I use to clean my engine with the old can cleaners - the ones where you heat the engine up, then spray on, they foam and you hose off. These were really harsh, and would remove the dirt nicely, but would make all the plastics look bad. I'd then spray armor all on the hoses, and just let them dry. The engine looked fantastic until I drove around, and dirt would stick instantly to all the armor all I had sprayed on the engine!

Just squirt some citrus cleaner on the engine, then kind that is available at your local auto parts store, then hose it off. use a gentle brush for some hard dirt.
 
#6 ·
After couple of off-road trip in sand, I used to wash the engine by water get at car wash and trying to avoid the fuse boxes at the right side and concentrate more at the front of the engine where the sand hit more.
 
#7 ·
I wondered if leaving it run would be a good option. do you think it would be hard on the altenator
 
#9 ·
Believe it or not, alternators are basically waterproof. They are designed to survive in a wet environment, as are all components under your hood. If you get mud in your alternator, that can cause problems. Just ask the Ford Escape guys who drive offroad through mud and muddy puddles. Unfortunately for them, their alternators sit very low and are suspectible to damage caused by that type of "mud" driving. I remember reading their a post on their forum a couple of years ago where six or seven of them followed each other on a off-road trail and every one of them had alternator failure after driving through one particular muddy water hole.
 
#8 ·
I always keep the engine off and try to avoid washing the engine when its warm.
 
#10 ·
Temperature Change

In college, I worked at a car wash/detail shop - and we were always told by the management to NEVER under any circumstances power spray an engine that was currently running, or was still hot.

Their stance on it was that the change in temperature from the cold water, hitting the hot block/engine parts could lead in cracking and damage. Which, if your know your physics is possible but I'm unsure how likely.

I wouldn't risk what was stated above. They make some pretty decent cleaners that you can apply in the driveway after the car has been sitting, and spray them off.:ugh2:
 
#11 ·
In college, I worked at a car wash/detail shop - and we were always told by the management to NEVER under any circumstances power spray an engine that was currently running, or was still hot.

Their stance on it was that the change in temperature from the cold water, hitting the hot block/engine parts could lead in cracking and damage. Which, if your know your physics is possible but I'm unsure how likely.

I wouldn't risk what was stated above. They make some pretty decent cleaners that you can apply in the driveway after the car has been sitting, and spray them off.:ugh2:
I understand that theory and it makes sense; however, consider how many people who drive their Jeeps (or other vehicles) offroad through water crossings. I've seen countless people enter a pond thinking that it was shallow, only to submerge their entire front end in water. And nobody ever cracked their block or heads because of the cold water hitting the hot engine. So I don't think it's too risky to clean your engine while it is hot and/or running.
 
#14 ·
This is something that I definitely need to do as I still have mud from the camping trip in there. Might ask my neighbor to borrow his pressure washer.
 
#16 ·
What do you clean your engine with?
 
#19 ·
Ok, sorry to resurrect an old thread but how is the engine cleaning going for everybody?

Truthfully, I've never really cared much about engine cleaning before but seeing as how the XK *was* so clean and purdy I'd like to keep it that way. It IS much easier to work in there when things are clean.

Anyway, I popped the hood tonight to refill the washer fluid and holy **** was it dirty in there! Didn't look like that the last time I was in there. It looked like the wife drove behind a salt truck with the hood open!
I wiped things down w/ detail spray as best I could, but it really needs to be hosed down.

So, what's the best way to do this? Go to the do-it-yourself car wash and use the pressure washer, or can I use the good 'ol garden hose at home? Better to use a fine mist, or just let 'er go full blast? I know I've heard engines are built to run in wet environments, but are the any areas I should be careful of (Batt, Alt, Fuse boxes, Plugs wires, etc)? Or should I just pay to have the stealer do it and have them be responsible if anything goes awry?
 
#21 ·
Once you do it yourself the first time, you'll never 2nd guess this peace of mind of cleaning your engine bay. Ideally, like stated earlier, you'll want to degrease your engine when it's cold or slightly used. But, here are the options to consider:

FROM HOME: Apply some engine degreaser (auto part stores carry these), and spray down the engine bay, especially areas that are heavily greased up. Most instructions will suggest to let it soak for about 5-10mins. You may need to brush some areas that have heavy oil/grease spots. Spray down w/ a sufficient nozzle, and rinse away.

FROM A SELF-SERVE CAR WASH: Ideally you've driven to the closest location, with the engine lightly driven. Let it sit for about 10-15mins. Next, spray the engine bay w/ some of the car wash's engine degreaser (or it may say tire cleaner at some), and soak away. Allow the liquid to settle for about 3mins; turn the knob then to super/hard rinse. Ensure that when the jet spray goes, you're gotten enough distance to spray large portions of the engine bay; NEVER spray closely to the engine. The strong mist of water should suffice in spraying off the residue already.

GOOD LUCK!
 
#20 ·
I just spray my engine off now and then with a pressure washer using warm to hot water keeping the nozzle about 18" or more away to ensure I am not cutting or knocking anything loose in there. Car wash pressure wands put out over 1200psi I think last time I talked to my friend who owns a car wash here his are set to 2400. Thats why people get nutty when you try to power wash your kids.
 
#22 ·
Hey thanks for the info!

My main concern is getting that vile, cancer causing salt outta there. The surfaces are 'clean' per se (no grease) but have a good coating of the rust belt's finest. I think all I need is a good shot of H2O to rinse it all out. I actually do have a trim/motor cote (from autopia, where I get my polish and wax prods from) product to spray on after.
 
#23 ·
Thread has been around for a while but here is my own take. I ran a mobile detailing service for years. I always washed the engine..it says something about you. One..you are nuts...
Power washer..no higher than 1500 gpm.
Simple Green..Full strength.
Warm the engine but NOT hot.
Keep the engine off. It could draw water into the intake.
If you can, cover the air filter intake with plastic.
Lightly spray the engine and give some distance..you do not want to have the spray head down inside the compartment.
Spray down everything with the SG, close the hood and let it sit while you do something else.
About 5 min or so, raise the hood and rinse. Get all the soap residue. Again..keep the spray nozzle at least a foot above the compartment.
All the soap is off, take off the plastic, close the hood and start the engine and let it idle 5-10 min.
Shut it down and mop up any puddles still left under there. Use a towel and wipe all the surfaces you can with painted first.
If you are nuts, then spray some vinyl sealant on the hoses after you finish.
Do this once a week and no one could tell it from a brand new machine.

As a minor..if you cannot wash the motor then wipe down all surfaces under the hood after you wash the truck. Use a towel. Not the ones hanging in the bathroom...unless you live alone...or want to..
 
#24 ·
...
Simple Green..Full strength...
Again, I just want to warn everyone that Simple Green can turn the black plastic/rubber parts under your hood white.

I had that happen to me on an older car that I don't have anymore. I sprayed Simple Green liberally under the hood and let it soak in for a few minutes. Then I used a power washer to spray down the entire engine bay. I dried everything with some towels and I was surprised to see that my radiator hoses and all the smaller vacuum hoses turned white. This never happened with other degreasers, so it must have been the Simple Green.
 
#26 ·
Hmmm... maybe they changed the formulation or something. This happened to me years ago (probably about 5 or 6) and I've never used the product again. I guess once I get burned, I'm done for good and move on to something else.
 
#29 · (Edited)
I used diluted Simple Green. I took and empty spray bottle (the garden kind) and only put about a half an inch in the bottom of S.G. and filled the bottle to the top with water. I drove to the car wash and SOAKED the motor with my solution, let it stand for about 3-4 minutes then used the pressure wand to wash it clean. I did however use the spot free rinse to do a final rinse , as with that water, it leaves no white water spots at ALL. I will snap a few pics and post them. I did this about a week ago and don't think it has gotten much dust on it since. The diluted simple green worked WONDERS and because it was diluted, it didn't fade the color of any of the plastic whatsoever. Again, it's been a week and it's been raining, but once I did it it was SPOTLESS. It may have a little dust/dirt, but not much I'm sure.
 

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#30 ·
Muddy Engine

Took the Commander off roading in the mountains of NW Georgia yesterday. We were pretty much covered with mud by the end of the day which was fine with us.



Had no problem cleaning it off.

But, when we got home I popped open the hood and found the engine was just filthy. Which has never happened to me before (we only hit one sort of deep mud puddle).






Anyway, was wondering what the best strategy is for washing the engine out. Is there a cleaner to use to get the gunked up mud off?? Should I think about just taking my garden hose and spraying it down?? I'm not anal about engines being spotless, but this is even a little too dirty for me.

Any thoughts are appreciated.
 
#31 · (Edited)
I use a product called "marine clean" made by the people that make POR 15. If you dilute some with water and soak the engine down for about 5-10 mins the mud will run off with just a garden hose. It works better than anything I have ever used even better than using a pressure washer. Marine Clean is not solvent based so it will not kill the rubber or plastic parts

http://www.por15.com/MARINE-CLEAN/productinfo/MCG/
 
#32 ·
#33 ·
I think I'd have to see the video of how bad you played in the mud to make a good recommendation. =)
 
#35 ·
Man I just let it cool a bit and then shove a pressure washer all in the engine bay...

This is the worse that I have gotten it, pretty bad, she looks all brand new now, minus the warning stickers on the battery cause they came off with the pressure washer.."









 
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