Is it safe to wash your engine bay with a power washer? My radiator hose came off and splashed coolant/anti-freeze all over the place! I've seen a few dealers doing so, but

Probably not recommended eh?

 

wash it, just cover all electrical parts and dont let water go in your cylinder spark plugs.

 

yay

Turn key to off, and spray away... Try to keep away from intake though, and don't hit the exhaust manifolds too hard if they're hot.

 

i have always sprayed my engine off while it was running.....i would go to a coin opperated wash, spray it down with engine degreaser and let that sit, then rinse with water....dont put pressure in the obvious places...atleast if the engine is running, you wont be worried if it will start up after you wash it down...

 

no so!
You can get water in bad places while its running - then you have water in a live electric!
If engine off- you can spray WD40, Deep Creep or Silicone Spray to displace water if needed
I spray some on the alternator, battery connections and any open exposed type connections, then use compressed air to get it out of the cracks and crevices.
Gunk engine cleaner, toothbrush, rags, small scrub brush all work well to make it look spotless new again
Put a plastic sandwich bag over the PS master and the brake master
Moisture gets absorbed by them normally- extra is not helping the matter~

 

Go really easy with a power washer - stand several feet back and dont get it near the headlight housing- it may force water past the seal and ruin a headlight~!

Use it on low spray-rinse only- not jet blast

or diy at home with a can of spray engine cleaner and garden hose on mist spray

 

You don't need all that pressure. Simple hose should be able to get the anti-freeze off. A very light cleaning with a long handled brush, soapy water and a light spray is all that's needed if you do it a few times a year. Seriously, that's all I do and people can't believe how clean it is under there.

 

eh.. it is safe guys on our cars; this is the year 2009.

my friend is a detailer and i have him do mine. power washer is the most efficient way imo. of course we're not going to spray like 2 inches from the engine. you spray at a decent distance...3 or 4 feet.

 

Correct me if I’m wrong! I think this is bad because you can damage allot of things engine is real hot and you are applying water to a very hot surface plus while you car is running you can get water into places you don’t want water to be. When car is off its ok if water goes into you intake just make SURE its dry before you start and electrical part of it is bad to while care is on and you spraying water....

 

yeah i agree...it makes sense. i think a lot of what 01tl04 tl is right...same goes for all the others too...

thanks guys!

 

i do mine about once every summer.. its simple use some engine degreaser let it sit for a bit then simply gently spray the engine bay with water and then use a power air blower and dry off all electrical areas and places that need to be dry.. then use a towel and dry off other places

 

i always washed my engine bay, i use a spray chemical then use the pressure washer

comes out MINT. then i blow it dry with an air gun

 

we have a fatty garage blower... sounds awkward. i think i'll be doing that this weekend. lol

 

Just use soap and water and you will be fine

 

^ you have a long ass username. lol thanks for the tips!

 

I work on cars and i do it all the time. I just use a can of engine degreaser, a brush and and garden hose. Never had any problems. but also never did anything stupid like spray at full stream at an altenator or any other electrical components.

 

not that i dissagree with the engine running may do some harm, but its never been a problem for me, and i have been doing it that way forever....so i think i will just stick with that...

 

I worked at a Honda dealer for 4 years and the techs there degreased all engine bays after a major service. They'd leave the engine running. They usually put a rag over the distributor to defuse the pressure if the garden hose were to hit it directly. Other than that, we had no problems.

I'm worried about the ballasts for the headlights. I know they are pretty water sensitive and have no idea where they are located on the TL.

 

I've never washed the engine bay so this is probably a dumb question but what kind of degreaser? is this something i can pick up at autozone or advance auto parts? Thanks guys!

 

Gunk Engine Degreaser is available at Walmart and most auto stores. Some notes

1) Cover with towels the front fenders, grill, ventilation cowl (above the firewall to prevent the degreaser from getting into the vent intake).

2) I use a pressure washer which is better than the garden hose since you actually use less water. Put the pressure washer wand on fan spray pattern not the spot/pencil stream (that will remove paint and do damage!).

3) Use the degreaser on a cold engine, spraying water on hot engine components is asking for trouble.

4) Use care around electrical connectors

5) After spraying let the degreaser set for ~5 minutes before spraying off.

6) After finished spraying off, remove the towels, close the hood and go for a ~20 minute drive (not stop and go but more highway). The engine heat from the engine and radiator and airflow will dry the engine far better than a leaf blower.

7) Admire your now clean engine!

I've been pressure washing Honda/Acura engines for 20+ years. The only time I had some trouble was on my wife's DOHC integra engine, I got some water into the sparkplug holes (they sit right on top of the valve cover) and one of the plugs was not firing. I had to still rags down the spark plug boots and cylinder head to dry them off. So, I've always been careful around the electrical connectors.

Good luck!

 

i used to get a can of engine degreaser at autozone and spray the whole engine down with that and then rinse off....but nowadays i just go right to the coin opperated wash and they have a selector for engine degrease...i use that setting first then rinse....

 

Just for my education... All those warnings about getting water on the hot engine and how bad it is... I do understand that theoretically it's not a good thing, but isn't that what's happening every time you drive in rain, through puddles or, worse still, slush or snow in winter? I bet that cold water/slush gets everywhere in engine compartment in such conditions - and engine is hot at the time! BTW, same goes to the brake rotors... Comments?

 

When you drive in the slush or rain, there is still not going to be that much water hitting the top of the engine bay if it is then it is very minimal since it is protected by the hood and the front bumper. Also most of the electrical things mentioned in this post are near the top or tucked far enough in the engine bay that it would be hard for the water to get to it from the bottom.

 

just be carful....i had a friend do this and afterwards his car woulndt start...

 

Thanks for the help guys! My engine is going to get a well-deserved wash on Saturday

 

that is exactly why i leave mine running....

 

I have this stuff from honda that they use to clean motors at the dealers....so what I was told to do is shut the car off......spray this stuff on like crazy all over everything.....wait a few mins then hose it down with the jet setting on the nozzle....then start the car....if u leave the car running u run the risk of blowing ur electrical system.....wanna be on an even safer side??? take the cables off the battery posts.....just make sure when the cleaning begins ur engine is hot so whatever water hits the hot spots itll evaporate to some degree and wont phase some of the more vulnarable parts

 

Thanks for asking! I've also wondered recently too

 

yay! i detailed at a honda dealership. it is safe just watch the electrical and be carefule around the alternator. you dont want to hit that for more than a few seconds. we would have the car on, i dont see the point but i turned mine off when i did it.

 

o yea, i forgot prespray with degreaser and dont let it set too long. itll leave a white residue that is a pain to get off

 

So if what you're saying is, if water just somewhat evaporates to a certain degree when it touches certain hot spots, there's no effect coming from the water anyways, let alone wash the gunk off. I might of misunderstood, but could you elaborate?

I had a friend who bought a tsx used last summer and the dealer did a "full recovery" package for him, which included full detail of exterior, interior AND engine bay. I had a look at his engine and boyyy was it squeaky clean with a nice "glaze" to it.

so what happened after?

 

itll still clean everything. dont hold the pressure washer over the electrical. just give those areas a "quck over" and it should still be good. the glaze probably came from armorall. a great touchup to shine and cover any dried up degreaser

 

If you read the Gun degreaser , they want to have engine cool down . Meaning engine should be off and you wait like 10-15 mins before you start. if it's running you prolly burn off the degreaser too. Basicly you're cooking the Gun degreaser . Why waste? Not to mention you inhale all that smoke !!

 

On my last maintenance the dealer offered to clean it for $25 bucks.. if you want peace of mind pay for them to do it..

 

yea u get the motor hot let it sit for a few til its just warm hit it with the honda cleaner and then rinse.... the only 2 components that are really exposed to the element are the battery n alternator everything else has weather proof plugs and it would be hard to ruin something with water being sprayed on it.

 

I did it this weekend... It came out perfect and nothing was wrong.