Well as title says, I want to pressure wash my engine bay but I'm kind of nervous to do so as I feel I will short something out. As far as I can think I would want to cover the air filter, disy, alternator, battery, fuse box...anything else I should be aware of?

Coil, leads, dizzy. Pretty much anything electrical

Do it on a hot day and leave it to dry in the sun for hours before trying to start.

Thanks Pilot, I know it's not a hard task but I have never done it so thought I would ask to double check =)

whatever you do, dont hit the radiator or AC condenser with the pressure washer. it will fold the fins over in a heartbeat and kill its cooling properties

I wouldn't advise it. I covered my electrics and am still trying to diagnose months later what exactly went wrong. So my advice is just wipe it down by hand to be safe

just use some simple green and a regular hose, works fine for me

double post

This post has been edited by stephen_lee: Oct 16, 2011 - 9:11 PM

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edit: typos... "P" wasnt working

I just pressure washed 'everything' - no protection whatsoever and I do it all the time. No probs since I've owned the car (2008). My car runs perfect and starts up every time.

Nice stephen I love the checkered rachet strap holding the battery down;)
But just avoid electrical, dizzy, ect. And let it dry out before starting. I know I'm of no help but I'm trying.
-Matt

I just use engine cleaner foam you find in an aerosol can at the auto store and water it down ..... try not to get electrical....and then i use my shop-vac and blower to blow out the water and let it dry with the hood open in the sun (during Summer where it is over 100 degrees here)

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LOL every other tie down I used ended up breaking in hard corners.. cause I hit them HARD. This one shouldnt break.

But when I wash the bay I do it like this:

-Go to a do it yourself car wash
-Leave the engine running, pop the hood
-Use the "degreaser setting" to spray the bay down(get the block, trans, firewall, battery, head, intake mani, AVOID the dizzy) The engine may misfire if you get the dizzy wet, BTW(if so, dont worrk, just avoid it more, this is why its running, the heat will dry it out faster). Get the wheels while you're at it. also give the bay a quick once over before you change steps.
-Use the "wax" setting and rinse off the bay. HI pressure everywhere except close to the dizzy
-Soak the bay down with armor all.
-Close hood
-Was car as normal.

Zero07 showed me this method. my engine bay started out HORRIBLY ugly, messy and what not. After a the first wash, it looked much better. Keep doing it, you will notice oil leaks, the grime will slowly disappear from the whole engine. Makes work on the engine much cleaner.

No joke I changed the head on my daily && my hands were as dirty as if I changed spark plugs on a regularly dirty engine.

I wouldn't advise spraying water on a hot block or head, I've seen too many crack because of that

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thats interesting... i know if you add cool water to a overheated engine that causes issues... but not water on a op temp engine...