[Robby]

the other day i was washing my FX and opened the hood and it was all dusty and ugly, so i took the sponge and hose and washed it all down...now it looks new again...anyone ever done this?
is it at all dangerous and could i have messed anything up?
i let it run after to dry it up with the heat and the only thing i noticed was some steam coming out of the grille which was obviously just the water evaporating....

 

[particlefx]

moved to detailing

 

[Sweet Fx]

I have run a wet towel over the engine but usually when it is in the garage drying.

I have also zanioed inside of the sidewalls in the engine & and of course my plenumed is washed and zanioed as well.

 

[Wireboltman]

When the engine gets a little dirty, I go to the car wash and take engine cleaner--GUNK-- and cover the whole engine. Let it work in for a bit, then squirt it off with the high pressure hose. No problem. Older car engines with the old style distributor caps sometimes missed a bit after a bath like that, but they got over it.

A lot of car washes have an engine cleaning degreaser position on the control box for doing just that. I squirt the degreaser on and then wash the car while it does its work.

 

[particlefx]

Any concerns about spraying cold water on a hot engine?

 

[Wireboltman]

Any concerns about spraying cold water on a hot engine?

When I wash the engine, I make sure the engine is not extremely hot. The car wash I go to is about 1 minute away.
That would be a legitimate concern if the engine was hot.

I guess I should have mentioned that.

This isn't something I do all that often. Once a yr at best. I clean the engine compartment regularly by hand with a sponge, Armorall Wipes, etc.

 

[jimsbmw]

I usually get the service department at Infiniti Taiwan to wash it when I take it in for service and leave it over night. They do a preety good job at it. They usually wash it when its been sitting for a long time.

Jim

 

[duncantuna]

Pardon my complete naiveté, but just to get this straight .. you are actually opening the hood, and spraying water in there, all over, with no ill effects?

I guess I knew the engine compartment was open to the weather and had to be semi-water resistent, but didn't think spraying a garden hose in there would be a good idea. ???

 

[Wireboltman]

Pardon my complete naiveté, but just to get this straight .. you are actually opening the hood, and spraying water in there, all over, with no ill effects?

I guess I knew the engine compartment was open to the weather and had to be semi-water resistent, but didn't think spraying a garden hose in there would be a good idea. ???

Don't forget to use the "Gunk," first.
A high pressure wash would be much more beneficial. As was posted earlier, it's probably not a good idea to do this when the engine's hot.

Common sense always prevails -