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washing the engine

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johnvosh

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City, State
Stony Plain, Alberta
Year, Model & Trim Level
'93 Sport
So just a quick question. What is the best and safest way to wash the engine in the first gen explorer's? I can only wash it at the car wash so want to be able to drive away when I am done. What would the best engine temp to do this at? Is there anything I should cover?

My engine bay is quite dirty/filthy and I want to clean it up.

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I'm sure some will disagree, but I say just go for it.
1.) Get it up to normal operating temp and drive to the car wash.
2.) Shut off the engine, and spray it w/ a good engine degreaser. Close the hood to keep the heat in. Let it sit for a few minutes.
3.) Open the hood and spray everything down with the water wand. Try not to direct the high pressure water towards/near any "openings" .
4.) Close the hood, and start the engine. Let it sit and idle for a few minutes. This will act like a steam cleaner.
5.) Open the hood, and give another shot of water to any "problem" areas, as the steam cleaning should have loosened things up. I would try to avoid spray the cold water directly onto the hot exhaust manifolds, or they could crack from thermal shock.

Try and do this at night, at one of the 24hr carwashes, as many don't like you cleaning your greasy engine in their bay(s), same as they frown on excessively muddy trucks, or hosing out the bed.
 






Alot of cleaners recommend a cold engine. Not sure exactly why though
 






Go in with your engine warm. Shut it off and hose er down.

Obviously since you are using high pressure water, don't go wild and spray electrical connections real close up or too much, but they are made to resist water, so don't get too worried either. Just use a little common sense, those things spray water pretty hard.

You shouldn't need to cover anything unless you are missing caps or something like that. Like I said, everything in there is designed to resist water.
 






Alot of cleaners recommend a cold engine. Not sure exactly why though

A.) spraying the cleaner on TOO hot of a surface can "cook off" the cleaner and make very unpleasant and unhealthy fumes.

B.) It will dry the cleaner very quickly, so if you wait too long, and let it dry, it's useless. You'll need to spray more to get it off.

C.) spraying cold rinse water on hot engine parts can, possibly, cause cracking due to thermal shock. (especially hot cast iron, such as the exhaust manifolds)
 






Alot of cleaners recommend a cold engine. Not sure exactly why though

Some do because the grease will be hard then or the cleaner can evaporate off. Others like it warm since it softens the grease and oil. Just depends on how the cleaner is formulated to penetrate the grime. When using car wash soap, it is best to have the engine warm.

:edit wow at the simultaneous responses there.... this and the last response
 






I always wash my engine when cold. I give it a good soaking of "Simple Green" and then use a hose/nozzle at low mist setting to wash away the Simple Green. Don't spray directly at coil packs or air filter.

The results are very effective.
 






Thanks for all the replies. I've got a couple cans of ACDelco engine cleaner laying around so will be using them. Just have to find a different car wash then my normal one so I can get the engine washed down.

Oh and I am replacing the A/C compressor in the spring time!
 






My engine compartment is always clean. The do-it-yourself car washes have a engine cleaner/de-greaser option and the run off is actually captured and filtered. It does not get rinsed down the storm drain. So the grease and oil and excessive dirt is not a problem. Blast the crap out of all of it but try to avoid the alternator. Thats it. Hot, cold, doesn't matter.
 






ive heard if u armor-all the entire engine when cold, let sit for 30 min, another blast of armor all, 30 min sitting, and then just wash off,

caution will leave a stain on the ground when your done... thats from all the grease and crap that used to be on your engine...
 






Yes it does matter- Do not wash a hot engine. Cold water + Hot engine can = lots of coolant in your driveway. That's how you can crack a block, I've seen it done four times...

Warm engine only if you must use degreaser, etc- Simple Green and a rag keeps water from being pushed into 15-20 year old brittle electrical connectors amond other places since you're not using a high pressure hose.

After washing, blow off with a compressor, but not holding the nozzle too close to the connectors or components you're drying or you'll push water into them that way. Start engine afterwards and let run for a while to evaporate the water. You're going to smell the cleaner burning off for about a 3-4 days, then it will dissipate.

No guarantees that you won't have a run quality issue afterwards, if you ended up with water in the plug well holes, connectors, etc... Seems to happen to about every 10th person. Most will evaporate out in time though.
 






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