[O_D_C]

Not sure where to post this; Detailing or Periodic Maintenance.

Anyways, what do you guys use to clean the engine bay? And how often? My Ody is a little 3 months old and it's getting pretty dirty in there.

 

[Kuruma Hayai]

I just use my Karcher and blow water in it. No chemicals only minerals We have hard water.

 

[nwf_snake]

If its a little greasy, I always spray some full strength Simple Green on it, let it sit for 5 or so minutes, then rinse it off with a light spray. Always do it when the engine is cold!

 

[Jim F]

I clean my Ody and SE-R motors the exact same way. I spray Motul's Moto Wash (available at motorcycle shops) on everything except the electrical parts. After 5 minutes I lightly hose down the engine bay. Use as little water as possible.

You shouldn't have much oil film or grease build up, so don't use anything harsh.

Moto Wash can be sprayed on the painted surfaces of the engine bay too. Just make sure you hose it off after 5 minutes.

 

[Walt43]

Clean the engine? I think mine's a bit dusty but there's no grease or buildup of any kind, so I haven't thought about it. My Bronco II's a different story, with all the oil leaks and everything.

 

[SuperDad]

Be careful about the alternator. I cleaned the wife's 1995 Ford Escort wagon(replaced by Ody) engine in 1998 and the alternator failed immediately. It might have just been its time, but I ended up getting in there and resoldering a brush wire that had corroded.

I might consider loosely covering it with saran wrap or somesuch(but not Aluminum Foil!) were I to do it again.

 

[FW_in_OKC]

I have washed engines on ALL my vehicles since I started driving in 1963. I go to the car wash, open the hood, spray the greasy areas with a 50/50 mix of dishwashing soap and water, wash the rest of the car, then wash and rinse the engine, close the hood and rinse the rest of the car.

I have NEVER had a failure of anything like an alternator or anything. In my 1962 Chevrolet Impala, the car wouldn't start one time after the wash. I dried out the inside of the distributer cap and was on my way. I replaced the rubber gasket on the distributor and it never happened again.

I don't know what the big deal is about washing the engine off. :dunno: The only real precaution I use is that I make sure the engine is not HOT. I'll wash the engine like on a Saturday Morning when I start up cold and drive only a block or two to the car wash. This is not enough driving to really heat-up the engine. Washing the rest of the car first gives the exhaust system time to cool before hitting it with water.

I find that the belts and hoses (rubber parts) last longer if they remain free of oil and grease.
Not to mention that the engine bay looks goooooood when it's clean and it makes preventative maintenance a much cleaner experience.

 

[nwf_snake]

Fred,

I used to do the same thing, but now it is against the law to wash your engine at a car wash in our area. I would imagine a lot of other places have similar laws.

 

[albaby]

My results have been just the opposite of Freds. Esp when using the hi pressure hoses at car washes. Since I have stopped worrying about the dirt on the engine, I have had no problens of any kind with electrical connections etc. I replaced my belts on my Escort at 65000 miles when I did the timing belt, My F250 diesel (with 146,000 miles) serpentinre belt was replaced at 88,000 miles and still looked good. I carry it as a spare. My Olds went 102,000 miles before the alternator went sour. IOW less washing=fewer problems has been my experience. I don't think the connectors etc. under the hood were meant for underwater service. My 01 Ody has 51000 miles and has never been hosed under the hood.

 

[FW_in_OKC]

Lucky Dude

I guess I am just one very lucky guy. The day I entered this string, I had washed the engine on my Lincoln. Ford, like on the 02 Odyssey, adds lots of plastic stuff that covers most of the stuff under the hood. It is mostly held on with velcro, so I pulled it all off and washed the engine compartment real good. After drying things as good as I could under the hood, I reinstalled the plastic and went home. No problems, as usual.
I use the high pressure sprays, soap and everything. I don't understand why there should be any problems.
The engine compartment in a vehicle is a very hostile enviornment area. It is subjected to extreme hot, cold, wet, dry, dusty and otherwise unpleasant conditions and it is designed to withstand these conditiond on a regular basis. A little soap and water rinse off shouldn't be a problem. It gets wetter in there when driving in a thunderstorm than it does at the car wash. I'm not talking about dumping the engine area in a lake or hitting it with a fire hose here, I'm talking about a cleaning 3 of 4 times a year at a car wash.
I clean my lawn equipment each week after doing the yard work too. No problem. I just let the stuff cool off for 30 minutes or so then spray it down with my soap solution and wash it with the hose and a brush if needed. Then I let it dry and put it away.
My mower is at least 12 years old and my gas weed eater, blower and string trimmer are nearly that old and I have never replaced anything but the normal stuff that is consumed or wears out. (Blades, air filters, a couple wheels, nylon trimmer line, oil and gas.)

 

[RonD]

FW_in_OKC maybe your lucky, or maybe some of us are just unlucky. Us unlucky folks will be a little more carefull. I cleaned the engine on a car and it failed within a week. It was repaired under warantee but took the dealership a week to find the problem. The dealer replaced computers, etc. with no success. The experts from the GM factory were at the dealership and worked on it for 2 days. They finally replaced the TPS (throttle positing sensor) and it was repaired. This was about 15 years ago and I'm sure parts and diagnostics are better now days. As one of the unlucky folks, if I have to clean the engine, i'll just use a damp cleaning cloth, no soap and pressure washing for me.

 

[FW_in_OKC]

FW_in_OKC maybe your lucky, or maybe some of us are just unlucky. Us unlucky folks will be a little more carefull. I cleaned the engine on a car and it failed within a week. It was repaired under warantee but took the dealership a week to find the problem. The dealer replaced computers, etc. with no success. The experts from the GM factory were at the dealership and worked on it for 2 days. They finally replaced the TPS (throttle positing sensor) and it was repaired. This was about 15 years ago and I'm sure parts and diagnostics are better now days. As one of the unlucky folks, if I have to clean the engine, i'll just use a damp cleaning cloth, no soap and pressure washing for me.

Aha! I think I may have isolated the problem.


It's GM!:jk:


My '62' Chevy was very stupid in that it didn't know what a computer was and wouldn't have known what to do with one either.:duh:

Since 1966, I have only owned Ford-Lincoln-Mercury, Chrysler and European vehicles. None of them were sensative to an occasional engine wash.

I had some limited experience with the Cadillac’s my dad used to drive up till '83', when he switched to Mercedes, and they didn't mind an occasional cleaning either.

My first Japanese car is my Ody. It doesn't even know it got wet under the hood. It's fine.

I almost forgot, I had a new '95' Chevy minivan for couple months. The engine kept running hot. GM couldn't fix the overheat problem and the engine finally blew. I had a golden opportunity to get my money back via the Lemon law. I took the money and bought a Windstar, which I put 120,000 miles on with some troubling problems. They had to warranty repair the head gaskets a couple times. Plus a ton of service bulletins.

 

[albaby]

Nothing will change our experiences, but washing the engine was stated by mechanics as the source of water/detergents etc that caused most of my electrical problems. These included GM, Ford, Chrysler, Studebaker, and International Harvester. I tried putting plastic bags over connectors/ alternators etc, but water damage to all makes got me at one time or another. This is a big problem with used cars. When the "detail" ther cars,, it's usually with HP water and detergents-many are caustic- and the problem doesn't show up until sometime later-usually after the "warranty, if any, expires. Them it's the buyers problem-not the dealers. I know because I have people who have been in the business for decades. A dirty engine does not help sell the car.

Regards
Al

 

[Phace]

this sounds like another issue...

I'm sorry if this offends anybody, but...

I can't help comparing this particular thread with the concept of a woman using ... "feminine hygene products".. to "clean out" areas that are not normally seen except if something goes wrong. Some people swear by having it nice and clean, and other say that it can cause problems, best to leave well enough alone. I don't know... this concept kept coming to mind... :dunno:

 

[FW_in_OKC]

Re: this sounds like another issue...

I'm sorry if this offends anybody, but...

I can't help comparing this particular thread with the concept of a woman using ... "feminine hygene products".. to "clean out" areas that are not normally seen except if something goes wrong. Some people swear by having it nice and clean, and other say that it can cause problems, best to leave well enough alone. I don't know... this concept kept coming to mind... :dunno:

That does it! I'll gonna let that engine get nice and crusty from now on.....:yuck: LOL

 

[albaby]

Femine hygiene products cause corrosion on automobile electrical connectors? I never used them on my cars so that couldn't have been the problem.

Regards
Al

 

[GeoHawk]

Fred,

I used to do the same thing, but now it is against the law to wash your engine at a car wash in our area. I would imagine a lot of other places have similar laws.

Just curious, is this a safety issue or a water conservation issue?

Anyway, I'm like FW, I've always used the high pressure soap and rinse at the local car wash to clean the engine bay. Never had a problem, and that included 3 GM vehicles (a 75 Camaro, an 85 IROC, and my 99 Silverado). And I'm not going anywhere near Phace's comment