Thread: Correct Way to Clean the Engine Bay?

This is not confined to LR, mate had Honda their advice was not to ever wash the engine bay with HP water, the wiper motors etc fill up. Think this applies to every car out there. While they can go through water crossings etc in general water+ electricity is bad combination. Me I use sponge, soap, light spray followed by INOX straight after. And never apply hose/water to anything that looks like electrical junction, fluid reservoir, electric motor etc. I work in the marine industry with subs at 1000m, divers etc and of all the issues we have normally electricity+water is the hardest to resolve.

I done loads of hot washes on vehicles.I miss the old days of diesel and kero washes.nothin worse than finding the good detergent bleaches the paint.

the faults [other than falcon distributor/coil] have allways been the water proof plugs and that phone call the next day that the car wont start.

never wash a hot motor------before fording river allow 24 hours[drinking time]to cool off

what normally happens is once the engine starts up and is driven the steam vapour find its way in to the spots and wiring no amount of compressed air will stop this.so allow a reasonable lenght of time with the bonnet up.to allow the vapour not to conect.
the good amounts of WD/inox but take care it doesnt fire up.and hose it off with water so the rubber bits dont disolve--

pull fuse from the wipers and check after they are reconected.nothing worse than the intermitant wipers starting up and bending the arms on the bonnet or washing rags.

I would try & advise not to wash with high pressure under the bonnet & have seen why on many occasions.
IF you decide to chance it just keep water AWAY from the passenger side compartments. This is where the battery lives & behind it also lives the transfer case ECU, if this get water in it, it will cause many error messages as it talks to many ECU's on the high speen CAN bus system, so if it faults you will see message faults from suspension to handbrake & even gearbox.
As Garry has said let the engine bay dry for a few hours at least.
If you get this fault, remove battery, remove cover on ECU's remove front ECU & check pins for water & even corrosion. Clean as best you can with CO2-Carbon Dioxide contact cleaner, great for electronics as it self dries & then see how you go.

HTH

Cheers

Originally Posted by EDH

I have some red bull dust to clean out from a recent trip

That's why I don't drink it!

The only really weak point in the D3 engine bay is the modules behind the main battery. Water gets into the connections or with a pressure waher into the module itself.
This is why you find the module in the spare battery compartment of the D4.
I would be taking the mosule out and cleaning the connectors and coating with silicon grease.
I covered mine with 'Plasticote'.

Sorry for digging up an old thread but just wondering if people still hit there engine bay with the high pressure hose. Mine has sand hiding in areas i can't get to. Tried compressed air but it seems the car yard i bought it from have sprayed some sort of silicon spray in there for shine so the sands stuck.

Might try use my paint shield on a few connectors before giving it a spray.

Have water blasted underneath after beach runs already... More worried about the salt than anything else.

Cheers

I've used a high pressure gun under the bonnet of mine a couple of times - after trips east of Kalgoorlie when I've managed to get goldfields red mud into everything. This stuff sticks like **** to a blanket. If you walk around in it, you will gradually get "taller" as it sticks in layers under your boots.

I take it to a car-wash in town as soon as I get back and blast the bulk of the mud off it before coming home to wash it properly. If I do it at home with my own Karcher, I get in trouble with SWMBO for leaving mud on the gravel where she might have to drive her Camry through it.

But I am always very careful where I spray under the bonnet - and definitely avoid the area at the back left corner, where the cranking battery, fuse box and transmission ECU all reside. Have never had any problems so far.

Once I've shifted the bulk of the mud from under the bonnet and elsewhere (at a carwash where I can just hose it all down the drain when I'm finished) - I bring it home and give everything a good wash with Chemtech CT18 (Truckwash) before hosing it all off and letting it dry.

I have both CT18 and CT20 at home - they are basically the same product, but CT20 has a "wax" in it, where CT18 is just a straight detergent. I use CT20 on the body / paintwork, but prefer CT18 under the bonnet, as you don't really want wax on exhaust manifold / turbo etc. I only use the Karcher at home for under the car / wheel arches etc when it needs it.

Thanks will give that a shot. Once this oily stuff is gone hopefully i can just blow out the sand after the next beach trip! Seeing as i don't go in the water it see itself...