I see no harm in spraying down the bay as long as you have the proper equipment covered.

 

washed the engine bay 3 weeks ago, no problem. I spray the sides (minus the front side) and go in with a wet towel for engine/turbo side.

damn Az dust

 

I think what most people forget is when you wash your engine bay you can apply engine bright or whatever cleaning product you want to use but when your ready to Rinse the cleaning products away. Your engine must be running. I have washed all 10 cars I have owned including my wife's truck and never had a problem. Check your CEL and come back to us

 

See this is crazy. Once again It's hard to take anything away from a thread. the first few people are like What are you Crazy why would you put water on your engine, forgetting that thing called rain! It's WATER just don't soak the filter. and i bet some one will comment on DBallz comment saying, "dude if your engine is hot and ur spraying it with water it'll crack the manifold" eh hem once again RAIN! IMHO get to autozone and check the Code, It's free man, and then post the results like Dballz said. Sorry for the rant

 

i detail cars for a living. i have pressure washed literally 100's if not 1000's of motors with no ill effects. we degrease the motor and engine bay, steam it off, and then we dress the motor (similar to armor all i.e. white water based shining agent). most of the time we steam the motor while its hot but it really makes no difference. the only difference in these cars (mostly stock) and ours is some of the electronics we add such as boost controllers, EDFC's, various engine management components. many of these come with instructions that require them to be mounted where they will not get wet. i would, on my own car, heed their warnings because they are telling you that their products aren't water proof. other than that you should be fine. hope that helps. oh, and the only thing i would be cautious of getting wet while hot are tubular manifolds. i dont have much experience with them at work but they are made thinner that cast pieces (also most cast pieces are seamless) and their welds may not like the sudden temp change. you can still steam them though just make sure that they are cold if you do and dry them off before starting the car to help prevent the metal from getting water stained.

 

Wash the engines of every car I have ever owned. Never a ill effect. To those who say other wise are nuts PERIOD

 

As said above, it is fine to wash the engine with a few basic precautions.

However - don't use Simple Green. Simple Green is very corrosive to certain metals, in particular aluminum. Use an engine cleaner that is made for that use. Mothers has a new one that is great at both de-greasing and shining at the same time.

 

As said above, it is fine to wash the engine with a few basic precautions.

However - don't use Simple Green. Simple Green is very corrosive to certain metals, in particular aluminum. Use an engine cleaner that is made for that use. Mothers has a new one that is great at both de-greasing and shining at the same time.

 

yea i know it is free to go check that at autozone. he started it this morning no problem at all. drove it around still no problem. so he just unhooked the battery for now. if the cel comes back we will take it to autozone. i figure everyone washes their motors. and our manifolds are right where the damn rain comes in the vent so i dont see what it would hurt there besides 1 out of 100 peoples manifold cracking. yea i figured some water go on the wires screwed up something for the moment but for now unless that cel is gone. and like i said i have washed many of my motors too(srt4 and honda civic) and only thing ever gone bad on me was somehome water got down in the spark plugs and i just got new wires and plugs and changed the oil and fine after that. thanks for all the help guys. if cel pops back up i will repost up

 

Is there a benefit to washing an engine? I mean when its all greasy and oily, it keeps rust and water away.
Is it only me thinking this way?

 

Aside from being aesthetically unpleasant, oil,grease,sludge in an engine bay with very hot components is generally not good. also oil grease build up makes it harder to spot leaks.

 

I wouldnt use simple green due to its harsh nature on plastics and possible toxic fumes as it burns off with heat.

You can pressure wash the engine bay in general, taking care to cover the battery and ignition system as stated above.

For a little extra *Pa-Zow!* you can use a steam cleaner on the block, transmisison and intercooler to get it clean, and take the dirt/grime/oil off.

 

Hmm, if the car is left out in the rain there isn't much difference because the mesh doesn't really prevent water from coming in. Just let it dry and avoid pressurized washes.

 

Isn't simple green 100% non-toxic?

 

???

Yes.