O.K. to powerwash inside engine bay?

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Autbond

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I have used a pressure washer on my engine bay in my 4runner all the time, from running through mud, and never had any issues. That being said, unless there is mud all inside the engine bay I don't see any reason that degreaser and a garden hose wouldn't be good enough.
 

JubjubW

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my father-in-law does it all the time... he used to work at Penske, and think how they kept their big rigs clean? its cheaper to do it fast then send someone in to detail it...

IMO just use pressure on the metal, make it lighter going around the more delicate parts, I can take a picture of my engine bay if needed to show how a pressure washer does the trick
 

battlewagon

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I'll guarantee the dealer pressure washed under the hood when they sold the car, and nothing happened. I've been doing it for years to my personal cars. Nothing has every happened. The one time I know of where a friend pressure washed under his his and had a problem wash a Ford Ranger with a distributor. All we had to do was wait 30 minutes for it to drain.

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did it on my lifted suburban, same 5.3 as most of ours, and never had an issue. id powerwash the hell out of it after wheeling. never had an issue
 

ezdaar

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Same, Only thing I do diff, is I generally hose the engine bay down with black magic tire foam and let it soak for aprox 15 mins.
It creeps up under the dirt which allows the Pwasher to blast it off faster, also as a side effect, it keeps all the rubber, plastics, and wires nice and shiny.

If engine bay is really nasty as in a friends vehical, hose it with simple green max, non diluted and let it soak for 10 mins, then blast it all off. Follow it up with your choice of rubber, plastic care product as listed above..

As others have said, be gentle around coil packs, distributors, fuse blocks, injectors and alternators..

One thing I definatly dont do its blast a Fully warmed up engine!
I like to warm them up just to the point its really warm to the touch when I lace my hand on the heads..
This loosens the grime and allows your cleaners to work faster.
Once your done cleaning, let it drip dry for 5 mins or so then fire it up and let it fully warm up, to evaporate all the water on the engine..
 
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sctdixon

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Every vehicle I've ever owned in the past 30 years, I've power washed the engine. Of course use common sense and don't direct it towards the alternator and other obvious sensative electrical components.
 

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