Steam Clean / Pressure Wash Engine Bay / Undercarriage

[Ron Burgundy]

Has anybody ever steam cleaned/pressure washed their engine bay/undercarriage?

I've been debating doing it down at a local self car wash but the idea of spraying water directly at all that electrical scares me. I've watched videos of it being done but i dont know.

Anyone have any first hand experience? Whether you did it yourself or had it professionaly done. Pictures of clean engine bays/undercarriages would be awesome too!

Thanks everyone!

[AJRK]

I have shampooed my engine before. I take out the air filter, and use plastic shopping bags to wrap components I wouldn't want to spray directly with water. I've always done it in my driveway with a can of engine shampoo. No problems yet!

[Qxxx4]

ive done the same, no issues. that stuff is meant to face the elements. Ive never used my power washer at it though just a regular hose with a some engine cleaner spray. Apparently your supposed to do it with the engine off

the engines made to face the elements and as long as you dont drench it in water your good..even if you do you should be fine..have you seen the pics on here? the offroaders are HARDCORE. f***initupagain wasnt as lucky, he drowned his engine didnt he?

if these engines can face baja runs and canadian winters, they can face a spray of water

as for undercarriage, i powerwash it all the time. moisture can build though and cause rust, but id rather clean it up once in a while and remove some of that stubborn dirt

[Ron Burgundy]

Fair enough. Thanks guys!

I'll take pics and let you know how it goes.

[screwinitupagain]

As much offroading as I like to do hosing down the engine compartment is a regular occurrance about once every six months or so (just to get rid of the build-up of sh*t in there). I've never pressure washed it but I have pressure washed the undercarriage & thought about doing it again this weekend while I'm at my parents (I know, I know, Boston actually talking about washing the Mule)

[Chuck Tribolet]

Spray on a can of Gunk, wait fifteen minutes, hose off. It will look great.

Chuck

[Ron Burgundy]

I think i'm doing it tomorrow. I'll take before and afters!

[Ron Burgundy]

So right as I was about to go do this, I notice my neighbor is getting her engine bay detailed.

So I go and talk to the guy doing it - he charges $125 and does the engine bay, undercarriage, exterior and interior. And i'm not gonna lie, it looks brand new!

So before I go and potentialy f-k up my car - I am strongly considering.

Any opinions? Too much money? Good deal?

[Qxxx4]

psht i do that every weekend, ill do it for $50.

my dad goes to the local full serve wash and blows $20, he works construction so literally 2 days later its filthy again in and out....i keep telling him hes pissing away his cash.

[screwinitupagain]

If it was my Pathy (and I mean that as in the actuall Pathfinder I drive not as in if I were you kind of deal) I would deffinately do it, but he would probably charge me more. Then again there is something very satisfying about taking an afternoon & doing this kind of small sh*t myself

[Qxxx4]

i agree, i love washing my car, im in a trance when i do it. its probably the only time where my mind totally checks out without using drugs or sex

[Pwnin O'Brien]

I pressure wash my engine bay and undercarriage about once every two weeks. You would be surprised the kinda stuff that gets flushed out of the undercarriage, especially around the wheel wells.

I just take some degreaser and spray it on and let it sit for a little while (on both the engine bay and undercarriage, use the same stuff). I then use my 2500psi pressure washer, and wash the engine and the undercarriage. The catch with washing the engine bay. depending on the psi of your pressure washer, you want the wand to be at least 4-5 feet from the engine. This may sound useless, but the air that the pressure washer pushes is also good cleaning, because it acts almost like a air compressor. It works really really well.

Most people worry about messing up the electronics, which is almost never an issue, unless the car is 20 years old. Nissan uses really water tight seals on the engine connectors, you could probably completely submerse each connector in water and not have an issue. The only issue would be if you have rotting rubber seals, I would check that before washing, just a quick visual inspection. With the car off tho, I'm sure you won't have any issues. I would also give the car 20 minutes or so to dry off before starting it, just in case some water did get into any important areas. Also, be sure to cover the air filter with some plastic wrap or a plastic bag (if you have an aftermarket exposed filter element).

Another tip, don't even come close to the fins of the radiator, it will just bend every fin within a millisecond, not good. When washing the undercarriage, you also want to be careful not to wash off the rust resistant coating, but this usually takes a lot of pressure and a pencil thin stream.

I would recommend using a degreaser and engine shine combo for the undercarriage, my rear diff. looks amazing once I clean it, it looks like brand new.

Other than that, I would highly recommend routine engine bay/undercarriage cleaning.

[screwinitupagain]

Nice little write-up POB

[Mikey178]

I pressure wash mine every year and give it a nice coat of engine finish to keep it clean and shiny.

Not sure if youll see the picture below, but thats my engine all cleaned up

[WPGQX4]

This is a bit off topic, but since you want to clean the under carrage to help prevent rust, I'll give my 2 cents.

In Winnipeg you can get your Q or Pathy Rust Checked for $140+tax. Not a bad price to help keep that salt and s*** from the winter eat the bottom of your truck away. Great thing is if you do it a number of years in a row, the rust may never be a problem.