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!

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

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

Chuck

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?

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.

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.

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

Check my QX4 out http://www.cardomain.com/ride/3310765

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.