How Do You Clean Your Engine ?

444DHQ

Member

Sep 16, 2009

7

1

13

Northwest

Aug 13, 2014

#1

• Aug 13, 2014

• #1

I have a 07 GT and live on a dirt road,The other day I had to change my head lite's and noticed how much dirt and dust I have under the hood,Even around the Cops (Coil over Plugs) there are little twigs,feathers and grime.
I know better to not use a hose with water. Maybe a compressor and blow all the dust out ?
Any suggestions would be great. Thank you !!!!

 

Noobz347

Stangnet Facilities Maint Tech... Er... Janitor

Admin Dude

Jan 4, 1985

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Aug 13, 2014

#2

• Aug 13, 2014

• #2

444DHQ said:

I have a 07 GT and live on a dirt road,The other day I had to change my head lite's and noticed how much dirt and dust I have under the hood,Even around the Cops (Coil over Plugs) there are little twigs,feathers and grime.
I know better to not use a hose with water. Maybe a compressor and blow all the dust out ?
Any suggestions would be great. Thank you !!!!

Click to expand...

Why not use water?

The thing that should NOT be done is using hose water while the engine is hot (even warm). If the engine is stone cold, spray that bad boy up with 2 can of "Gunk Engine Cleaner", let it sit for a while then hose it off. You can even use a pressure washer if you're careful. Try an keep the water out of the inlet tract and make sure all your electrical connectors are good.

Don't unplug anything that doesn't look like it's not already falling off or might. Any loose connections should be pushed in and it's a great time to have some dielectric grease on hand. If you find any questionable connectors during your inspection, it's good time to fill them with the grease since you're moving it anyway.

 

444DHQ

Member

Sep 16, 2009

7

1

13

Northwest

Aug 13, 2014

#3

• Aug 13, 2014

• #3

Noobz347 said:

Why not use water?

The thing that should NOT be done is using hose water while the engine is hot (even warm). If the engine is stone cold, spray that bad boy up with 2 can of "Gunk Engine Cleaner", let it sit for a while then hose it off. You can even use a pressure washer if you're careful. Try an keep the water out of the inlet tract and make sure all your electrical connectors are good.

Don't unplug anything that doesn't look like it's not already falling off or might. Any loose connections should be pushed in and it's a great time to have some dielectric grease on hand. If you find any questionable connectors during your inspection, it's good time to fill them with the grease since you're moving it anyway.

Click to expand...

I've heard that if you use water it will short out your cops and cause your engine to miss.Or not run at all until it dries out for a couple of days. Is this true ?

 

Noobz347

Stangnet Facilities Maint Tech... Er... Janitor

Admin Dude

Jan 4, 1985

42,886

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Aug 13, 2014

#4

• Aug 13, 2014

• #4

Stay away from em. lol

 

horse sence

15 Year Member

Nov 29, 1999

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Wile Coyote's stunt double

Aug 13, 2014

#5

• Aug 13, 2014

• #5

444DHQ said:

I've heard that if you use water it will short out your cops and cause your engine to miss.Or not run at all until it dries out for a couple of days. Is this true ?

Click to expand...

I believe that is what happened to the coils on my 2000 F150, the next day after Pressure washing i had a bad coil .A few days later and another coil went out .They did not clear out after driving and warming up ,i had to replace them . I have pressure washed it since with out any problems with coils But i don't blast them directly any more .

 

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earleys94gt

Active Member

Aug 31, 2003

1,223

16

49

Ashley, Ohio

Aug 14, 2014

#6

• Aug 14, 2014

• #6

Just take some rags and cover the COPS when you wash the engine off.

If you have access to one, a hand held steam cleaner is another option. All the benefits of water without the risk of "flooding" the electronics.

 

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joshw0000

Active Member

Jul 1, 2014

291

102

53

Aug 14, 2014

#7

• Aug 14, 2014

• #7

I've always been nervous about spraying my engine. I'll work up the courage one day.

 

johnnyt03gt

5 Year Member

Mar 15, 2008

453

5

29

dallas TX

Aug 16, 2014

#8

• Aug 16, 2014

• #8

444DHQ said:

I've heard that if you use water it will short out your cops and cause your engine to miss.Or not run at all until it dries out for a couple of days. Is this true ?

Click to expand...

It can.
On my 03 use the water hose to rinse off my engine. Unknowing to me water got into the spark plug wire walls. As soon as I started it up it sounded like crap and ran like crap. It was popping knocking stalling and sputtering. I was freaking out. But then I read somewhere that suggested I leave the hood open and let the water dry overnight. I did the next thing it ran perfect.

Since then I will never put a water hose on my engine again.

Now when I clean my engine bay on my coyote. "Once a month" I use Maguires interior cleaner. I love this stuff it's nongreasy. But still protects from dry rot and crack. And a clean rag. I get everything all the hoses absolutely everything and usually takes me an hour or so. But one finish it looks like it was brand-new all over again.

View attachment 113130

 

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W

welchy

Active User

Mar 30, 2006

11

4

29

Aug 16, 2014

#9

• Aug 16, 2014

• #9

Run engine for a few minutes to get it slightly warm. If you have a cold air intake cover filter with plastic bag. Spray engine compartment with simple green. Close hood and let sit for 5-10 minutes. Carefully rinse engine compartment. Use air compressor to blow off extra water. Spray all plastic with tire shine. Let dry. Viola! Never had any problems. Just don't go crazy with the hose and you'll be fine.

 

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T

Tomh1962

Member

Aug 28, 2014

27

5

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Aug 28, 2014

#10

• Aug 28, 2014

• #10

I've found the biggest issue with using the hose is that the spark plug hole fills up with water and that causes a lot of coil issues... I've also found that if you remove the bad coil and set it out in the sun, more times than not, it'll "fix" itself. kinda sux after replacing it, but hey, now ya have spares... The simple green and foamy engine bright methods are tried and true.. just use a compressor to clear out the water from the plug holes before you bust it off...

 

SpartaPerformance

10 Year Member

Nov 5, 2006

2,517

61

89

Long Island NY

Sep 3, 2014

#11

• Sep 3, 2014

• #11

I plastic bag my CAI stuff plastic bags over my coils, then I spray the hell out of it with simple green and run water from a hose over it, no spray just open hose end.