Dirty Engine Bay - Discuss

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benk777

New member
Last weekend I took my 4R to my 3 acre lot for some off road action, and encountered a lot of wet mud! I locked the differential and had 30 minutes of pure dirty fun. Afterwards I ran her through a touchless wash that cleaned most of it off. Well yesterday I go to add some washer fluid, and to my surprise my engine bay was filthy. It appears that muddy water had flown through the little holes in the wheel wells and must have done so at some velocity for it to have splattered like it did.

So I've got two questions. 1. Can I plug those holes to avoid this issue in the future? 2. How do I go about cleaning out the engine bay? Can I trust a detail shop to clean that correctly?

Thanks.

Ben
 
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After some mudding I just use the garden hose with a sprayer avoiding any direct contact with any electronics and then spray everything with a tire shine/cleaner and it looks like new. I do this every few months regardless of how dirty it is so I get no buildup of crap.

4Runneretc013.jpg~original
 
It's fine. Just don't spray into anything. it can all get misted on pretty good, just not on the jet nozzle setting, you know?
 
My engine bay looks like crap too , needs a good cleaning .

Agree about washing method . You don't want to take it to a detail shop every time you play in the mud....$$$$$$

So did the Silent Armors handle in the mud ?? How was it in the rest of our snows , we had some good ones for you to test them. Have not talked in a while.
 
RonMAIDEN said:
After some mudding I just use the garden hose with a sprayer avoiding any direct contact with any electronics and then spray everything with a tire shine/cleaner and it looks like new. I do this every few months regardless of how dirty it is so I get no buildup of crap.

4Runneretc013.jpg~original
Click to expand...

Oh come on Ron , don't BS us !! By the looks of that engine bay that truck has not seen anything more than a pothole in a mall parking lot........j/k :D

I keep my stuff pretty damn mint and clean between my little off road expeditions. Just need to do the bay after all the winter crap. What spray did you use to dress it ? Looks nice .
 
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I don't actually recall what it was;I think i just had some leftover tire shine stuff since I use the Meguire's stuff on the tires.

Any stuff will work but I do take the time to wipe up overspray and get the nooks and crannies.

I also don't do much of this anymore if I can help it. (Rain-X works on the headlights too)
YotaRunMay28th07030.jpg~original
 
The SA's were awesome in the mud. I cranked the wheel and gave her some gas and the mud was flying, yet the tires still dug in and gave me traction. I had zero problems this winter as well, and we sure were tested on many occasions. Besides the crappy gas mileage that I'm still getting, I have no buyer's remorse on the purchase of the SA's.

So when I hose the engine bay down, should I be covering anything up?


Ben
 
I use the spot free rinse setting at the self serve car wash.
Avoid spraying electricals and do I do it with engine running.
Been cleaning my engines for years this way.
 
So avoid hitting anything electrical with the spot free rinse? Is that possible? Should I just spray and not aim at the battery and fuse box? Of all the vehicles I have owned, I have never sprayed water directly on the engine in fear of what might happen. But I do trust in what I read on this forum, so I assume your advice is safe.

Thanks.

Ben
 
benk777 said:
So avoid hitting anything electrical with the spot free rinse? Is that possible? Should I just spray and not aim at the battery and fuse box? Of all the vehicles I have owned, I have never sprayed water directly on the engine in fear of what might happen. But I do trust in what I read on this forum, so I assume your advice is safe.

Thanks.

Ben
Click to expand...

Just throw a plastic bag over anything that you don't want to get wet, then blast away.
 
Back in the day of carbs and distributors washing engine bays was tricky and required some baging. With weatherpack connectors, distributorless ignitions and very well sealed air intakes it's a lot easier these days. I wash my engine and compartment once a month, especially in the winter. I've never had any problems related to doing so.
 
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I agree with everyone. I worked in a carwash/detail shop during undergrad and that's basically all we did for an engine details....put some degreaser on it, spray it off with water, and use tire shine to detail it.
 
:iagree: 100% with 04 sc V8 and ImOnAPlain51. The only things I make half-a**ed effort to avoid are: 1) Blasting the power steering & brake reservoir caps with the high pressure hose. 2) Getting tire shine on the drive belt. The worst problem I have ever had is 20 seconds of belt squeal.

:cheers:
 
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