Preasure washing the SHO engine?

[Gen2Gen3WhatNxt]

Can the 3.4 SHO engine be washed whith a preasure washer? what about Acid and soap at a truck wash?

I washed my 3.0 at the truck wash a few years ago and it cleaned up very nicely. Im just not sure about this engine yet, what do I have to watch out for?

 

[Mr Anonymous]

IMHO, it's never a good idea to wash a modern engine with water -- I usually compare it to cleaning the inside of your PC with a hose. If you are going to do it, I'd recommend against using a "pressure" washer, and just use a regular hose without a nozzle. Also, I wouldn't recommend using any kind of "acid" cleaner unless you're not too fond of the finish on the intake. Try one of the cleaners available at any auto parts stores.

I prefer to use a bottle of simple green and a rag. Comes out just as clean, and has never caused a no-start or poor running problem.

 

[n8rsk8r]

anything electrical, you don't want the water to get to the coil/plugs in your case basically same diff, and the alternator and abs computer, other than that I occasionally spray my stang's motor down, and actually did my gen II a couple of times. But that should be about it. hope I helped a lil.

Nathan

Edit: what anonymous said, don't use acid.

 

[Glue Maker]

You're engine bay is water resistant, but NOT proof. A garden hose on mist with some simple green works great.

 

[99V8SHO]

Edit: what anonymous said, don't use acid.

Drugs are bad.

 

[Glue Maker]

Drugs are bad.

:jpshakeh: :laugh_ti:

 

[Shoman594]

I have power washed my motors for years with no problems. Only problem i had was on a 95 F250, water got into the distributor and it started to misfire. Dryed out the cap and was good to go!

 

[n8rsk8r]

Drugs are bad. :laugh_ti: that they are

 

[GreenStreak]

Only problem i had was on a 95 F250, water got into the distributor and it started to misfire. Dryed out the cap and was good to go!

Let's just say my engine bay isn't the cleanest, but I'm afraid of washing it even with a garden hose because I don't want to ruin anything electrical.
My question is that if I wash the bay and let it fully dry before I go to start it, could I still possibly have problems? I don't know much about anything involving the electrical components of cars, but it seems to me that if I wash it and let it fully dry, I shouldn't have any problems. Is this true?

-Rob

 

[Electricat]

Let's just say my engine bay isn't the cleanest, but I'm afraid of washing it even with a garden hose because I don't want to ruin anything electrical.
My question is that if I wash the bay and let it fully dry before I go to start it, could I still possibly have problems? I don't know much about anything involving the electrical components of cars, but it seems to me that if I wash it and let it fully dry, I shouldn't have any problems. Is this true?

-Rob

I don't know about the 3rd Gen SHO, but on the Gen 1 and 2, you will probably end up with water in the spark plug wells, which are DEEP and HARD to dry out, resulting in severe misfiring...been there and done that, trust me! Besides that, the SHO has a lot of electrical gizmos underhood which are able to resist road spray fine, but just aren't really made to handle getting soaked down with a hose.

 

[Shoman594]

Let's just say my engine bay isn't the cleanest, but I'm afraid of washing it even with a garden hose because I don't want to ruin anything electrical.
My question is that if I wash the bay and let it fully dry before I go to start it, could I still possibly have problems? I don't know much about anything involving the electrical components of cars, but it seems to me that if I wash it and let it fully dry, I shouldn't have any problems. Is this true?

-Rob

I have had to work with dirty SHO engines myself. My old 1991 + it had a really dirty engine bay.

What I do is start the car up cold and let it idle for a few minutes. Then I would start spraying the bay with the power washer but i would do it from 2-3 feet away some times bringing it closer. I try to do the washing when the engine is cool because its not good to spray cold water on a hot cast iron block. I would leave the engine running the whole time. After I finish washing i would dry the front spark plug area and dry the intake. The rest would dry on its own. After that most of the big stuff is clean then you can start to clean the rest of the bay with your spray cleaner of choice.

Here is the thing, I can recommend this because other people have reported problems. BUT I can say that it was ok for me because i have done this same procedure on the following vehicles with no problem. 1989, 1991, 1994 and 1996 SHO's. 2002 F250 Super Duty 1997 Ranger even a 1989 celica ;0 the list goes on!

What you could do is try it out with a little water and then see how it does the next day. If its ok then you can hit it with a little more water the next day. The key is a concentrated stream of water not just a garden hose dumping water into your engine bay. Good luck!

 

[SHOZ123]

What I do is use tire foam on a cool motor. Spray it down quite throughly tothe point of runoff. Then let it sit for 20 minutes. After that wipe down with a rag.

 

[anarchy04]

It is alright to wash your engine as long as it can't get in the intake. I've seen people at Checker use pressure washers to clean off engines before, kinda old 94ish Explorer and a newer Olds Alero after doing oil changes

 

[SASHO91]

i just get a rag, spray WD-40 on it, and wipe away. Gets all of the deep down dirt and grease. Let it air out for a few, then your good to go. Havent had any problems yet.

 

[SuperG]

Pressure Washing

Well, I consider myself lucky....Last year I took my car to the local car wash and they pressure washed the engine...no problems, so it seemed. For a few days, the engine ran a little differently, but it cleared up. My guess is that some water got into the spark plug wells, but eventually evaporated out.

The end result was a really clean engine...never saw it like that before!

Perhaps pressure washing without the pressure near the plugs?

Since then, I use simple green and a low pressure rinse...

 

[yamahaSHO]

Gunk engine degreaser + following the directions on the can =
http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/9/web/225000-225999/225912_183_full.jpg

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/9/web/225000-225999/225912_361_full.jpg

After the engine is dry, I use and engine detailer or Armor All and mist it over the whole engine bar.

I prefer to use a bottle of simple green and a rag. Comes out just as clean, and has never caused a no-start or poor running problem.

You'll definitely get the surface clean with that.... And that's about it.

 

[SuperG]

Geez, Jason...looks like you've never driven that car! Looks awesome!

 

[Mr. SHO]

If you had any idea how many V8SHO people get annoying problems from bad wiring and harness connections you would NEVER EVER think of getting water on ANY area under the hood. There's about 2 miles of wire under there, and several dozen connectors, of which about 1/3 aren't sealed properly (Ford quality) so if you enjoy looking at the CEL, grab the hose and go for it. If not, just use WD-40 or tire foam and end up w/ the same cleaning results, sans erratic engine behavior.

 

[99V8SHO]

I just got my SHO back from the body shop, and I was informed that the engine bay was pressure-washed, without my knowing it. I am crossing my fingers, but everything is running fine thus far. But the engine bay does look nice.

 

[Fourcats]

I use the "do it yourself" car wash, provided it has an "enigine degeaser" and "spotfree rinse", both are low pressure. Put plastic bag over the air filter if needed and DON'T get in close with "the high pressure soap {or rinse}, thats asking for trouble. Sop up any puddles on the motor, take a spin on the hwy and I'm done...a clean motor/vehicle and no dirty driveway. Works for me