washing the engine

has anyone ever washed their own engine? if so is there anything i should be
careful of doing?

chewb40 wrote:
> has anyone ever washed their own engine? if so is there anything i should be
> careful of doing?

Yes, don't do it!

Seriously, why do you need to? Was there an oil spill or something?

If you must clean it (and I assume you mean jet wash), then leave the
car running whilst you clean it.

"Gman" > wrote in message
...
> chewb40 wrote:
>> has anyone ever washed their own engine? if so is there anything i should
>> be careful of doing?
>
> Yes, don't do it!
>
> Seriously, why do you need to? Was there an oil spill or something?
>
> If you must clean it (and I assume you mean jet wash), then leave the car
> running whilst you clean it.
>

Maybe not a good idea to let it running.By spaying it, you cool certain
parts.
That way I cracked and inlet manifold on my Golf GTI.

Just clean whatever is dirty with some soapy water and a brush.

Ronald

In article <5oush.739794$R63.334382@pd7urf1no>,
"chewb40" > wrote:

> has anyone ever washed their own engine? if so is there anything i should be
> careful of doing?

Start out with an engine cleaner. Read the directions! Several parts
need to be protected when you rinse. All hydraulic fluid caps, large
electrical connectors and the transmission vent cap need to be covered
with rags. Moving parts should not be directly sprayed. Nothing should
be hit with high pressure.

maybe i should just bring it to the audi dealer. i rather be safe...i just
hate it it was so clean when i got the car and now its so dirty....
"Kevin McMurtrie" > wrote in message
...
> In article <5oush.739794$R63.334382@pd7urf1no>,
> "chewb40" > wrote:
>
>> has anyone ever washed their own engine? if so is there anything i should
>> be
>> careful of doing?
>
> Start out with an engine cleaner. Read the directions! Several parts
> need to be protected when you rinse. All hydraulic fluid caps, large
> electrical connectors and the transmission vent cap need to be covered
> with rags. Moving parts should not be directly sprayed. Nothing should
> be hit with high pressure.

In article <p_Bsh.729349$5R2.198768@pd7urf3no>,
"chewb40" > wrote:

> maybe i should just bring it to the audi dealer. i rather be safe...i just
> hate it it was so clean when i got the car and now its so dirty....
> "Kevin McMurtrie" > wrote in message
> ...
> > In article <5oush.739794$R63.334382@pd7urf1no>,
> > "chewb40" > wrote:
> >
> >> has anyone ever washed their own engine? if so is there anything i should
> >> be
> >> careful of doing?
> >
> > Start out with an engine cleaner. Read the directions! Several parts
> > need to be protected when you rinse. All hydraulic fluid caps, large
> > electrical connectors and the transmission vent cap need to be covered
> > with rags. Moving parts should not be directly sprayed. Nothing should
> > be hit with high pressure.

If this is just for looks, forget it. It's too much trouble unless you
have a show car. I'd only clean it if the dirt could cause damage -
solvents/salts/acids in the dirt, abrasion between touching parts,
blocking airflow, wicking oil from moving parts, etc. Usually wiping
down a few spots with a damp rag does the trick and it only takes a
minute.

Ronald wrote:
>
>
> "Gman" > wrote in message
> ...
>
>> chewb40 wrote:
>>
>>> has anyone ever washed their own engine? if so is there anything i
>>> should be careful of doing?
>>
>>
>> Yes, don't do it!
>>
>> Seriously, why do you need to? Was there an oil spill or something?
>>
>> If you must clean it (and I assume you mean jet wash), then leave the
>> car running whilst you clean it.
>>
>
> Maybe not a good idea to let it running.By spaying it, you cool certain
> parts.
> That way I cracked and inlet manifold on my Golf GTI.

The reason I suggest leaving it running is that if the car starts
spluttering, you'll know to avoid that area (especially around the
distributor cap/HT leads). I know from past experience to leave it running.

Most of the time if you're using any decent kind of jet wash the water
will not be cold, but hot.

> Just clean whatever is dirty with some soapy water and a brush.

Or not at all :-)

"chewb40" > wrote in message
news:5oush.739794$R63.334382@pd7urf1no...
> has anyone ever washed their own engine? if so is there anything i should
> be careful of doing?
>

interesting Q and some answers....

from our Hampshire office window we watch a valet company and every day he
just pops the lid on the cars and steams away under the
bonnet,,,,,,,,,,,,,,mercs, jags, vans..........anything and the customers
just drive them away. There aint NO prep work covering delicate parts.

our only concern is that all that ****, oil and muck must be going into the
atmosphere and down the drains.

On Sun, 21 Jan 2007 16:22:15 -0000, "Lez Pawl"
> wrote:
>"chewb40" > wrote in message
>news:5oush.739794$R63.334382@pd7urf1no...
>> has anyone ever washed their own engine? if so is there anything i should
>> be careful of doing?
>
>from our Hampshire office window we watch a valet company and every day he
>just pops the lid on the cars and steams away under the
>bonnet,,,,,,,,,,,,,,mercs, jags, vans..........anything and the customers
>just drive them away. There aint NO prep work covering delicate parts.

Another data point: a friend of mine has a 1983 VW Vanagon out in the
desert of Arizona, where packrats love to build nests. One time a few
years ago (in this century) she left it parked under no supervision
while she went on a marine biology research trip for something like 2
months. She came back and could not start the van because of the
packrat nests, so she had the van towed to a place that did jet engine
cleanings. She talked to the guy a while about the project, and he
assured her he could easily blast out all these nests. When she
persistently quizzed him about whether the blasting would damage
anything, he had to admit that the one time he cleaned out a similar
vehicle, it never started after that.

She didn't do the engine wash. The van is still running out in the
desert of Arizona.

"chewb40" > wrote in message
news:5oush.739794$R63.334382@pd7urf1no...
> has anyone ever washed their own engine? if so is there anything i should
> be careful of doing?
Meguire's has a forum dedicated to engine compartment cleaning:
http://meguiarsonline.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=69
http://meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11887

I have used their techniques and products on VW, Ford, and Audi
vehicles--never had any problems.