cleaning a VP engine

[dods60]

my VP in filthy under the hood, probably because i park between a flour mill and a cement site. anyway, is it ok to go to the car wash and use the engine and tyre degreaser that they have and spray it all over the place or is this not recomended?
basicaly are these carwash systems ok or is there another way that is better for the electronics?

[Dum*P*ster]

Use a damp rag, water can cause a lot of issues!

[levymetal]

you'd be pretty unlucky if it caused any permanent damage, but water definitely stuffs around with the sensors. do a search, there's heaps of people (especially with 5ltrs) who can't start their cars after an engine bay wash and have had to leave it for a few hours to dry before it would start. i would personally never wash an engine bay like that, but i'm sure plenty of people would disagree with me. the old rag, toothbrush and can of degreaser works fine for me though

[padrickz88]

agree with levy, old tooth brush (for tight spaces) big brush for huge parts, degreaser and a rag to whipe it off

[Tim Smtih]

As above, i usually get stuck in every so often with a toothbrush and either degreaser or RP7. And the added benefit of using RP7 is it inhibits rust.

Selleys RP7

Just checked, yep all good for use in engine bay. Obviously apply to cloth or spray carefully, i still wouldn't recommend getting this stuff everywhere in the engine bay.

[calais_cruzin]

I degreased mine yesterday to find finda oil leak.

Covered my DFI n Pod with a plastic bag, cut sick with 2 cans of degreaser then hosed it all off 10min later.

Ive done it this way probly 10times on my VP, never had a problem.

[dods60]

thanks for the advice Guys.
i want to slowly do up my vp but at the moment i am on a budget. so i thought i would do the small things first. but i guess i have alot to learn.

thanks all

[Afterlight]

I just buy liquid degreaser, take of coilpacks and leads. Spray degreaser on everything use a toilet brush to clean stubborn buts and hose off. Maybe hit the bad parts again. Let sit in the sun for a few hours. WD40 the electrics and sensors and refit and start.

Works for my vn....

Just make sure you take the leads off, the absorb water and fsu

[wortus]

Most alkaline degreasers if applied too strong or left on for too long will pit the aluminium surfaces and it looks bad. A mates VS is in ahorrible state under the hood from that.
When I clean mine I usually use a spray degreaser can if there on special at super cheap or just fill a tin can with kero and use a brush and then I wash it off with water or for under the motor a hand sprayer filled with kero. If you have an air compressor a kero gun on that will be good especially if you have caked on gunk on the crossmember under the motor etc. I try not to spray or brush kero straigh onto a sensor etc. If I am washing the car then I wash in the engine bay with the left over suds using an old rag or sponge. I've never had any trouble getting one to start after that.

[v6lux]

I would like to mention with my VR V6 engine, it has boiled over dozens of times in the last 14 years. I usually find a servo and drive to the water bottle/tap and pour water straight onto the plenum, a lot to the left, a lot to the right, some down behind alternator, remove sunnies to wipe steam off - refill bottle - pour more down front of radiator, more on plenum, a lot to the left, a lot to the right, more on the plenum, then more down front of radiator. At this point I give the top hose a squeeze and it has no pressure, refill system - moral of the story is - Never had an issue restarting and driving off straight after all this water.

I will say driving through mud and water levels over the CAS and spark plugs does cause the engine to backfire and stall, so just go easy in these areas on the engine!