i reading thru the car care thread and there's posts about engine cleaning with a garden hose. is that really okay? at high pressure? if so, i'm spraying my dirty a$$ motor tomorrow. with soap no less.

 

The engine gets wet when you drive in the rain and stuff, right? I've been hosing mine down for several months now and have no problems. Just make sure that you don't spray water down into the air intake, I suggest you cover it first or something. Otherwise there's not much you can do to hurt it, although I don't suggest spraying a really hot engine with cold water... Sure, the steam looks and sounds really cool, but who knows what it's possible to damage that way. Spray it when its cooler and I don't see what you can hurt. Have fun

 

Just watch the electricals... avoid directing the spray at connectors and wiring. ESPECIALLY plug wires, if your's has 'em. I wasted a $90 set for my Rodeo V6... the arcing when wet left a carbon track and continued to arc when dry. Your best bet is to protect, wherever possible, by wrapping them in plastic bags and tape. That's what the pros do for a steam cleaning... takes time but you can be confident you won't be left with electrical problems.

Also, if you use a degreaser don't get it on things you want lubricated... like throttle cable, hood latch. Or, go ahead, wash that away too and apply a good white grease afterwords.

 

That $90 set you bought for your rodeo did not go bad because of the water you sprayed on the engine. That is a test we use when finding out why a car has a miss in the engine. If you spray the wires down with water and they arc that means the wire or whole set is bad. Spraying the wires down did not make them go bad.

Just FYI

 

Except this set was brand new, just had an 80k tune-up and the engine was running real smooth just before I degreased and power-washed it at a drive-through car wash. I know they use first-quality aftermarket- I would have been real pi$$ed at myself for being so careless except I was so relieved to find I hadn't done something even more serious.

FWIW: for real good water protection, even with good wires, you have to seal the wires where it enters the boots. And then seal the boots to the valve covers and coil packs. If you do it all correctly, and run an air intake to the roof, you can actually operate with the engine submerged. Long enough, at least, to power across a stream that was deeper than you thought.

 

Engine is no way in any word WATERPROOF. If anything it is water RESISTANT. I cant be sunk into water and expect to run. All the water would get into the intake and shut it off.

But yeah you should have no problems DEGREESING the engine. Just make sure not to spray directly at the fuse box or relay box.

 

WOOPS... sorry... this is for a Rodeo, NOT a Maxima. Have no idea if a Max engine could ever do this and wouldn't even try it. Not that I suppose any one else would... even those in Houston, if they had a choice.

 

what does "arc" mean??

sounds like a good test...

 

Working for Ford and getting motorcrap parts i've seen my fair share of bad "brand new" wires. Stuff like that tends to really throw you off as a tech when the wires you just put on have a bad wire shroud. Then your wondering what the hell is really wrong with the car. The only thing you should do with those wires is put some di-electric grease on them to keep moisture out.

 

Lightening!

as opposed to Ark... the original love boat.

 

The only things not waterproof/shouldn't get wate on them are the air tubes, coil, and distributor.

 

All the electrical connectors in the engine compartment should be sealed connectors. If they seal correctly, they work submerged in water. I worked on an automotive device that was even tested that way.

 

As a general rule when people steam clean an engine they cover the distributor and other easily covered electrical parts. Try and avoid drenching your electrical components. Your engine compartment usually wipes clean pretty easy, I doubt you will need to run a hose on it. This is a fifth gen forum it's not like you have a 1973 Duster.

 

maxima has no distributor or plug wires... we have direct ignition

 

speaking in general, more to the point that it's never a good idea to hit any electrical components with direct water from a hose.