safe to use a high pressure washer at a do it yourself car wash on the engine?
07-24-2003, 07:58 AM
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safe to use a high pressure washer at a do it yourself car wash on the engine?
last weekend i was using a toothbrush to clean my engine for waterfest. needless to say, that took forever. would it be safe to use a high pressure washer at one of those DIY car wash places?
07-24-2003, 08:02 AM
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As long as you don't get water where water shouldn't get ...
I've hosed out my engine bay with medium pressure before. But, you said you just got your covers painted - are you planning on removing them before the hosing to protect the new paint? That would expose things like coilpacks / etc ... so be aware of that!
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07-24-2003, 08:08 AM
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I used a small one (Costco) many times. One time the water got in between the coil pack and the.....
sparkplug. My CEL on, one of the cylinder dead. So after I took the coilpack off, dry the space in between, it is OK.
07-24-2003, 08:17 AM
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I'd be afraid to do it for two reasons...
1. You'd have to drive to the self wash place so the engine would be warm/hot. Spraying it with cold water could crack something.
2. You'd have to drive home without giving the engine a chance to dry off which could be dangerous if water got into any of the electronics.
Whenever I wash the engine bay, I make sure that the car was sitting overnight so the engine is cold and I make sure not to drive it for several hours (or overnight, if possible) afterwards to give it time to dry.
-Dave Pramanik
2. You'd have to drive home without giving the engine a chance to dry off which could be dangerous if water got into any of the electronics.
Whenever I wash the engine bay, I make sure that the car was sitting overnight so the engine is cold and I make sure not to drive it for several hours (or overnight, if possible) afterwards to give it time to dry.
-Dave Pramanik