Mike141

Took a look at this D3 the other day...car has about 80K, VCDS scanned showed 00908 for control module for wiper motor, 2 parking sensor codes (001549), and battery management codes. Car sounded and drove fine, but take a look at the attached pics and tell me what you think other than the previous owner never cleaning the engine compartment, what is the deal with all of those white spots? Look like corrosion and when rubbed with finger, they come off. Also, the large pulley in center front of engine appeared rusty. If I buy I intend to take a look beneath the belly pan for any leaks. Thanks

krazzz

Looks completely normal to me but I am from MI and that is what happens to cars driven in the winter.

aTOMic

LP gas conversion?

1Wasserwerks

My guess is normal erosion from the elements.

Mister Bally

And the front cover missing...

Mike141

Just checking to see if this was normal. I'm used to a clean engine compartment because I keep the rest of my car clean, why not under the hood? I guess some people just either don't have time or don't care.

everwake

If, like me you live in a country with subzero temperatures part of the year and where salt is used to remove ice and snow from the roads, you would think that engine is fairly clean.

in the climate I live it most "experts" have agreed upon that washing the engine is worse than letting is stay dirty, apparently dust on the outside has very little effect, modern engines are sealed well enough that outside air only gets in through the intake, water on the other hand, especially mixed with road salt, is a bigger issue.

to me that sounds reasonable, so I only dry brush my engine compartment clean, and avoid using water at all.

But I have to say I prefer the look of a clean engine department to match the rest of the car, but the number of microfibre towels it takes when not using water is fairly high...

nathanwind

Is it really that bad to do a low-pressure rinse on the engine bay (if you stay away from the air intakes & electronics)?