not that i really care, but figured it might help someone else... what do u do about the under-hood insulation? i've noticed that it tends to get sprayed with mud off the serpentine as well as random splatters here and there just from splashing. i'm in no way a neat freak, so i'd never touch it aside from possibly tearing it out, but someone might want to clean it

 

guess I got lucky when I used a pressure washer under my hood the other day.

 

Great question and thanks for the hint to use the low pressure at the coin-op.

 

For the insulation I spray it down with Simple Green and let it soak for a bit and then rinse it off. You will see all the dirt and grime come out when you rinse it.

 

After the hood insulation is cleaned a few times it gets kind of funky looking, pop it off after washing and let it dry. Then shoot it with a flat black spray bomb. It will look brand new....

 

Instead of buying products like simple green, I just use the "Tire Cleaner" option at the manual carwash. It sprays on using low pressure and then I let it set and I follow it with a rinse. Works great!

 

When using washing w/soap and water or when engine degreaser do you need to cover any of the electrical connections under the hood?? Could any of that stuff be shorted out??

I used to use the Gunk degreaser without covering anything but the vehicle was not a $30K rubicon....Id like to do it right now...

 

I let Moab slick rock dust and Cali desert dust sit covering my engine for 6 mos. I took it to the car wash and without pulling the trigger on the gun, just sprayed everything down. It turned out pretty damn clean, and I only used low pressure water.

Key tips:

• If you only cover one thing make sure it's the air box intake with a wal-mart bag and a rubber band.

• Let your engine cool down a little bit before spraying it with water, especially around the exhaust manifold. It may develop hairline cracks if you shoot cold water on it while still scorching hot.

• Try to stay away from the distributor and other electronics. I only sprayed it with a brief shot of water to clean it.

• Never spray high pressure water into the engine compartment lest you like water migrating into all of the electronics and seals.

 

Its funny how mindful everyone is of washing the engine compartment but driving through 3 feet of freezing ice cold river water is quite acceptable.

 

so if the engine is cool,does the engine need to be running or off when spraying w/ water....i've heard people say leave it running and i've heard shut it off.....what do ya'll think?