Anyone jet washed their bay?

[country boy]

Put a deposit on my MK5 GTi yesterday  Should pick it up in the next couple of weeks. The bay is a bit dirty,not oily but just grubby with dust and grime so was wondering if anyone has ever jet washed or steam cleaned thier bay and what did they use or can you give me any tips? I've heard you have to be very careful  with the electrics and so forth?

[stealthwolf]

This is one area where the fear and potential risk of damage outweigh the benefit of a clean engine bay. Hence I stick to a damp microfibre cloth.

Would be nice if some of the detailers on here could post up an idiot-proof how-to step-by-step-with-photos guide for us simpletons to follow.

[country boy]

That would be good,i spoke to the guy on the Meguairs stand at Inters and he said spray their engine cleaner on leave it for a while then wash it off with a low pressure hose then apply their engine dressing stuff. Be interesting if someone has done this. Back in the day i used to do my RS Turbo engine and you could go mad with the pressure washer and it was fine,just used to put a plastic bag over the ECU and spray WD40 down the plug holes!

[stealthwolf]

That's part of the problem - knowing what to wrap up/what not to aim the jet at etc.

I have megs APC which would clean most of it up nicely.

[s3dubbin]

I have degreased and pressure washed my s3 8p bay loads of times - keep it running and stay away from electrics - no probs. 

[vRStu]

I keep my engine bay clean with regular jet washing.

Just apply common sense and don't spray directly at the E-Box.

[Boothy]

I wouldn't go near my engine with a jet if my life depended on it. A week after the bodyshop jet washed my bay I had all sorts of squeaky noises coming from the engine and then my aircon compressor when kaput costing a rather substantial fee to put.right. I'm sure it could be coincidental but I don't think it was.
 For that reason and that reason alone no jet was is ever gonna see my engine bay again.

[S2 Ant]

Just use some engine cleaner type stuff and a brush and a cloth where necessary to clean up bits then rinse with an open ended hose, you shouldnt really need to pressure wash it and doing it like this should do the job without forcing water in to places its best not to

[ub7rm]

Not for me either but:

http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/acatalog/caring-for-modern-engines.html

[GTIjames]

Im sure there have been a few incidents on this forum of water getting in the the coil packs and causing damage one which resulted in a fire...

If we had perspex bonnets then i could see the point in cleaning it but we don't and the tfsi engine aint exactly a work of art

Drive it dont detail it 

[vRStu]

Ahh but clean is a good engineering practice 

[QD MBE]

I keep my engine bay clean with regular jet washing.

Just apply common sense and don't spray directly at the E-Box.

Imagine the scene........................

Stokey has bought a MK3 16V Anni, and it has an oil leak, who's source was not easily determined.  I bagged up all manner of plugs, and modules (Dizzy etc)

I sprayed a de-greaser all over, agitated, and left to dwell.................... Coffee time..........

Started the Donkey, and went to town with the Karcher!

Donkey spluttered almost immediately and then stopped!

Took 2 days to get it going 100% again.  B'turd thing!  I eventually found some moisture in the main loom on the front of the gearbox.  I had wd40'd the plug twice, but had to take the thing apart and allow to dry overnight.

Still needed to be done to find oil leak.
 

[keith]

personally I wouldn't go near any engine bay with a hose or pw.
Simple thing to do is get some APC spray on all visable plastics and bits agitate with small brush if req and wipe off, then get something like Autosmart Finish or Autoglym Viynl & plastic dressing and spray all over then shut the bonnet, dont touch it just let it dry in, come back in a few hours should have a nice sheen. takes about 20-30 mins of effort tops.

[craigy123]

I pressure wash my engine when it needs it, I just apply megs apc (megs de-greaser to places that may need it) work it in with a brush then power rinse it from a distance staying away from battery etc. You could eat your tea off it afterwards. Then dress it with either megs all season or aerospace 303. Done this a few times since owning it and no problems at all. Done it to almost all my cars with no side effects. Also done it to a few other peoples cars with there permission of course. Aslong as you don't go daft with it, I personally don't see the problem. I done C6DSY's engine bay a week or so ago, the outce of this can be seen in the members rides section.

[andyt13]

modern day cars is not a problem really as long as said you apply a bit of commen