Are there any special precautions I should take? I have a 1200 psi power washer. Is that ok to use? Anything I should cover?
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| Reply » how do I wash the engine bay? |
I myself just use meguires quick detail, but I'm just removing dust, nothing too serious. If you use a power washer, make sure that you dry off the spark plug/cylinder head area. I don't know if this happens on bimmers, but my brothers ford's spark plugs, thread inserts started to rust when the dealer power washed his engine bay and left small pools of water floating on his spark plugs. They sit in a small cavity. So my only comment is to make sure you dry everything off.
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sounds like the ford had an iron head. doesn't bmw use aluminum heads and iron blocks? also, the spark plugs are sealed pretty nice by the ignition coil unit.
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Probably, or the threaded inserts they use were steel intead of stainless. I don't think there would be a problem with it since engines have water splased up on them when it rains. Just make sure you don't blow any connectors away with the water pressure.  My $.02
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| Reply » how do I wash the engine bay? |
I just use one of the aerosol spray engine degreasers on a cold engine. After letting it sit for a few minutes, I spray off the engine area with a spray attachment on a garden hose, taking care to minimize spraying on things like the alternator or the power steering cap. You don't want to blast your hood blanket either. Then I blow the excess water off the engine with a leaf blower and start and run it to evaporate the remaining moisture. If there is any thick grime, it can be wiped or scrubbed off by hand after the degreaser is applied. I personally would not use a pressure washer or at least be very careful with it.
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| Reply » how do I wash the engine bay? |
Precautions....Degrease the engine whilst the engine is running. After having completely covered everything in the engine bay with degreaser, just hit it with the water pressure. The engine running will provide the heat necessary to get rid of the water on your plugs and leads. Be careful not to aim your water blaster at stickers, or.... they're gone! Don't degrease or wet the hood insulation as previously mentioned. It will sag from the weight of the water and be stuffed as a result. Just start the car from cold and begin the process. I wouldn't recommend doing this on a hot engine. Start with a cold one and by the time it warms up, you will be covering it in water anyway. The cold water won't come as a surprise to a very hot engine, if you get my drift. Electrical connections in our cars are very well water proofed, you won't have too much of a problem if you do it with the engine running. Engine off....may not start again due to water in the leads or plug connections.
Murray
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how do I wash the engine bay?