Anyone with experience cleaning the 5.4L? Any problems with pressure washing or hosing, etc.? What do yall recommend? I know it can cause problems with some cars and no big deal with others, so is there anything known to look out for?

 

DON't Do IT!! Do not get water anywhere the spark plug pockets or the coil on plugs. They will short out prematurely and it will get costly. If you can wash it and get no water around the intake area, then you may be ok. Also make sure that it is cold, they seem to have a bad habit of cracking exhaust manifolds too.
Jimmy

 

Stay away from the PCM and the Distributor as well.....if you are going to clean the engine, use a low pressure line (ie hose) and keep the engine running.

 

It doesn't have a distributor and if you want to fry the electronics, go ahead and leave it running.
Jimmy

 

I think one of the most important things is after washing to go for a good enough drive that the engine gets nice and warm to dry everything off.

 

Stay away from the inside edge of the valve covers where most of the electrics are, the cops and the injectors. Otherwise, I haven't had any problems with mine. As long as there isn't consistent water on the COPs there shouldn't be a problem with them corroding. Also, as a side note I have had good luck on restoring COPs with water troubles by taking the boot components off and lightly sand blasting the terminal at the top. I use dielectric grease in the terminal cavity and reassemble using DE grease on all the rubber seal seams.

 

I guess I'm just a bit over protective of mine. These things seem to be so sensitive and fragile to be built Ford Tough..
Jimmy

 

As a detailer, I wash engines day in and day out. I've had my 99 F-150 w/ the 4.6 for 1.5 weeks, and I've washed the engine twice already. Here's my advice:
take some plastic shopping bags, put on over your alt. and one over your battery. your engine can be warm, but not hot. In other words, if you've only moved it around a parking lot, or let it run for a minute or two, youre in good shape. after you put the bags on, spray down the engine witha good general purpous clean, preferable one that has de-greasing properties, one such product anyone can buy at a department store is called "Simple Green" I personaly use Kar Kraft's "Grime fighter GP" or "Striptease GP", both of which are comercial products sold Allied Technologies for the detailing industry. Anyway, spray down the whole underhood area, being sure to hit and particularly dirty area, but do go light around the ignition area, andtry aoiding your heater blower motor. Take a five minute break or do soemthing else for 5 min, then you a regular garden hose to hose the whole works off, once again going easy near the sensitive stuff. when your down, remove the bags and start the engine, let it run for about 5-6 minutes, if it runs fine, you're in good shape. while its running, take a plastic and vinyl dressing (ie: Armour All) and mist the product over the engine, focusing more on plastic and rubber parts, give everything a good coating, then close the hood. shut the engine dow, wait an hour or so, then take a ride, if its running OK, you should be fine. wait a day or two to see the results of your wrok, includign the dressing.

 

Thank you for your thorough advice. Hopefully this will help against the total dirt covering from offroading and going through a mud pit

 

The ArmorAll thing does look nice for about a week, the all of the dust in area clings to it. I don't use the dressings under the hood anymore.
Jimmy

 

Hey guys, what about using some engine degreaser? Just spray it on and rince it off. Leave the hood up for a couple hours to let it dry out a little. I have done this a couple of times and had no problems. Maybe I have just been lucky with the ignition.
-Landon