I have been known to keep my motor pretty clean. When I sold my 98 Ranger to get my F150, the motor looked spotless; like a showroom model. I have a 99 5.4L and it is a little dirty. I have heard about not getting water on the coils and such but I was curious how people clean their engines. I normally would take the pressure washer and lightly spray off the dust on the 3.0 Ranger. Then take a rag and Mean Green to the other hard to reach spots. Doing this 2-3 times a year yielded a clean motor. How do you all clean your Triton motors? Any tips and do's and don't's?

 

On my other cars i just blast it like you are say above, but on my 5.4 i spray it down with Castrol superclean degreaser, hit the tough spots with a brush, and very carefully hose it down afterword. Very careful not to get crazy around the COPS or around my K&N intake. I usually do it about 4 times a year, it stays very clean and i havent had any electrical probs.

 

well I have heard some say to cover the cops with plastic and try not to get much water around them. Is this engine really that sensitive to water?

 

I have taken mine to the car wash & just sprayed away, I did leave it running though, that's how I cleaned my 67 Mustang from when I was in highshcool 1980, & that's how I clean them now, although my engine is NOT spotless, just doesn't have all the mud from hunting & fishing trips

 

KYFord, I have a 99 5.4 and in my opinion, YES this engine really is that sensitive to water. Maybe I just have a bad COP, but just about every time I get into water of any sort, #5 starts missing. I sopped all eight cylinders with dielectric grease (COPs, boots, wells) and it fixed it for a while. Last night it rained about 2 inches, and today, missing again.

 

Im not sure they are all like that...My last Expi was a lease, so i used to beat the hell out it. On 2 different ocassions driving on the beach i was in salt water so deep it was coming in through the doors and going totally over my hood, never had a problem with that one... The one I have now i bought and I dont totally baby it, still go splashing in puddles, just not saltwater, and no probs there either. i changed my own plugs and only found rust in one, but it never missed.

 

Every time I have pressure washed my 4.6 I have wound up at the dealer replacing coils, dont even open your hood if it is raining.

 

You are so correct. I am the original owner of a 2003 F150 King Ranch with the 5.4L V8 and now has 170,000 miles on it. I have been keeping the engine clean mostly by wiping it down at each oil change. However, I have had to use GUNK d-greaser, brush, hose it down and blow dry with a yard blower on four occasions. On each of those times, it ended up at the Dealer afterwards because of rough idling and shaking; the Dealer had to replace a bad coil which costed me over $360.00 each time. That is almost $1500.00 for 4 times. Would you say "that is some expensive washes"? I should have learned my lesson after the 2nd. time but I kept saying it must be a co-incidence. I tried plastic wrap each of the coils, all electrical junctures, etc,. etc,. but ended up with the same results. Now I need another engine clean and really afraid to proceed because I do not have another $400.00 to throw away. I believe I may have to just try and wipe it down from now on although I cannot stand looking at the cruds which cannot be reached. I do believe that this is a defect from Ford but the Dealer said "good luck in pursuing it".

 

My engine is cleaned by closing the hood. Is a $400 repair bill worth a clean engine? When I do oil changes I make sure I wipe the trough where the drains onto and wipe with a cloth however I don't use water. My truck is a 2003 F150 Crew with 90k miles.

 

I'd use an environmentally friendly engine cleaner for the really grimy spots and blow it off with compressed air. I'd never use water again as I've had issues like others have mentioned before I knew better.

 

The big problem is the coil boots set down into deep wells in the head to connect to the tops of the spark plugs.
The boot seal is not 100 %.
Once water gets in it can turn to steam and hard to evaporate out.
In the mean time you have misfires because water vapor is conductive.
In some instances it can cause pin holes in the boots.
Those who get away with it are just lucky.
If the boots were made with a taper so a reliable seal could take place at the top of the head, water would be much less of a problem.
Good luck.

 

I have a 2002 F-150 Lariat and I went to the car wash and power washed my engine with it running before I read this thread...Whew! I guess I was lucky because I've had zero problems.

 

I've carefully pressure washed my 97 4.6 and never had any problems. I try to cover the alternator and not get too crazy with the water.