What do you guys use/do when you clean the engine? Is it OK to use degreasers? And I was wondering if it would help to use a pressuer washer?

 

Simple green and a pressure washer

 

I like the CD-2 engine cleaner/detailer. Works really well.

As for pressure washing, you should never, Never, NEVER ever pressure wash your engine compartment. You'll force water into electrical connections, sensors, and parts that don't play well with water.

That being said, when I pressure wash (innocent look ) I make sure to use the lowest setting, and I only use power then I hit the block or exhaust. All of the other parts of the engine bay get washed down with about the same pressure as a running garden hose. Then I follow up with compressed air to blow water from the various pockets it collects in, and to fast-dry the different parts of the electrical harness and sensor connections that may have been doused a bit too much.

Oh, I always protect my alternator too. I prematurely killed the one on my 5.0 because I never covered it.

Stewart

PS - Simple Green works great on grease stains, but be careful. At full strength, Simple Green is harmful to paint if left in contact too long.

 

When pressure washing just don't get to close with the nozzle. It works great if you spray the whole engine from 3 feet away or so. Just use some common sense and you'll be fine

 

I have some left over ATV Wash(Liquid Performance) it works awesome on my quad & it should work on the engine. Thanks Guys

 

I start my truck just for a bit to get it a tad warm....then spray some degreaser then use a long handle brush to scrub....then start the engine and start to hose it off, when the engine is running you can hear when you get water in places it should not go. Of course, stay clear form any CAI ares no matter what. Washing is mainly for head aresa and other hard to reach areas.

 

Pressure washed my engine compartment today.

Truck runs like a moped now. Is it possible to get water down in the plug area of the head? Idles fine and drives normal until I hit it. Feels like it's misfiring.

Any Ideas?

 

Check your airfilter...Might be wet

 

Air Filter is dry as a bone.

Just took it for a drive seems to be getting better. Whatever got wet seems to be drying out.

Normally I use the garden hose at the house for this. First and las time I use the pressure washer.

 

There's some very bad advice in this thread. You can easy trash one or more COP (coil over plug) by washing the engine, with or without pressure. You should never wash under the hood with a Ford modular motor in such a way that the coils can get wet, or any water can make its way into the plug hole.

Because the coil seals at the top of the plug hole it can be very sneaky... you may drive today and think everything is fine. Meanwhile, water at the bottom of the plug hole steams and eventually condenses in the coil. You can end up with a blown coil days, weeks and sometimes months later, simply from water in the coil or plug hole. I'd wager the majority of blown coils are from water contamination. And, just because its getting better now doesn't mean its not going to get worse as water evaporates in the plug hoil and condenses in the coil when it gets cold.

Wash the valve covers and nearby engine areas with a cloth and some cleaner which won't get into the plug hole or in the coils. Don't take short-cuts.

 

Seems that whatever was causing it to stumble has cleared up. Ran like a scalded cat today. May just pull the coils this weekend and give a blast of air in the plug pocket to make sure they are dry.

I've washed all of my other cars/trucks (2003 Aviator, 2000 Excursion, 2005 Mustang GT, 2003 LS) engine compartments with a garden hose. Never had a problem like this before.

 

If you read my post above, it basically say's "do as I say, not as I do" because engine bay's are not made to be subjected to copious amounts of water.

I can put you in contact with with three other Lightning owners who all wash their engine bay like me, all without ANY negative results, even after having done so for years. Why? Because we're careful. Does that make it ok? Nope, but like I outlined in my post above (after stating you should NEVER pressure wash the engine), I go on to say what precautions I take to help minimize my chance of hurting the electronics and sensors.

I still take a big risk in doing this and usually only do it once a year. All the other times I wipe the engine bay down with a rag whenever I wash my truck.

After reading Ken's post, I hope my previous post was clear and not misleading, and didn't make you feel like it was ok to pressure wash/normal wash the engine.

Stewart

 

That's the problem, actually. Its a roll of the dice. You may wash them dozens of times (as noted in another post) and not have water get in them... or just once. I was a victim of a bad coil the first time I washed under the hood of my 06. Replaced 2 COPs and then was asked by a friend who is a very experienced Ford tech "did you wash under the hood recently?" I investigated and found many cases of this problem on the net, from asking other Ford techs and talking to two people who work on these trucks almost exclusively in the performance business.

Common sense says this item shouldn't be so fragile when it comes to water... but it is . I tuned them for many years before I experienced or heard of this problem.

Two suggestions:

Use a dielectric grease at the base of the plug boot to seal it to the plug. Clean the area at the top of the plug hole before reseating the coil in order to insure a good seal.

 

Very understandable post...... Thx Ken.

 

Just to clarify.....I had already washed the engine prior to reading to this post.

It was running like crap and I did a google search which pulled up this thread. Didn't mean to start something. Just posting my experiences.

Ken