Hi all,

 

I'm not that bothered about cleaning my car but noticed the engine and engine bay is very dirty. 

 

What should I be careful for when washing it? I'd guess I'll want to avoid blasting the battery and any exposed wiring.

 

My plan was to: power wash any surface dirt off whatever I can, then make a 50/50 mix of flash cleaner and water in a spray bottle, spray everything liberally, scrub any dirt with a brush, then rinse that off. 

 

 

With all the electrical components in the modern engine bay, I would avoid power washing. With pressure, the water could get into places that end up being expensive. It's not like my early days of motoring where you merely covered up a couple of bits of wiring and distributor and away you go. I keep my engine bay so that you can see your face in it, but I take the plastics off to clean them, then clean the rest of the engine bay one piece at a time. 

I've only ever done this once (to my Octavia way back when) and I wrapped all the connectors in cling film plus the alternator and battery housing. I then used Auto Glym APC and just rinsed it after rather than pressure washing it. I then took all the film off and left the engine running for a while to dry out.

 

Don't think it was worth the effort 

I gave it a go (20 minutes or so of a job) and it came out quite well. I powerwashed the metal at the sides and took the engine cover off and sprayed that after applying some Elbow Grease degreaser, and it came up really nice. I just used a moist cloth to wipe gunk off after I'd degreased everything, it certainly looks a lot better than it did on the surface, but it's far from perfect down below. I'll try and get a picture up 

Once its dried spray all the plastics and hoses etc with 303 and let it all sit and dry in. will make it look even better than it does now, and its quick and simple.

Here's a picture! As I said, not perfect but not too bad at all 

 

As for 303, I left my Lee Enfield at home 🤣