Washing/Detail Engine Bay - Do I need to cover anything?

Other than the Alternator which some may say I don't need to cover, is there anything I should consider covering when I go to detail/clean/wash my engine bay.

Other than the obvious of not spraying a ton of high pressure water into the engine bay?

Everything is stock right now except I may be putting in a bed light kit linked to the battery.

Thanks in advance.

 

I sprayed mine out with garden hose and brass spray nozzle yesterday. I do have high water pressure at my house but I didn't use a pressure washer. No issues at all. Didn't cover anything.

 

My daddy always said to make sure the engine isn't hot hot or you could crack a head.

 

clean your engine bay..why?

 

Agreed don't want to spray it hot

 

Same reason you clean the outside and interior

 

You shouldn't have to do anything unusual. Identify oil fill and lubrication points, electrical fuse blocks and try to avoid squirting water directly into them. Shut truck off etc.

 

These videos are a good place to start:

 

I always wipe everything down with a rag every time I clean the truck. Keeps down on cleaning maintenance and grime later.

 

Just wanted to make sure there wasn't anything particularly sensitive. With my other vehicles I typically cover the alternator and battery and that was about it

 

stuff getting wet is not nearly as damaging as high pressure water getting injected into places it shouldn't be (fuse blocks, ecm computers, engine oil fill ports), if that makes sense. that being said the alternator and battery are both pretty robust and will dry out quickly. So when in doubt use a light touch with the water pressure

 

lmmfao..go with a power washer let it rip....lol

 

When you drive down the freeway at 75MPH in a monsoon rainstorm water is spraying up and into the engine compartment. Now I wouldn't recommend taking the high pressure nozzle point blank against a fuse panel, inside the air filter box or pulling the dipstick out and shooting water into the hole...otherwise you aren't going to hurt anything in there. The stuff that isn't supposed to get wet is sealed well enough that high pressure spray shouldn't cause a problem.

 

Usually about once a month after washing a car I take the last of the wash soap and add a little water in it and just dump it in the engine compartment and rinse it all off with a garden hose. After that I take a towel and wipe off the excess water on the big visible stuff. Makes it pretty clean with out making a big deal of it. Driving California freeways road sand and dust can really build up. Old cars up into the late 80's were not really weather protected and you had to cover up allot of stuff that you didn't want to get wet. Warning your taking a liability when you flushing stuff under the hood so be very careful. Make sure you dry it off with a good run and after leave the hood up for a while to facilitate the moisture drying out. These days most engine components have sealed connectors so its not as bad as it use to be. Keep water out of the intake box and check for water there before you go starting the engine.

 

Make sure you leave the hood up after then drive around to air it out real good ....I think you can get it up to about 45 or 50 with the hood up, that should be good

 

Glad I found this post, went off-road a couple weeks back and decided to pop the hood and was greeted to this dirty dusty engine bay.

Guess I'll wash it off knowing it's safe