My engine compartment is pretty dirty.I've been wanting to clean it up and do some detailing but have been reluctant to power wash it. Especially after a buddy did it on his truck and had to replace his computer. Anything besides the computer and coils I should wrap in plastic or otherwise protect before washing under the hood?

 

You don't really need to power wash it, unless it's ungodly dirty. Just spray it down with a good all purpose cleaner/degreaser (Simple Green, for example) and hose it off. I detailed cars for years using this method and it worked just fine. Power washing can be a little dangerous, as you said, because the strength of the water can damage or disconnect electrical connections and water can find its way into areas it normally wouldn't. Spray it down with a cleaner, scrub with a brush where necessary, and hose it off. Then dry it with a towel as well as you can to prevent waterspots. You can follow that up with some armor all, or similar product, to give it a little shine. Try not to soak the coils. You can get them wet, but try to keep it to a minimum.

This will give you a pretty decent looking engine bay and only take about 10-15 min. Of course, you can go beyond that with polishing/painting, etc, but that is up to you.

 

Use a leaf blower to dry off the engine and bay when your done washing! Trust me anyone who see's you will think your "speacial" but it works great for getting water out of those tight places.

 

patience !!!!!!!!! it'll take several cleaning sessions to et her real clean,like he said simple green and several different size of new paint brushes,to get then nooks and crannies and every time u look under the hood you'll find some place you missed. there is NO spray on wipe off car show shine .

 

I do mine on a regular basis. Don't use a pressure washer the amount of water and the pressure will damage the weather pack seals on the connections and you will have a problem. Thmass6 said use like simply green to break up the grease and dirt. Then wash it off. I have a air compressor that I use to blow it dry, but I guess you could use a leaf blower.... After I am done drying I found a good product called S100 I picked up at the local Harley Davidson dealer ship makes every thing real shiny and dirt and grime doen't stick to it like other products.

 

thanks for all the suggestions. I've used S100 quite a bit. I use to work at a motorcycle dealership and thats what we used to clean bikes. Mine isn't really that dirty, so I guess I'll just you the hose.