Washing Under The Hood

[05Z]

anybody had any trouble taking the water hose and some degreaser and giving under the hood a bath??? asking cuz i did this with an 05 silverado and had to end up pulling the intake to change out the back knock sensor it had filled up with water and made it short out,gm had a bulliten out that said dont wash under hood unless....well they had a big write up about it.....the truck i want to clean under hood now is a 2008 gmc seirra 5.3 mtor.any thoughts dont want to have to pull another intake.

[txab]

I wouldn't hose down the intake area. If you're careful you can clean everything pretty weill

[00_Extended]

GM also has tech bulliten about sealing up the knock sensor when you service it. I did this when i had my 2000, also changed out the harness at the same time. Never had any issues with washing down under th hood after that.

 

I am pretty sure that the 5.3 in the 2007 New Body style and up so this would inlcude your 2008 have the knock sensors on the side of the block...I have read this on some forum, not sure which one.

 

I wash under the hood of my 2009 all the time, it's very clean. I neve use degreaser, just hot soap and water and the pressure from the hose using a spray nozzle. Once it's kept clean it's very easy to keep clean with soapy water a sponge and a lite stream of water.

[renegadeking]

use simple green cleaner, soak the engine, try stay away from the intake manifold, due to the knock senor. put a rag over the alternator, if you can use a pressure washer, pressure washer will use less water and clean better then a garden hose. if you can use a air hose and spray every where around the intake manifold to dry/ spray away any water, so it won't rust the knock sensors. be very careful with spraying water on the electrical connectors.

[RyanbabZ71]

I did mine all by hand (no hose)

[Georgebaumann]

i wish i would of known about the knock sensors going bad before i drenched my engine with a hose. now i gotta replace the rear one too.

[05Z]

thanks guys the truck im gonna wash is a 2008 gmc its got 155,000 miles on it and has never been cleaned what i normally do is spray down with simple green then hose it off im gonna see if i can find out where the sensors on this truck are!

[jro909]

I did mine all by hand (no hose)

 

 

what did you use? and what diden't you touch?

[Outbacker]

I normally just take a cloth and brush and give it a bit of a scrubbing, and stay away from the electrical components. A clean engine also makes a nice work environment when you have to get some thing done.

[RyanbabZ71]

I did mine all by hand (no hose)

 

 

what did you use? and what diden't you touch?

 

 

Mainly just did the plastic and rubber pieces. Used some orange degreaser and a few rags.

 

I also used some stoners tire spray on a rag for the plastic and rubber pieces.

 

And since I did the engine this past summer it has stayed relatively clean. NO the tire spray has not attracted any dust.

[Jay69]

I have always wanted to know how they really do this. If you ever look at any used 3-4 year car at the stealership the underside of the hood is always shinny and clean.

 

I would love to take a hose or preasure washer and blow all the winter salt off my motor etc. I suppose a person could do it by hand but it would be dam near impossible to get at all it.

[Big D's H D]

Dealerships when detailing used trucks ,cars (almoust always) will spray a chemical called slow-and- glow on the entire engine compartment with out washing ! This stuff puts a glaze or a tire shine type coating on everything, and it's a mother F*&%$r to get off!

Luckily for me, I saw my '09 2500hd before they detailed it when I bought it used and asked the salesman to tell them NOT to spray that on my motor! If anyone has seen this on used trucks/cars Ya know what I mean.

[music]

Thanks for the pointers. I haven't really kept the '08 engine as clean, but I've never had an issue using soap soak and rinse on cool motors before. Didn't think about the knock sensor, and usually avoid open electrical components (vented alternator, etc.). Only thing I'd add is don't use a pressure washer! You'll blow off the labels, force water into the fuse panel, etc. Better to gentle soak/rinse. Grime can't be blasted off easily anyhow, better to let soap do what it does.

[RyanbabZ71]

I dont get why dealers open the hoods on all their vehicles on the lot. Its wierd this one dealer by me does this and its right by a main road. I can only imagine the debris/dust/dirt that gets in there all day. They even have them open when its raining WTF.

[TheGreekIndian]

All cars i have ever owned (91 Beretta 3.1L, 07 G6 GTP 3.6L, 08 Cobalt SS 2.0L Turbo) I have hosed down the engine with the pressure washer at the car wash never had any problems.