[renegade]

Hello,
Like all of you I like to take my 4x4 off roading. I just got an 05 and the 2nd weekend I had it it was in the mud. I also like to keep it clean as it is my daily driver. Leads to my question, cleaning. I can get the under carrige and body pretty clean even after a hard weekend wheeling. Under the hood is a different story. There is mud all over under the hood. I have read its better to use a regular hose rather than a pressure washer so water does not get forced into areas its not supposed to be. My MAIN concern is the electrical system. I can see the obvious things i need to cover like fuse box, battery terminals, alternator, etc. but what else do I really need to watch out for when I start under the hood with a hose. Thanks for all the help.

 

[J-Man]

i havent seent the 05's engine compartment, but on my 03 I just blast away. Its fine to get the electrical shit and alternator wet, just dont keep the pressurewasher on it for 5 minutes. I pressure wash it about every 3 or 4 months jsut to keep it looking good. have fun.

 

[zero4]

On my 01, the only thing I cover are my HID ballasts. As J-man said it's all good. The fuse box should have seals and it's ok to get the alternator wet. I cover my battery most of the time but it's not necessary unless you have open fuse blocks connected at the battery. On my Integra, I had to cover the distrubutor as well (most important) but my Taco (as well as yours) have coil packs so no worries. I start the engine right after I'm done rinsing to help dry off the water.

 

[DriftinCO]

I cover the alarm horn and make sure I cannot spray water into the air filter. I had the deck plate mod before putting in the Volant cold air intake; I would put the plate in to close the airbox. If the engine compartment is really dirty, I would spray it with Simple Green, let it sit a few minutes then rinse it clean with plain water. Do this on a cool / cold engine if at all possible.

 

[mudferret]

On my 01, the only thing I cover are my HID ballasts. As J-man said it's all good. The fuse box should have seals and it's ok to get the alternator wet. I cover my battery most of the time but it's not necessary unless you have open fuse blocks connected at the battery. On my Integra, I had to cover the distrubutor as well (most important) but my Taco (as well as yours) have coil packs so no worries. I start the engine right after I'm done rinsing to help dry off the water.

There be a serious lack of seals on the '03 fuse box. Might be hard to get water in it when washing, but anytime else is fair game...

 

[toytruck]

One thing you can do for prevention is go to Lowes, Home Depot and buy some shower pan liner and use it to make a fender liner around the upper arm and strut. That area is wide open and allows everything but money to get in the engine compartment. Worked for me.

 

[bostedo123]

Only problems with using a garden hose or pressure washer is that sometimes it will trigger the check engine light and set a missfire code, ecspecially on newer model like 2005. Use basic degreaser and always let the engine run will you are cleaning it.

 

[01blkext]

i work in a detail shop and I have cleaned engines out of many diffrent cars and I use a pressure washer. The only time you will have a problem is if you have a crack or lose seal on your distributor and seeing as you have a brand new truck, blast away. I have an 01 and i clean my engine once a week with no problems.

 

[Gad]

hey everyone. I'm new here, so help me out if i do anything wrong. anyways, i work at a car wash and i clean my engine and see many other people clean their engines with the pressure washer. when i clean mine, i spray the car wash engine and tire cleaner on it, let is soak in ( i usually clean the truck while it is soaking), then go back to the engine and spray away. i don't keep it pounding on the engine, but instead use kind of a sweeping motion. after that, when it is dry, i spray armor all, or tire foam on it. makes it look real good.