Engine Detail or Not

R

rexrock

New member
I don't get a lot of people wanting there engine detailed so I have it listed as an add on service. My question is, are there engines out there that should absolutely not get wet? I here the German motors are a no, but most American cars are OK. I don't drench the engine with water and if I can, I just clean w/o water and then dress. Any ideas??
 
lt1 motors

92-96 corvette

93-97 camaro/firebird/trans am

94-96caprice/impala

The distributor is on the front of the motor under the intake, if it gets wet it will more often than not break.



You can use water, just stay away from that area.

Those are the only ones i know of for sure to be careful with
 
I can attest to the 92-96 Vette sentiment. When I was a senior in high school my uncle was going to let me drive his 93 40th Anniversary Vette to the prom all I had to do is detail it:cool:.

I started with the engine and worked my way around, only to find out at the end that I had ruined the alternator:bawling:. Luckily it was still under warranty, but the dealer couldn't get it done in time for my prom. Of well, I drove my 68 Chevelle which had no problem with getting it's engine detailed:laugh:.
 
Thanks for the info guys. I try and cover as much as possible, but I get a little nervous when I see some of the newer cars. An older car you can see exactly where everthing is you need to cover.
 
rexrock said:
.. I here the German motors are a no...
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I get the engines of my German cars mighty wet at every wash (let alone when I do an engine detail, then they *really* get wet!) and I've never had a problem. Yeah, it's silly to generalize..not like all engines in German vehicles are alike, but still I've just *never* had a problem getting engines wet.



With the LT1s (and modern Ford Modular engines) I just cover the stuff that shouldn't get wet and take a little extra care.



If you're *really* worried about getting stuff wet you can use a solvent-based approach, but watch you don't cause a fire/explosion (yeah, it really does happen, an Autopian caught a Jag inline-6 on fire a few years ago by using the wrong brake cleaner on it).
 
I can attest to Audi engines getting wet and cail packs failing due to water intrusions. I used to be a mechanic at a Audi dealership and our company detail department would always pressure wash and dress the motor's and on 1.8T's and 4.2's, they would get drivin up for delivery only to be stumbling/misfiring. Remove coil pack's and spark plug hole are filled with water. So I can personally speak on those particular model engine's. Although our cars are know for the cheap BREMI manufactured coil packs I.E. major recall's!!!! I personally go light with water under the hood, with all of the solid state electronics in coil packs, abs modules,ecm's, and ballast's in todays vehicles .
 
MobileAutoWorks- Intersting that you had issues with the 4.2s :think: I've been washing those since '99 (more often than any other vehicles I bet) with *zero* issues.



Maybe I'm not getting them quite as wet as I think I am. Just yesterday I had things apparently *soaked* under the hood of my wife's A8 and no problem :nixweiss



Ah..I just noticed your mention of "pressure washer" and I suspect that might explain it. Since mine never get get dirty they never require such measures.



Good that you posted that caveat lest somebody go merely by what I posted and then experience a problem that I've never encountered.
 
Yeah...Audi, MB, BMW, and VW were what I was most concerned about. I have heard about the GM models listed earlier because of the Duraspark ignition system(I think thats what its called). I appreciate all the info guys. :up
 
i work on BMWs for a living and when i do a big job that got kind messy or if i have a customer pay ticket where they spent a good amount of money and there engine is dirty, I do a quick spray down with some degreaser and a hose it down to get 90% of the dirty off .. havent had a problem yet
 
MobileAutoWorks- Intersting that you had issues with the 4.2s I've been washing those since '99 (more often than any other vehicles I bet) with *zero* issues.



Maybe I'm not getting them quite as wet as I think I am. Just yesterday I had things apparently *soaked* under the hood of my wife's A8 and no problem



Ah..I just noticed your mention of "pressure washer" and I suspect that might explain it. Since mine never get get dirty they never require such measures.



Good that you posted that caveat lest somebody go merely by what I posted and then experience a problem that I've never encountered.



I'm sorry not to specify, sounds like your wife has a "old" A8, The "New" D3 platform A8's have DOHC chain drive engines that use press in coil packs vs. the single OHC of the 98's and 99's that used two allen bolts to hold them in.
 
MobileAutoWorks said:
..I'm sorry not to specify, sounds like your wife has a "old" A8...
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Ah, OK, that explains it. Thanks for clarifying.



Yeah, correct; my wife has an '00 A8, I have an '01 S8 (so both are D2 series cars), and I also maintain a friend's '93 V8. The other 4.2s in our family were all early ones too ('99-'00 A6 4.2s, forget what the series designation was for those).



I'll keep that in mind regarding the newer ones.
 
Ah, OK, that explains it. Thanks for clarifying
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No problem, I beleive the A6 platform you're reffering to id the C5 platform. Sorry for posting pointlessly but its like jeopordy, when you know the answer you just have to shout it out!!!!!
 
MobileAutoWorks- No worries IMO, it can be informative when threads veer a little off-topic; I didn't see your posts as pointless in the least, more like just contributing to an ongoing conversation.



Heh heh, I was so unhappy with the A6 4.2 that I got rid of it quickly and had almost forgotten I'd even owned one, but my dad liked 'em and had two..so I ended up spending a bit of time detailing the things.
 
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