Washing the engine compartment

[Andy's03]

Ok, I know my TJ can handle having the engine compartment pressure washed but I dont know much about WJ's so someone tell me if it is gonna mess it up? It has the usual road film all over everything and who ever changed the oil last time...was not very neet about it. I was just gonna take it over to the car wash and clean it up a little but what do you guys think?

[Paul E]

Andy, I never pressure washed mine, but the GC has more electronic crap than the TJ, so I'd at least take the precaution of covering your electrical connections/alternator/battery. If you can spray some degreaser in those key areas that are covered in oils before you start, you shouldn't have to use too high a pressure to clean it. I have found Simple Green does a good job on the TJ's engine. That + degreaser really does a great job and minimizes pressure required.

My Jeep makes me appreciate my wife's car. It has an underengine cover that seals off the engine compartment from underneath. Her engine bay is as clean now as it was when we took delivery 3 years ago. The TJ? Not so much. :D

[Andy's03]

Dang Paul....thats a lot of crap to cover up....I may just not mess with it but it could really use a good cleaning.

[Paul E]

then just the simple green and degreaser with just water running out of the hose should do fine. Let the SG and degreaser sit for 5 minutes or so on a warm, NOT HOT engine and just let the water come out of the hose and rinse things off like that. On the underside, it shouldn't be a problem to let er rip.

[Buckeye]

You wash your engine. Heck, Don doesn't even wash his Jeep! He's still got Dinosaur poop on his tires from just after the last ice age! http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h215/amos_pentagram/thboo.gif

[jeepercreeper]

you can use Westley's and a rag and get it pretty shiny. I have pressure washed mine too and it didn't hurt anything. I have my own pressure washer and I just let it sit and dry out for about 6 hours after I was done before I put it in the garage. Mike pressure washed his and then he had tons of problems...but he wasn't very careful at all.

[mullins87]

I've washed my wife's WJ a couple of times. Like Paul mentioned, I didn't use a pressure washer, just the water hose, however I did use a spray nozzle. Obviously I was rather careful around the firewall and fender areas where there are lots of electrical connectors and such. I used a degreaser called Purple Power, it worked really well. After that I sprayed everything down with some stuff made by "CD2". I can't remember the product name, only the manufacturer. It's in a silver/chrome looking aerosol can with a black cap. You spray it on everything under the hood, let it set for a few minutes, then lower the hood and crank the engine to set the product. When you are done the entire engine compartment will sparkle.

[jeepbus]

I was both my WJ and WK with purple power and a pressure washer ,haven't hurt anything yet.:D