A clean engine is a happy engine!

Amazing how sensitive people are about keeping their engine dirty.
The original question was "how many "clean" their engine?"
I'm not concerned if you want to do it a different way and I don't care.
This thread wasn't about trying to change anyone's mind.
If you're not worrying about anyone else's then why are you here?
I bet you spend time being obsessed with other things that I wouldn't understand either but I wouldn't be here telling you you're crazy and you shouldn't do it just because i'm not.
I would simply turn the page but some people are too stubborn to do that.

I give mine a wash every couple of years. Never had an electrical problem because of it on any vehicle I've owned.

"Wonder what other people do that don't clean their engines"

Mostly not worry about what other people do with their engines.

"Do you only clean the interior of your windows and not the exterior?"

Mostly, the outside either gets clean when it rains, or when I finally make it to the car wash.

"Does the dirty engine at a car show get you more excited?"

I love looking at the clean engine bay in a hot rod, but since I don't display my car at car shows, I don't worry how my engine looks.

OTOH I do wonder why people are so concerned when someone does something other than the way they do it. I simply don't care if someone wants to wash their engine. I don't wash mine, and don't worry about anyone else's. But I do kind of worry about the obsession engine washers seem to have over someone else not washing their engine. Kind of borderline worrisome.

Amazing the different opinions.
Wonder what other people do that don't clean their engines
Do you only clean the interior of your windows and not the exterior?
Does the dirty engine at a car show get you more excited?
Even though i try to keep my engine clean I still get dirt under my fingernails and that's all good too.;)

The only sage advice my Grandpa gave me that I can remember, "Clean engines run better." It has worked for me for 53 years since he told me. I take a rain coat and hit the coin operated wash.

Hahaha....I hose/pressure wash out the engine compartment of Red a few times a year to keep it "cleaner" and have had this truck since 2010. It has NEVER not started after being cleaned this way. I've only had 1 vehicle that hated wet weather and it was a 1971 Ranchero Cobra-Jet. The hood-scoop seal used to drip all over the distributor causing a misfire. Simple change to an aftermarket sealed unit and it was cured.

In my mind there is a big difference between some moisture in the air and physically drowning the motor from a hose. Even in a pouring rain, most of the delicate electronics are fairly well protected, that's why there's sealing stuff around the hood, and inner fender wells.

Airstreamer67 wrote:
Especially today's engines: putting water on them risks about a million little sensors, any one of which can stop you deader than roadkill in the middle of nowhere.

I am not sure I will subscribe to that notion. Any connector under the hood needs to be weather tolerant. Not all cars spend their lives in the sun-belt. A lot of them spend time in the rust-belt and are still plenty reliable. And I would think this would be a bigger problem with older cars with older style connectors rather than with newer cars and modern connectors.

Consider upcoming Christmas travel from Seattle. Cars left out in the Pacific NW rain in the airport economy parking lot for a couple weeks. All that dampness permeating the engine compartment. They still fire up and drive away with no problems. I don't see hosing down my engine compartment on a dry day with a warm (not hot) engine compartment to be all that much different. Especially if I drive it for a bit afterward to dry it out good.

The million little sensors are all designed to be weather tight. I don't know if I would hit them straight on with a pressure washer, or hold them in bucket of water. However, if they cannot keep out some Simple Green and a garden hose, then they will be giving me problems other times too. And if I do have a problem after washing the engine, then I am at home, can trace down the problem and seal the connector properly so it doesn't cause me a problem when I am away from home.

Just my $.02
-Eric

I've never washed my engines just to keep them pretty; only when I have to work on them and I need to see what I'm doing.

Especially today's engines: putting water on them risks about a million little sensors, any one of which can stop you deader than roadkill in the middle of nowhere.

camperdave wrote:

I guess I'm the exception to the rule about clean cars and good maintenance. My cars are filthy and pretty beat looking with plenty of dents and some rust. But they are very well maintained and I'd take either cross country tomorrow.

They don't have to look pretty to be reliable.....Drove this EVERYWHERE till someone offered me stupid money for it. Didn't have a straight panel on it anywhere and being a 63 IH Scout it DEFINITELY had rust holes. Got 21 mpg at 65 mph and would go ANYWHERE you had the nuts to take it.