Should I wash my engine / engine bay?

[7Andrei7]

Hi guys!
I've had my Stinger for 2,5 years and 87K km and have never cleaned her under the hood. They usually wipe the engine cover and under-tray at every oil change but other than that I've done nothing. I take very good care of the inside and wash the outside of the car every other week.
Looking at my engine recently I realised there is quite a bit of dust accumulated there, and some recent ash from Turkey as I was there during the recent wild fires. I also live in a country where they have to spray all types of things on the roads in winter to keep ice from forming. And we get rain dust (carried over from North Africa) at least once a month.
Should I clean the engine? Do you guys do it yourselves or go to a special carwash? I've never done this with any other car before as I've always been scared it will get damaged. I do change the oil, air and cabin filters every 10K km.
Thank you!

 

[nhcowboy28]

This is about as divisive as which I take is best or which exhaust is best.

some will say no problem.

some will say no way.

I’d rather hear you ask about steam cleaning.

personally, while there is a massive power train warranty involved, just clean it by hand using simple green or a true engine degreaser.

you won’t gain any super insight with this question.

if someone says do it… and something gets shorted.. u gonna have the forum member cover your out of pocket repairs?

maybe everything IS a wet zone u see the hood.

but water finds ways into places you’d never expect.

I wanna chance that?

 

[jthrelf]

I usually just spot clean. Wet rag is really all you'll need. Not worth it to introduce water for aesthetics in my opinion.

 

[Luminary]

I too hand wash my car every other weekend, if not every weekend like you. I also wipe down every inch of my engine bay I can reach with my hands. My Stinger now has over 53K miles on her, and is three years old this month and the engine bay looks just as good as it did coming off the showroom floor.

I say yes, wipe it down with every wash. Just be careful.

My most recent pic of my engine bay (last week):

 

[BUZSTINGR]

Hi guys!
I've had my Stinger for 2,5 years and 87K km and have never cleaned her under the hood. They usually wipe the engine cover and under-tray at every oil change but other than that I've done nothing. I take very good care of the inside and wash the outside of the car every other week.
Looking at my engine recently I realised there is quite a bit of dust accumulated there, and some recent ash from Turkey as I was there during the recent wild fires. I also live in a country where they have to spray all types of things on the roads in winter to keep ice from forming. And we get rain dust (carried over from North Africa) at least once a month.
Should I clean the engine? Do you guys do it yourselves or go to a special carwash? I've never done this with any other car before as I've always been scared it will get damaged. I do change the oil, air and cabin filters every 10K km.
Thank you!

I have cleaned mine with a pressure washer on many occasions. Obviously, you don't maintain the constant water pressure in one area. New vehicle engine compartments are pretty much water resistant these days...An Area to be concerned would be the Cabin Air Filter Inlet behind the fuse box.

For More Info.....

 

[NS_Stinger]

I'd never take a hose or pressure washer to my engine bay, but some people do. If you do take that route I'd suggest covering anything electrical with a plastic bag and spraying the entire bay with simple green, let it soak for a while and then rinse.

Personally I would suggest spot cleaning with a degreaser and good old fashioned elbow grease and a rag over spraying the entire bay. Modern cars use so many electronics now that hosing the bay just seems too risky to me.

 

[7Andrei7]

Thanks guys for the very quick responses! I would definitely be too scared to use water myself to clean it but will try now with some wet towels to get some of the dust out. I'll also ask at the dealer if they would do it so I will be 100% covered just in case.
There are a few places that do detailing work in my city that also offer to clean engine bays for an extra 100-150 EUR but I don't know if it's worth it. I know very little about the benefits of a clean engine bay and that was more why I was asking.
@Luminary amazing work you're doing there! Mine is as boring as it gets. And to make it worse, I have the 2.0 . Over here, the taxes&insurance on the 3.3 would've made me homeless.

 

[7Andrei7]

Ok, so I have a self-service carwash 5 min away and decided to give the stinger a wash and also take a damp cloth and take some of the dust out of the engine bay. In the first pic you'll see the type of dust I was talking about. Not sure if that's normal or not, or if it could impact the engine somehow.
Second and third are after what I could do in 30 min or so. I'll ask at the next oil change if the dealer can do a better job

 

[stingLikeAee]

I'd never take a hose or pressure washer to my engine bay, but some people do. If you do take that route I'd suggest covering anything electrical with a plastic bag and spraying the entire bay with simple green, let it soak for a while and then rinse.

Personally I would suggest spot cleaning with a degreaser and good old fashioned elbow grease and a rag over spraying the entire bay. Modern cars use so many electronics now that hosing the bay just seems too risky to me.

Owners manual does not recommend pressure washing the engine.

 

[MerlintheMad]

I have wiped my engineroom once in the over forty months I've had my Stinger. Did it with a large terrycloth towel dampened liberally (not dripping water). Worked the edges and ends in around the pipes and hoses, etc.; especially enjoyed spiffing up the larger surfaces that show easily: it sure looked better afterward, and I will do that again but not wait so long next time.

 

[RM7]

I cleaned the engine bay on my 1st camaro before selling it.

Here's how you do it: one little area at a time. Use wipes and rags. Don't use harsh chemicals like degreasers, that's crazy to do with things like CV boots and the plethora of rubber fittings in there. Just takes time and patience.

 

[LordShadow]

THis:

Is the method I use and heartily recommend. Don't need to pressure wash and you would be surprised how much you can do with just a dry brushing included in your detail job. Hope this helps.

 

[ChaneRZ]

I just hand wash/wipe my engine. No pressure washer.

 

[jthrelf]

Thanks guys for the very quick responses! I would definitely be too scared to use water myself to clean it but will try now with some wet towels to get some of the dust out. I'll also ask at the dealer if they would do it so I will be 100% covered just in case.
There are a few places that do detailing work in my city that also offer to clean engine bays for an extra 100-150 EUR but I don't know if it's worth it. I know very little about the benefits of a clean engine bay and that was more why I was asking.
@Luminary amazing work you're doing there! Mine is as boring as it gets. And to make it worse, I have the 2.0 . Over here, the taxes&insurance on the 3.3 would've made me homeless.

Won't hurt anything at all to have it dirty under the hood, except perhaps your pride & OCD!

I'd just keep up with it as you just mentioned doing. Like an interior, easier to keep it clean than to get it clean!

 

[BadTrainDriver]

Jim White, probably one of the top detailers in the world, has a video worth watching.
Pressure washing the correct way is perfectly fine on most modern vehicles.

 

[RogueIV]

Owners manual does not recommend pressure washing the engine.

View attachment 61970

The Owners manual also recommends I goto the dealer for service/oil changes. Like I have time to wait around for them to do work I'm capable of doing myself, faster.

This is a CYA thing for Kia. Ultimately the engine bay is water proof. You'll be fine washing the engine with a pressure washer, just use caution around filters and don't directly spray on the electronics or wire connections.

 

[BUZSTINGR]

Jim White, probably one of the top detailers in the world, has a video worth watching.
Pressure washing the correct way is perfectly fine on most modern vehicles.

Nearing 1 Million Views...An additional to my previous post...ENJOY!...lol

 

[Kimberly Lazarski]

IF you choose to pressure wash (or use the Hazard Freight paint sprayer method) wrap harness connectors, fuse blocks, modules, the alternator, and the like with plastic to keep the water out, and after washing it, use a leaf blower on high until you get as much water blown off as possible, and then go for 20-minute ride to make sure all the water has been evaporated off.

 

[stoopid]

IMO the risks of using any pressurized fluid getting into circuits far outweighs any cosmetic benefit. As others have said, a light coating of dirt and sludge doesn't harm anything. At some point, after many more years and miles than you have, crud accumulation on the block can affect heat dissipation. We're talking scrape-off-with-a-putty-knife level stuff to have enough of an effect to warrant a must cleaning.

People get twitchy with things they own, and many car owners can be obsessive to the level they're willing to risk harm to components and paint chasing an elusive level of upkeep perfection. Reality says the vehicle is a machine, with many fluids and avenues for dirt to accumulate and get ingested. It's designed to get dirty and gets dirty by the very nature of its intended purpose/use. The only things I care about are rubber parts drying out and any metals that come into contact with salt/ice melt chemicals. Deteriorating rubber parts with time and corrosion from exposure over time are the main culprits for external facing car part failures. Everything else regarding cleaning is purely cosmetics, and lets not sugar coat it - it's the beauty of the Stinger's insides that matters (or should matter) most to us.

 

[WRXtoStingerGT]

I am way too paranoid to clean or touch the inside of my engine bay with the exception of removing little leaves and twigs that might have fallen in.