Washing the engine!

[Darksidesm]

I'm looking to clean up my engine area a little and just curious how or if anyone else does. I was thinking to just disconnect the battery, hit some areas with soapy water and a brush, got some degreaser for the engine, then just spray it down with a hose.

 I do not plan on spraying water near the carburetor.

Anyone have any suggestions?

[1986F150Six]

You can remove the air cleaner and cover the carburetor throat with plastic and use rubber bands to secure. Also avoid strong spray around the distributor and alternator.

Liberal use of dielectric grease on the plug and coil wires will be beneficial.

For a thorough cleaning, some use a scraper to remove built up grease and then running the engine until warm [not hot]. At that time, spray on the degreaser and allow to soak, then rinse.

As soon as you are complete, replace the air cleaner and start the engine allowing to heat up and dry.

[Gary Lewis]

Google "engine degreaser" and you'll see that there are many spray foams that help.  And, there are several videos that describe how well they work.

I'd pull the air cleaner and put a plastic lid with a hole in the middle down over the carb to ensure no water gets in.  And I'd use a spray foam as the instructions suggest.  

[Steve83]

It's not necessary to disconnect the battery.  And if the air cleaner is in the factory housing, it's safe, too, as long as you don't just blast it.  Everything under the hood gets wet when you drive through rain.

[Darksidesm]

Thanks for the info. As simple as it is. It's nice to hear other people's way of doing things. I'm going to try and get it done this weekend.

[PetesPonies]

I do it all the time. Have done it probably 100 times in my life, on mine and customer cars etc.Really, not much can go wrong if you understand where it can be a problem. The carb? Not an issue, blast away. If you get to much on the distributor cap, you'll have to remove it and dry it out. Areas of big connectors, just don't spray directly on them.

[1985 Bronco]

Here's some ideas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRSoRkM8GcM