potentially dumb question...

but one i feel I have to ask!

The time has come to sell the rangie (sniff)(sob)

So thought I had better give her a proper clean up, and put the 7 seat
conversion back in (yes a proper 7 seat conversion with seat belts all
round)

Anyways, the dumb question, the engine bay has got a fair amount of grot all
over, (mud grot not oil grot) and I would like to clean it all off - whats
the best way of doing it?

I'm wondering if a session with the pressure washer would be ok - but being
a v8 i'm nervous about getting water in the electrics, but, as she's going
to be parked on the driveway, and I can leave the bonnet up in this sunshine
and breeze, would it be a problem?

Cheers all

Si

Si K wrote:
> but one i feel I have to ask!
>
> The time has come to sell the rangie (sniff)(sob)
>
> So thought I had better give her a proper clean up, and put the 7 seat
> conversion back in (yes a proper 7 seat conversion with seat belts all
> round)
>
> Anyways, the dumb question, the engine bay has got a fair amount of
> grot all over, (mud grot not oil grot) and I would like to clean it
> all off - whats the best way of doing it?
>
> I'm wondering if a session with the pressure washer would be ok -
> but being a v8 i'm nervous about getting water in the electrics, but,
> as she's going to be parked on the driveway, and I can leave the
> bonnet up in this sunshine and breeze, would it be a problem?
>
> Cheers all
>
> Si

Not dumb at all, IIMSS.

I've used a pressure washer in the engine bay of a RR with no problems. I
used a spray of Gunk first to get rid of the oily stuff, but you may not
need to. Keep the lance as far away as possible consistent with doing the
job (ie, don't shove it up too close), and keep it away from electrics,
connectors, fragile-looking bits - common sense, really. As long as you are
sensible, I don't think it's necessary to cover anything up. Leave the
bonnet up as long as possible, and spray the vital bits with WD40 or
suchlike immediately. I started it up (I'm addicted to the sigh of relief
when it fires after any engine work) and let it run for a few minutes to
warm it through before letting it dry off. Not something I'd do every week,
but once in a while shouldn't do much harm.

Usual warnings apply, but I've always found this OK.

--

Rich

Series 2a
RR 4.6
V8 trialler
dog, wife, kids, whatever

Si K vaguely muttered something like ...

> I'm wondering if a session with the pressure washer would be ok - but
> being a v8 i'm nervous about getting water in the electrics, but, as
> she's going to be parked on the driveway, and I can leave the bonnet up
> in this sunshine and breeze, would it be a problem?

Pressure washer gets the mud off, but doesn't clean the underlying
paintwork, you still need to clean it with a cloth and elbow grease ..

Steam cleaning, if someone does it in your area, does a much better job.

What age Rangie, where are you and what sort of price ?

We're looking at something up to about £2000 ish for purely off-road, but
more comfy than our old S3, though still fully road-legal of course. Might
save you cleaning it ...

--
Paul ...

(8(|) Homer Rules !!!
http://paul-xxx.blogspot.com/ Just started a blog ..
"A tosser is a tosser, no matter what mode of transport they're using."

I powerwash my engine for mot every time. Never had a problem yet. Maybe
I'm just lucky.....;-)

On Sun, 19 Sep 2004 11:04:31 +0100, "Si K"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>I'm wondering if a session with the pressure washer would be ok - but being
>a v8 i'm nervous about getting water in the electrics, but, as she's going
>to be parked on the driveway, and I can leave the bonnet up in this sunshine
>and breeze, would it be a problem?

Ive pressure washed a couple of engines. Whenever i do it i start it
up first, and let it get slightly warm as this seems to encourage it
to start again afterwards!. On cars with exposed air filters (like
K&N's) i put a bag over em first. I cover up oil breathers too if
theyre exposed.

After youve washed it, start it up and let it run for a little while
to dry it off. You may have to pop the dissy cap off and dry it out
before you can start it depending on how much water you manage to get
in it!