I was hanging out with a friend at his work the other day (he does detailing for a popular MN car stealership franchise) and while he was detailing a Chevy 2500HD I noticed him spraying the engine bay with a detergent and then pressure wash it briefly. Afterwards the engine sparkled, but it also made me cringe. Is it safe at all to do this and what parts would it be wise to cover with a garbage bag? Just thought I'd ask here before attempting anything.

 

Pressure washers can often be set for less pressure/velocity at the nozzle. Maybe that's what he was doing??

Here's what I would be careful about (mostly common sense):
- don't damagewiring harnesses
- brake & clutch fluid reservoirs have tiny vent holes
- coolant overflow reservoir has a little vent hole
- battery caps have tiny vent holes
- be careful not toblow firewall grommets out of their holes
- your sig says "SRI" so don't damage that exposed filter
- dry out the distributor cap & plugtubes before starting

 

I was reading about a building maintenance chemical called Corrosion X yesterday. It says that it can be used on engines to keep them nice and shiny. Has anyone used this product for this??

 

My ears, or eyes rather, perked when I read corrosion. What about spraying the engine bay with acidic wheel cleaner?

 

Try it and let us know what happens. If you had taken the time to look it up, you'd have found that it is an inhibitor that doesn't leave much of a residue. From the building engineers that I deal with, it can be sprayed directly on rust and will stop the rust from developing further.