OK...unless I am the only anal rententive Prius owner out there, and I doubt that, someone should be able to answer my question. I like to keep the engine compartment as clean as possible on my cars, short of spending hours degreasing, etc. Formerly, I just lifted the hood at the self serve car wash before dropping in my quarters, then went over the engine with the soap / spray function. This served to remove some of the grit. Admittedly, this is not a big issue here. Would doing the same be bad for, or dangerous to, my Prius? It will be some time before the road grease builds up, but I want to keep the compartment looking spiffy for as long as I can.. Everyone wants to see under the hood. Humu
Bob, I'm here to second the question. How wet can we get it under the hood? I don't think I'll use a pressure washer of any kind but with the Civic I usually just hose it and wipe the surfaces down with a soapy sponge and hose it again. That drill has kept it looking pretty good for 160 k. With the Prius I just this weekend cleaned under the hood for the first time and I gingerly wiped it down with a damp towel. I'm with you, I want to keep it looking nice under the hood. There is not a lot to see but I find people want to look anyway. Hopefully somebody with some real knowledge will weigh in here. John
I ask this question in another thread - the answer was "no" don't do it.. but we need to consider many things - the pressure of the wash, where you point the spray, and how the water is dried, if at all ... perhaps more things. I talke to a mechanic that works on Prius cars only, he told me of a small lid behing the inverter that water should not get 'up into', the lid prevents direct water, but some could bounce up and get in. I have not done my car yet, but still considering this. I too would like to keep my engine compartment clean(er) than it is now, and it's not bad.
