How Do I Clean the Engine?

Yes. I do frequently.

I use Simple Green, a long handled brush, and a hose-off when done. Simple Green is bio-degradable and much safer for the envronment than most de-greasers.

Watch your knuckles, there are a lot of sharp edges to avoid while you're cleaning.

 

When you damage something from spraying water into the engine compartment, will you tell us?

There was a TSB to correct inadequate seals around the hood because water infiltration caused shorts and stalling.

 

Yes, I wash mine, too using the garden hose.

But now, after one post under the 'rat in the engine compartment' thread, I dry the top of the cynlinder head where the spark plugs are. Water will just puddle up on top of the engine block. That poster mentioned that water had found its way down and corroded out the spark plug wires.

 

I sure will.

But I'll also expect Toyota to resolve the problem. If I can get water into places that rain doesn't get into when driving in a heavy rain there are design flaws which need to be addressed.

Of course, I don't blast a stream into the inner components but simply using a light spray hasn't caused any problems for any of my cars. I've always cleaned the engine compartment of my cars and I haven't had a problem yet.

 

I used to take my cars to the car wash, the automatic car washes, but now I wonder if its safe? I ask because the one I go to sprays from the floor straight to clean the undercarriage. I wonder about that high pressure spraying up as you drive through under the engine ect.

Ron

 

I did a post on the $100 repair bill for my first time engine washing experiment. Essentially what the problem is, is that the seals on the bottom of the ignition coils allows water to run down the spark plug tube. No problems for about a month, then it started with an intermittent miss fire that progressively got worse to the point I dropped into my dealer and after consulting the Prius tech we decided to wait until it set the MIL and as the service manager and I walked back out to the car, which I had left running with the wife in it, It started to miss very badly and finally stalled and the wife gets out and say's the "big screen of death" just lit up. Left it there and they found #1 spark plug tube partially filled with water. SO now I pull the coils and blow out the plug tubes after I wash the engine compartment. The hood seal service bulletin was to address water over flowing the cowl seal and laying on top of the ICE shorting out the spark plugs. What I found interesting is that it took a month or more for the problem to show up.

 

Huh? Did you intend to write that? Water doesn't get into the fuel tank during a heavy rain, yet the fact that one can run a garden hose into the fill pipe does not indicate a design flaw which needs to be addressed. Toyota can't anticipate or prevent every silly thing someone might deliberately do.

 

That *should* be safe; Toyota surely anticipated that merely driving in rain will cause similar spraying and took design precautions. (I don't use car washes but only to protect the paint from beaters, etc.)

 

I wonder how long it will take the next, different problem to appear.

 

on the 2k4-5 Prius the vent for the HV battery exits under the rear of the car. I'm not sure if there is protection on keeping water sprayed up, out of the air outlet from the battery. On the Classic the vent was on the rear roof pillar and in the manual it said not to spray water in it when you were washing the car as it was possible to get it into the battery case. Looking at it you'd have to put the hose right on the grill to get any amount of water in there but I'm sure people would managed to do that. I took the car thru car washes and never had a problem. The vent on the 2k4 Prius is a lot larger and it might be possible if sprayed straight up to get some in the battery area. I think I'd avoid it if it was my car.

 

the wire harness seems pretty well protected and the HV wiring is very well sealed so I really don't anticipate problems there but the spark plug/ignition coil seal is really suspect. Before I washed it the first time I looked at the coil base and saw a rubber seal there so figured that it would seal the water out, wrong. I use a cleaner called Chomp, it's an emzine that eats oil for lunch and is bio-degradable just spritz on a light mist coat and let sit for about 10 minutes then wash off with a garden hose and pull the coils and blow out the tubes with compressed air, reinstall the coils, takes about 5 minutes and then reinstall them and blow off the rest of the engine compartment and done. If I'm going to clean the ICE I do this first and then wash the car.

 

OMG... I'm with Ron... I take my cars to the 'QUARTER' car wash...open the hood and squirt soap and rinse with water.. makes everything clean... I do grit my teeth when I hit the orange wires.. somewhere I have heard water and electricty DON'T mix... so far I have not been shocked and have a clean engine..

Bob Andersen

 

Yes, I did intend to say that. First off, we are discussing cleaning the engine compartment and the engine. I added that I don't aim the spray into inner components and that a gentle spray has never caused me a problem. Secondly, of course I realize that I could cause damage by spraying water into the gas tank and I also avoid the fuse box and related electrical wiring under the hood.

 

What I've usually done in the past is to tape a plastic bag over sensitive ignition parts. Not sure how easy this is to do on the Prius, but it's what I've always done on other vehicles I've owned.

 

Richard - this topic has probably been retired and is claiming its pension by now, but just a comment - I don`t wash my engine with my hosepipe (that would be the first sign of madness!), but when I`ve washed my UK 2005 Prius I do open the hood and dry the engine off since droplets of water do get in. But, I do notice the black box in the top right of the engine compartment (which I assume contains fuses etc) is especially wet (not the best thing to get wet I`m reckoning).

My hose is just connected to a normal tap, but it`s reasonable in power. I do spray the hood down but don`t concentrate it in any particular place - should I be worried ? Is this TSB you mention anything for me to worry about?

NB

 

the TSB was to address a deficiency in the rear hood seal. All Toyota did was to install a foam tape about 1" by 1/2" along the back of the cowl so that the origional hood seal made contact with that. It was only on the early 2004 Prius. By 2005 they had redesigned the hood seal. If you have a question and yours is an early 2004 have the dealer contact Toyota and see if it needs the hood seal TSB done.

 

brownne: what Frank said. Washing the outside any old way shouldn't be a problem. Toyota had to assume that Prii would be run through automatic car washes, heavy rains, et cetera.

 

Makes sense to me...I curious how long you have been doing this technique now with the prius?

It seems like compressed air would be a nice way to remove puddles of water that sit a while.... I'm perplexed how water could be suspect to sit and cause problems after a month?... since water literally will evaporate completely after the first few miles of running due to the the heat from the ICE?
I don't own the prius yet... but on most engines, everything under the hood gets quite hot enough with normal use to evaporate water?.. True the prius will have times of being off, but the on times should suffice just fine for drying water?

The main concern I see is to not have water pooled when the high voltage from the plugs are fired up with the first startup!... that could cause a dead short, but should go away once the water is gone?

Has anyone noticed water staying in the plug holes for extended periods of time?
Or is the water getting trapped in seals that stay long periods of time?

I suppose if this is a problem you could cover the sensitive areas and then when done.. use a carburator cleaner to clean those missed spots?

 

thats what confuses me?... how in the world did the technition find water after a month?

And if that were a problem, it sure seems like compressed air would do the trick to remove it?
You don't suppose the water got there some other way do you?...

Do you remember if you took the car to a car wash right before you took it in to the mechanic?