ok so i have a question for all you audi owners
Can i spray my engine with the water when i am at the car wash.
There is a button for ENGINE CLEAN so i wonder if all you have to do is to spray my engine with it and rinse it with low pressure.
Wouldnt that mess with the electrical in the engine bay?
My engine is clean but kinds dusty so i wanted to shine it.
Give me your opinions

 

i would say rent a steam cleaner. i think thats what dealerships do.

 

Personally, I wouldn't take the chance on an engine with as much electronic gear and tight OBDII regulation as ours. Take a lot of time, degreaser, glass cleaner, rags, elbow grease, and clean it up by hand. Then spray it with a coating of either CD2 engine bright or WD40 to get everything to shine.

 

At VW, they spray the engine directly (make, model, engine doesn't matter). I think you can too and I'd probably even be willing to do that on my own car, but there are a couple of things you should be conscious of. If you have a cone filter, wrap it in a plastic bag. You might also consider wrapping the ABS unit and any other clusters of electronics that you can see. You should wait as long as you can stand to before starting it up. The dryer it is, the better and if you have access to an air compressor, it wouldnt be a bad idea to blow off the largest accumulations. I would do this:

1. Wrap filter and electronics.
2. Spray liberally with Simple Green or your favoritedegreaser. Let soak for 5 minutes.
3. Spray off. Repeat. Spray off.
4. Spray again with degreaser, but don't rinse it off...just wipe the excess awaywith a cloth.
5. Let dry with the hood open for as long as possible before restarting.

 

I hose mine off. I just wait a couple hours before I drive it.

 

elbow grease and Purple Power degreaser from advance auto or whatnot. it works great!
dont be afraid to get it on your skin, its not very acidic/base but it works great on grease. i found after trial and error with rags and scrubbers that the best cleaner is your own hands and purple power. my hands were a bit raw for a day.
i spent about 8 hours cleaning my engine bay and its 19 years of grime on my RX7 over two days and i can guarantee its the cleanest around! the side wells and such got so clean i put a coat of wax on them every time i clean.
yeah if you want that factory shine, you have to use some elbow grease. a steamer and purple power would help A LOT too!

 

Simple Green, a garden hose, a toothbrush, elbow grease, and a lot of time. I would never use any type of high pressure washer in my engine bay; just because the dealership does it, doesn't mean that it's right. Steam cleaners and pressure washers can push water past seals into the engine, and force water right through all-weather electrical connectors.

Treat your car with care - if you don't, you'll just find yourself with problems down the road. Or, you'll find yourself on the side of the road.

 

I've always gone to the power wash and hosed everything down with degreaser and rinsed with high pressure from a safe distance back. Engine off, but hottt. With the 97 I'd be too paranoid about the ICM. I'd probably take it out first.

 

Hose it down with the car on, and leave it on until you see everything dry. I do it at work all the time.

 

For the love of god, if you have a cone filter do not spray water on the engine with it running. Some people would not no any better... It's best practice to just shut the engine off after its hot and then do your cleaning/rinsing. Take it for a spin when you're done to let the water vaporize. Or use some compressed air to really do it right. Then add some pro shine or whatever you like... I used to detail at the dealer and thats how we did it.