Washing the ISB (again)

[Shelby Griggs]

I know washing the ISB has been discussed before, and I have read most of those topics in the last 12 months or so. Well, I am ready to take the big step on Friday, July 13th, in preparation for the show and shine at Timberline. I am a little apprehensive that I am going to water log something. An awful lot of wiring and electronics under the hood. I need some reassurance that come Saturday morning it will still start and be driveable. With that in mind, what should I be extra careful of? Alternator, ECM, ABS, etc. ? Or are these items pretty well impervious to water?



My plan is to use the Griots Garage engine cleaner (or Simple Green if the Griots order is not here) on a cool engine, and hose off with a garden hose, nothing high pressure, like a car wash wand.



Sorry guys, I know this has been pretty well beaten to death before, just looking for some late words of wisdom. I guess I am a little concerned, because my gassers of past, always seem to run poorly for a while afterwards, I suppose moisture in the ignition. In addition I fried some emissions solenoid on the Grand Am doing this. Fortunately it was covered under the emissions warranty.



TIA for your patience and help.



Shelby

 

[EMDDIESEL]

Just use "Gunk engine brite" and hose it down carefully without blasting water into any electronics. The alternator is fine to get soaked. As Tool Man showed me, Armor all looks great afterwards

 

[John]

Hey Shelby, I took Evan's advice and used Simple Green on my engine (yesterday). I removed the air box assembly, covered the turbo intake (double bagger... plastic), covered the BD spool valve filtered air intake (plastic cap with plastic bag covering that), covered my SPA pressure sensor (plasic wrap), and taped my dipstick to its casing and that was about it.



..... and now for the trick goodies (almost too good to install. . heh,heh,heh )



..... see ya in Portland

 

[Alan Reagan]

Was is Simple Green or Greased Lightening that you are not supposed to use on painted surfaces? Must be the GL. One more cleanup tip..... You know how grungy the top of the radiator looks with all that solder flux and stuff from the factory. I used some Flitz metal polish on mine with a soft cotton cloth and it shined up to a very smooth reflective surface. Looks like a mirror with no sign or tarnish in over six month since I did it.

 

[Mick2500]

Shelby,

Don't worry too much about it, don't spray heavily on the power distribution area (fuses and relays) and don't let the cleaning solution sit on your paint too long. You don't have an exhaust brake yet right? That's the small solenoid that John warned you to protect from overspray. Every thing else under the hood is pretty much waterproof. I've been in some monsoons lately that have literally covered my engine from roadspray and have had nary a problem.



PS: Mmake sure you keep it clean till I get there on the 19th or 20th.



PPS: Forgot to mention that you should take it out for a ride after you are done washing/drying the underhood area. That way you will either blow away or evaporate all the standing water you can't see in the nooks and crannies.



Mick

 

[Todd T]

Hey Shelby, heres a trick I have been using for years, use the simple green or equivalent, on a WARM engine. this will steam clean the engine while you wash the rest of the truck, and dry it back out. just spray it on, and let it sit for a minute, then rinse it back off and close the hood. once you are finished washing the entire truck and are ready to dry it. get yourself a can of STP "tire foam", spray the engine bay (everything you can get to) and then pray all your fender liners, rearend housings, shocks, coil and leaf spings, and well you get the picture. just spray the whole undercarriage, hitch, frame rails, sparetire all of it.



as long as you do this before you dry the truck off, any overspray will be wiped away when you dry it. I do this everytime I wash my truck, the cleaner keeps it from getting a coating of goopy slime like "armor all" or "son of a gun" will, and it will shine it all up and keep it looking black as it should be.



another trick I use, is when shammying the truck off I spray it down with some Maguires quick detailer, this is like a cheap wax job at the same time as your drying it.