Would pressure washing an engine bay cause this?
Discussion
Got a new shed, 2001 Mondeo 1.8 petrol. Woohoo 
106k but has been serviced yearly without fail.
A friend has valeted the car for me, which included pressure washing part of the engine bay but with the car running. Going for my first proper drive in it, filled it with petrol (no idea whether that could potentially be relevant but it was completely empty and I brimmed it). Once it's all nice and hot, I put my foot down in second. All is well until about 4-5k and it starts 'stuttering' a bit. Glance in the mirror and it's completely covered the road in a whitey-grey smoke
Pulled over, someone passing said "smelled like head gasket". Giving it a little rev on idle and there's a bit of white-grey smoke coming out. All levels are perfect. Temperature gauge didn't bat an eyelid, stayed normal throughout.
Drive to the garage (15 mins or so), revving it there makes no smoke at all. All levels are still perfect, oil still looks new in fact. Running sweet as a nut. Still drove perfect after that, I've been driving it all day since and it's been as good as gold, although I'm too scared to give it properly hard acceleration again
.
The only current theory is that some water may have got in to the air filter when the engine bay was pressure washed and the smoke was it being burned off?? Or indeed the exhaust and as it got hot made the smoke?
What I'm really after is somebody saying that they've done the same and then run the car without issue for another 58 years
106k but has been serviced yearly without fail.A friend has valeted the car for me, which included pressure washing part of the engine bay but with the car running. Going for my first proper drive in it, filled it with petrol (no idea whether that could potentially be relevant but it was completely empty and I brimmed it). Once it's all nice and hot, I put my foot down in second. All is well until about 4-5k and it starts 'stuttering' a bit. Glance in the mirror and it's completely covered the road in a whitey-grey smoke
Pulled over, someone passing said "smelled like head gasket". Giving it a little rev on idle and there's a bit of white-grey smoke coming out. All levels are perfect. Temperature gauge didn't bat an eyelid, stayed normal throughout.Drive to the garage (15 mins or so), revving it there makes no smoke at all. All levels are still perfect, oil still looks new in fact. Running sweet as a nut. Still drove perfect after that, I've been driving it all day since and it's been as good as gold, although I'm too scared to give it properly hard acceleration again
. The only current theory is that some water may have got in to the air filter when the engine bay was pressure washed and the smoke was it being burned off?? Or indeed the exhaust and as it got hot made the smoke?
What I'm really after is somebody saying that they've done the same and then run the car without issue for another 58 years
High pressure water in the engine bay could easily get into ignition areas eg distributors, ht lead/spark plugs areas etc or get into damaged wiring plugs etc.
It probably dried out after a while hence no probles later on.
Its a bad idea in general to spray high pressure liquids into the engine bay, engine running or not.
It probably dried out after a while hence no probles later on.
Its a bad idea in general to spray high pressure liquids into the engine bay, engine running or not.
Is it just me or does pressure washing an engine seem like a daft idea? It is simply not part of the design brief to withstand water jets, in the engine compartment, powerful enough to strip paint let alone penetrate into sensitive areas. By the way I'd be surprised if it has plug leads or a distributor; few modern engines do.
Its generally not a good idea. Electrical connectors & components aren't intended to cope with high pressure water at point blank range. Same for any seals on rotating shafts or components running on fixed shafts (motorcycle wheels for example, water can get past the seal into the bearings), high pressure water can get past them
BUT providing you are careful where the water is going & if necessary cover items, it can be done safely. Often necessary on Land Rovers after offroading.
BUT providing you are careful where the water is going & if necessary cover items, it can be done safely. Often necessary on Land Rovers after offroading.
If it is the Zetec engine, it will have a single coil pack with leads going to each cylinder.
I drove my Caddy through a very deep puddle at about 40MPH (dark night, puddle just over brow of the hill), I hit it with so much force that the side repeater popped out of the wing. There was steam coming out of the engine bay and grey/white smoke bellowing out of the exhaust. It was barely running and wouldn't rev past 2k RPM.
It ingested water, air filter was soaked, pipe leading from the airbox to the inlet manifold had water in it. Had the oil and air filter changed the next day. It ran a bit strangely for a few days, but eventually returned to its noisy, sluggish self.
That was in April and has been fine since.
Alternatively, I did the same to a Peugeot 306 many years ago and bent a conrod, but that didn't even make it out of the puddle!
I drove my Caddy through a very deep puddle at about 40MPH (dark night, puddle just over brow of the hill), I hit it with so much force that the side repeater popped out of the wing. There was steam coming out of the engine bay and grey/white smoke bellowing out of the exhaust. It was barely running and wouldn't rev past 2k RPM.
It ingested water, air filter was soaked, pipe leading from the airbox to the inlet manifold had water in it. Had the oil and air filter changed the next day. It ran a bit strangely for a few days, but eventually returned to its noisy, sluggish self.
That was in April and has been fine since.
Alternatively, I did the same to a Peugeot 306 many years ago and bent a conrod, but that didn't even make it out of the puddle!
Fleckers said:
motco said:
<snip> . By the way I'd be surprised if it has plug leads or a distributor; few modern engines do.
REALLY ???on a 2001 1.8 petrol engine !!!
motco said:
Is it just me or does pressure washing an engine seem like a daft idea? It is simply not part of the design brief to withstand water jets, in the engine compartment, powerful enough to strip paint let alone penetrate into sensitive areas. By the way I'd be surprised if it has plug leads or a distributor; few modern engines do.
Don't be a pussy! very common practice back in the day, squirt some degreaser around, stir it up a bit,cover up the most sensitive parts of the leccy, and then give it a few controlled bursts of the hose. Keep a large can of WD-40 handy.If someone wades in with a jet wash on volume 11 giving it large for ten minutes without considering what they're doing, then they deserve the trouble that comes from that.
I think in today's modern cars with much reduced oil seepage, under trays and top covers, it hardly ever needs to be done. just a quick spray with back to black and you're done.
SidJames said:
motco said:
Is it just me or does pressure washing an engine seem like a daft idea? It is simply not part of the design brief to withstand water jets, in the engine compartment, powerful enough to strip paint let alone penetrate into sensitive areas. By the way I'd be surprised if it has plug leads or a distributor; few modern engines do.
Don't be a pussy! very common practice back in the day, squirt some degreaser around, stir it up a bit,cover up the most sensitive parts of the leccy, and then give it a few controlled bursts of the hose. Keep a large can of WD-40 handy.If someone wades in with a jet wash on volume 11 giving it large for ten minutes without considering what they're doing, then they deserve the trouble that comes from that.
I think in today's modern cars with much reduced oil seepage, under trays and top covers, it hardly ever needs to be done. just a quick spray with back to black and you're done.
Most modern (21st century) have an HT 'manifold' that sits on the top of the engine with no leads as such. Likewise the spark is delivered at each peri-TDC despite being needed on only every other stroke - wasted spark = from a control unit.
SidJames said:
motco said:
Is it just me or does pressure washing an engine seem like a daft idea? It is simply not part of the design brief to withstand water jets, in the engine compartment, powerful enough to strip paint let alone penetrate into sensitive areas. By the way I'd be surprised if it has plug leads or a distributor; few modern engines do.
Don't be a pussy! very common practice back in the day, squirt some degreaser around, stir it up a bit,cover up the most sensitive parts of the leccy, and then give it a few controlled bursts of the hose. Keep a large can of WD-40 handy.If someone wades in with a jet wash on volume 11 giving it large for ten minutes without considering what they're doing, then they deserve the trouble that comes from that.
I think in today's modern cars with much reduced oil seepage, under trays and top covers, it hardly ever needs to be done. just a quick spray with back to black and you're done.
te idea!!Ive never understood why people jet wash engine bays, all you need is some degreaser, some cloths and a few hours.
Not only that, jet washing it won't get as much grease and grime off as doing it by hand anyway.
These are from the last two cars Ive owned, and neither went anywhere near a pressure washer!
Not only that, jet washing it won't get as much grease and grime off as doing it by hand anyway.
These are from the last two cars Ive owned, and neither went anywhere near a pressure washer!
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