2016 Grand Caravan 3.6 - Cleaning Engine?

[Bob5150]

My wife's car is a 2016 Dodge Grand Caravan with the 3.6L Pentastar engine. On my car (2010 Chevy Cobalt 2.2L) I know I can lightly spray the engine with water and degreaser and take a paint brush and clean up the grime and then hose it off to get the engine mostly clean looking. (Not looking for perfection, just trying to keep it from getting years of grime built up)

Does anyone know if there is any particular issue with doing the same to the minivan? We plan on keeping our vehicles until they are no longer worth repairing (15-20 years of service hopefully) so I am trying to avoid super nasty engines down the road.

Any thoughts are greatly appreciated!

 

[The_Eric]

Pressure washer. I've done dozens like this. Use a little of your favorite degreaser and let it rip. Just try not to blast the alternator full on.

 

[demarpaint]

I'd cover electrical parts of concern, including the accessible coil packs and clean it as any other engine.

 

[LeakySeals]

I used to pressure wash. Not anymore. I stressed out an electrical connector, costly mistake. Now its just a quick hose and some cleaner.

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: LeakySeals
I used to pressure wash. Not anymore. I stressed out an electrical connector, costly mistake. Now its just a quick hose and some cleaner.

I'm with you.

 

[bubbatime]

Clean it before you sell it? Otherwise leave it alone? They are not show cars.

 

[Chris142]

Every time I pressure washed my Jeep I had to buy a new TPS the next day.

 

[Bob5150]

I just do a light mist, spray with degreaser, use a paintbrush on the dirtiest/easy to reach areas, and then very lightly rinse off.

Then I let it sit with the hood up in the sun for a while, and then take a drive to get it heated up and dried off.

 

[JTK]

I wouldn't recommend high pressure spraying. I've been washing my engine bays down with soapy water and a gentile garden hose rinse-down for 30+ years. Never once had an issue, electrical or otherwise. My engines are always spotless and new looking.

FWIW, did this ALL the time to our 2013 Dodge Grand Caravan 3.6L. I used to pop the plastic engine cover off to get a better engine rise at times as well. Hope the new owner appreciates it! lol

 

[KrisZ]

I also use just a hose to rinse off the engine bay. Also, I've had good luck over the years with using foam tire dressing to spray all the plastic and rubber parts inside the engine bay. just spray on after washing, even with a wet engine, leave on for few minutes and wipe off the excess with a rag.
The finish is very impressive for the little amount of work that goes into this process. Also, the tire dressing seems to attract little dirt, so my engine bays stay relatively clean. It's only after the winter months that they start to look bad and I wash them in Spring.

 

[Malo83]

I pop the hood on my vehicles when I wash them and spray the engine down during the wash, when done I use a leaf blower to blow out the engine bay, start the car up and let it idle while I dry the rest of the car

 

[hpb]

Originally Posted By: bubbatime
Clean it before you sell it? Otherwise leave it alone? They are not show cars.


This! Spraying water around the engine bay is just asking for trouble.

 

[FastEddie]

My engines are darn near spotless, I just love a clean engine bay. Makes the car much more enjoyable to work on also. If you use common sense, low pressure, safe degreasers or cleaners, you will have no issues.