[Diane]

Can I damage my engine by washing it too vigorously? With the hose. Inspired by actual events this week which I dont care to disclose  .... oops

I agree a with a lot of what Chris said.. opinions can vary..but generally unless you’re spraying Water directly into the Air intake or into some area like the fuse box, you are not likely to do any damage.  


Ive used both a garden hose to spray down the engines in my vehicles and also used an Electric Pressure washer.  My Rule of thumb is to keep a min distance of 3 Feet from the Tip of the spayer to whatever im spraying, and obviously avoid the air intake area as thats going directly into the throttle body (which is not where Water should go).  Oh,, i do usually leave the vehicle running.. just because it dissipates the water quicker.. but as Chris said.. dont do it when the Engine is Hot.

After a Wash down.. i usually give it a good protective coating of WD-40.   hy:

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A mother cat had left her kittens in the engine and I needed to leave the house. I kept hearing hissing so I continued to spray in a panic. Later when I parked the truck the coolant was BOILING. I removed the cap and let it cool while I was in my appointment and then drove home with trepidation. Now I wonder if I should switch out that coolant? I thought I heard rumbles about NOT doing what I did... so thank you.

Not an Expert on Cooling.. but is your vehicle running Hot?  When was the last time you had a Coolant system checked and Flushed?  During this process the Technicians usually flush out the old coolant and add new coolant, and pressure test your system - which means there is no air leaks.  If all that has been done and you’re still running hot it could be just a bad thermostat which usually is a cheap replacement.

What you dont want to do is keep adding Water to the radiator overflow bottle. The Coolant needs a certain mixture of Coolant/antifreeze to work.

Good morning and thank you both for your thoughts. This is what I call the farm truck. It goes to Rural King and Home Depot so it gets very little attention. Rarely driven / once a week. I would say my maintance on this vehicle is reactive. Change oil and then only deal with problems as they come up. I think a coolant flush might be the best action plan just to be sure. Lord knows that I dont know where the air intake is... I was certainly not three feet away. I was up close listening for the location of the hissing kitten!