GX460PREM

I just purchased a '16 RX350. Upon delivery, the RX350 was super detail cleaned
and even the engine was washed when it was already brand new with 5 miles. I was
surprised they did bc the newer engine have all these electrical components and the ECM exposed.

My GX460 engine is very dirty. Just too afraid that water might damaged or short circuited
any electrical components.

Have any GX460 owners washed their engine and used engine cleaners?
Do you wash the engine when it's hot or cold? Any engine problems thereafter?

Craigyyy

I keep the visible surfaces clean with rags, simple green, etc.

I've power washed an engine before but it's more trouble than it's worth IMO.

tecman

I have washed mine a few times with Simple Green with no problems. I try to do this with the engine warm not hot. Blasting a hot engine block with cold water concerns me.

YotaMec

Washing your engine is a simple process and there is no worries about washing modern car engines.

When I wash any of my car engines I do it generally after they have cooled. First I will wet the engine bay down a little and grab a spray bottle with simple green or degreaser in it and spray it in all the dirtiest areas.

I'll let this sit for a few minutes then come back and rise all the simple green off. If the engine is still dirty than repeat the process.

As long as you are not spraying water up the intake or directly into electronics there is nothing to fear.

LXGXSAM1

Exactly! I used foaming engine degreaser myself. The engine must be cold and off at first. I put a towel over the starter, ac compressor, and any other exposed electronics and air intakes such as the secondary air intake valve opening. I don't over wet the engine, when the soaping is done I water down the engine without much water pressure. Then, I remove all the towels and I turn the engine on to dry up the engine right away (and to know right away if I did something wrong and the engine does not crank anymore - lol). If I see some soap residues, I just keep watering it down with low pressure water flow as the engine runs (I do not over do it though - just enough to remove some soap). Finally, after the engine idles for about five minutes, the engine looks new again.

jjscsix

I'm not a fan of washing an engine with water, I wipe them down. But one thing I will really disagree on is running the engine to dry it. Water has tons of minerals. Using engine heat will cook the water off but leave mineral deposits. I do occasionally use water on my motorcycles and don't hesitate to because the engines are exposed to rain anyway. But what I do is wash them cold then use a leave blower to get as much water off as possible and make sure no water is pooled up anywhere.