Cleaning Under Hood
 

Hey, has anybody out there tried powerwashing the engine compartment under the hood?

I used do that once in awhile to my old ICE vehicles; however, I'm not sure it's a smart thing to do with an electric or Hybrid vehicle because of all the high voltage components and cables.

Thoughts?

Re: Cleaning Under Hood
 

I'm not an expert, but I think it would be pretty careless to powerwash under the hood of a hybrid.

The owner's manual says that all high voltage components are "sealed and protected against casual contact", but still, would you really risk 1000's of dollars worth of damage just to have a squeeky clean engine?

I suggest that you use a damp cloth and clean your engine bay that way. It may take longer, but I think it will be a heck of a lot safer than powerwashing.

I use a damp cloth once every other month and it may not look showroom clean, but it keeps dirt and misc. crap from building up.

Just my 2 cents.

Re: Cleaning Under Hood
 

A quote from the user manual, in the section under Washing and waxing your Toyota, in a big Notice box: "Do not splash water on the electric components in the engine compartment. This may cause malfunction of the electric components." I'm thinking that includes powerwashing.
I do as 07CamHybrid does - wipe everything reachable with a damp cloth periodically. Keeps the crud down, and looks pretty good.

Re: Cleaning Under Hood
 

I had my TCH detailed, I used the detailer recommended by the dealership, and they had done a fantastic job on my Audi.

They had done lots and lots of Prius models, but this was their first TCH They understood it was a Toyota Hybrid model, and followed their procedures for such. No problems, and the car is really clean. It wasn't very dirty under there anyway...

Old Town Detailing in Albuquerque.

Re: Cleaning Under Hood
 

drape/wrap anything you are worried about in foil/saran wrap (cool engine). Power-wash anything you want after that.......if you don't get right down on the component, you aren't applying enough pressure to worry about anyway.