having read and followed the guide to washing your engine bay, was just wondering why should you cover up the intercooler to stop it getting wet, but what stops rain etc going onto it thru the bonnet scoop?

is it the fact that a little water wont hurt it but direct spray would?

thanks in advance.

dave

Its fine to get wet. Its all sealed, so water won't get in the boost system, just pass through it.

so how come it needs to be covered for engine cleaning? :wonder:

It doesn't, as far as I know. Well, I wouldn't/never have covered mine when steaming the engine.

okay maybe im just talking poopy, wouldnt be the first time :)

There was a fantastic post by Swisstony on this, complete with pictures.... I'll try and find it

http://bbs.scoobynet.com/members-gallery-5/625421-engine-bay-cleaning.html

There you go, dont know if you have seen this? Very useful

I see that guide mention covering the intercooler, I can't see why it would need to be though. Unless maybe you are using some fairly harsh stuff, and don'y want to remove the paint of it.

it's an idea to cover it if you're using a pressure washer. the pressure from the water can damage the fins. i never cover mine, just take care when rinsing off.

Why would it matter if it got wet? Isnt that what my intercooler water spray does? makes it wet! lol

I can see sense in not damaging the fins though.

As mentioned already, the intercooler doesn't require covering from the wet (why have IC spray if water causes damage to these things).
The only reason to cover the IC is if you use a pressure washer, the IC fins will get damaged and that's not good.

As above, but when we use pressure washers on engines we do so not to use the pressure, but to minimise water usage. For example, if I use an open ended hose to rinse off then a lot of water goes over everything, probably 12-15 litres a minute minimum. But, if you use your pressure washing on a low pressure setting you're restricting flow to around 6 litres per minute, which is still plenty to rinse off, but means less water in the bay overall. This is good as less water means less chance of ponding anywhere sensitive. As long as pressure is kept low, no need to cover anything but the air intakes.

http://bbs.scoobynet.com/members-gallery-5/625421-engine-bay-cleaning.html

There you go, dont know if you have seen this? Very useful

didnt realise my guide was so useful :D

One question, what happens to your drive when you've washed all this crap off your engine? are you left with a load of grease stains on it?

Not usually, as the grime is suspended in the rinse water it usually just disappears down the drain... which is good for your drive but not so good for the environment. If you can work somewhere where the water is caught and recycled then all the better. :)