I have a K'Archer power washer, and recently did our back yard with it. It was very powerful, and managed to strip all the crap and slime from the flags, as well as the stain from the bench

I now fancy using it on my MR2 but am not sure whether it will damage the paint.

Has anyone tried this?

Will it knacker my car?

DW

 

They are fine to use on a car as long as you don't get too close. They are excellent for cleaning alloys and under the wheelarches etc.

When I was washing my girlfriends car with one I got the nozzle too close to the car and it took a chunk out of the rubber bump strop along the side of the door.

 

I use one on the P1 without any problems.

However, I understand that most problems are related to using them near ducts and radiators/intercoolers as they flatten the fins and can force water where you don't want it.

Josh

 

I used one before on my RB5. It sripped the paint off of my colour-coded splash gaurds. Put that down to me just getting too close.

I've used one since, but haven't dared pointing it at the gaurds since I had them resprayed. Great for alloys though.

Stefan

[Edited by ozzy - 25/10/2001 14:34:41]

 

Same old story. I got too close to my front bumper with mine and a chunk of paint just dissappeared down the road.

Great on the alloys, just keep the high pressure nozle around 10 inchs away from paint, and no problems.

Cheers

Simon

 

Use one on mine all the time does a great job.
Cheers
Colin

 

Any body want to buy one ! i have a few for sale

Karcher New style K300 £85.00 each normaly£120.00 each,(1600psi + chemical pickup,adjustable lance 6mtr long hose with 12 months warranty

And thease are legit not knocked off.


Huxley

 

Cheers all

It is mainly for the alloys, as no amount of wonder wheel type stuff moves the brake dust.

Will just have to watch the 'delicate' bits.

One more thing - the car is mid-engined, and has big vents in the back so it is used to getting plenty of rain on the engine, and also buckets of water when I wash it.

Would it be worth risking using the jet-washer in the engine bay? i.e. I would first cover all electrics, and other bits, in plastic bags etc.

DW

 

The pressure washer in the engine bay - I'd really recommend not mate! On modern engines it's not just the obvious electrics - it's dead easy to knock out something you didn't expect, as the guy who bought my 3 series can vouch. He carefully cleaned the engine (!) and knacked the air-flow sensor (guaranteed to knack if you wet your BM engine).
Dunno about other cars but I would imagine there's little pitfalls
like that on most - you'd probably be better getting a valetting specialist or dealer to do it, then you can blame them.

All the best,

Dean

 

Can you get variable power for the exact reason of not damaging certain areas of the car?

 

Holy thread revival......

 

LOL how old is this thread

Anyhoo. Variable power is just the lance attachment. There's a reed valve in the end which widens the spray pattern and hence reduces the force (power).


My lance attachment of choice is a fixed brass fan jet nozzle. Its a fan pattern but has a little more force than a variable lance on fan/wide setting.

Pencil jets, or variable lances set on pencil, or "rota blasters" (and variations of) can damage poor quality paint surfaces (i.e fetches the paint off).

Usually that is anywhere thats had a "chips-away" type micro repair. Or done by a shoddy bodyshop (please no posting of links to the thread in the projects section please ). That's how I found out my NSF wheel had been refurbed...the jet wash fetched the sodding paint off - whoever painted it didn't bother to rub down (key) the existing paint!

 

And there was me just about to ask Huxley if there's any left!! lol

 

 

This has got to be one of SN's oldest thread revivals(?) lol

 

Lol, good old search facility. This came up with the closest match.

 

Old thread I know, but power washers seems to cause havoc with parking sensors

 

Also good for seizing caliper pistons over time

 

At least you bothered searching first; rather than lazily creating an umpteenth duplicate thread.

 

Great for snow foam!!! then a gentle(ish) rinse off.

 

Erm thats what the rubber boots on the pistons are for.

If they are torn or perished (even with a pinhole), that's another story....the road gritters will make sure you'll have knackered caliper pistons if you use the car in winter.

 

Disagree
Jet washing is terrible for getting into places , perishing seals, drying out bearings, pivots , etc etc ,, I gave the brake caliper as an example , as you see every day as an occurance , people sticking the lance inside there wheels ....
Personally I would take the wheel off to wash by hand....

 

Edit
Bushes, pivots , linkages etc etc etc

 

Can you not just stand at a variable distance from the car - closer, more power
Further away, less power

 

The Karcher hd series has variable flow from 250l to 650l. I had a bumper repair at Jesty`s Christchurch last year, which peeled off on the first wash, and they claimed that I should never use a powerwasher on a car, and that I would have to contribute to the repair. As I use it for professional cleaning services, I stuck to my guns, and they backed down. Their next repair was done on car, and they blistered the next panel. It seems a common claim by insurers and bodyshops to blame powerwashers.
Even with a variable flow valve, it is much faster to just vary the nozzle to car distance.

 

Exactly , Just hold it a couple of meters away and its just a fine mist spray.