I personally have one of these. Well the wife did. And now i do. lol. Anyway, there's many a brand to be had. They're all much of a muchness and range from about £16 upwards.

I'd say the obvious applies. Don't point it at the alternator, Battery, Fuse Box or your face. The rest of it will be fine. It's all pipes, harness and solid metal. I've been to the big under car steaming man before too when i had an oil leak. Stuck it on a four post lift, sprayed it with paraffin and then hot washed it off. Zero ill effects at all. If you can go wading in it, i see no harm in a bit of carefully applied steam.

I also hot shampoo and jet wash the underneath of my engine, diffs and gearbox once a month. About a distance of 1m from nozzle. Underneath car looks like it's just left the factory.

I've only done the engine bay once. Not had to do it again. It's still spotless.

Now if there's a leak, i'll instantly see where it's coming from as i know nothing else is leaking. Oh, except my rear engine seal. But at least i can see where it's coming from and it's not that bad to do anything about. (Yet)

I'm impressed with the results. Hafta give one a try soon.

Clive

I was inspired to clean after seeing Robbo1's engine bay. Mines filthy compared to his. lol.

I wouldn't bypass the throttle body heater, especially not at this time of the year. Ideal conditions for carburettor or throttle body icing are high humidity and a temperature slightly above freezing. The airflow through the venturi accelerates and cools so the damp in the air freezes in the venturi coating the inside of the venturi and throttle plate with ice. In the old days cars used to have a swivelling intake on the air filter and the winter position would draw warmed air in from next to the exhaust manifold. Many years ago I ran a car that had been fitted with pancake filters and got so used to it icing I used to boil a kettle and put it in the car before setting off for work. After about half a mile the car would go ridiculously rich and splutter to a halt so I'd pour the contents of the kettle over the carbs to melt the ice that had formed inside them. When I went out to the Ascot this morning it was covered in condensation and the HEVAC said it was 3 degrees outside, perfect icing conditions without a throttle body heater.

I'm going to be brave and bold and carry on with the throttle body heater bypass on the Thor. My logic says that there isn't much of a venturi in the throttle body and just a large moving butterfly valve in there. Any icing will form a bridge across the reduced space at small throttle openings which may stop the butterfly closing properly though, so I'll see.
It's not the same as an old SU carb with a small venturi, butterfly valve and a vacuum operated main jet assembly all in the same area. Same was true on my old Cessna Aerobat and other carburetted piston engined light aircraft- they all had a carb heat control right next to the throttle and the drill was to put on carb heat whenever significantly reducing the throttle or risk carb icing and the engine stopping at an inconvenient time.
I'll report back if I encounter any problems

I have to say, BPSM does keep a really clean car :)

blueplasticsoulman wrote:

I was inspired to clean after seeing Robbo1's engine bay. Mines filthy compared to his. lol.

👍Don't think I have ever inspired anybody before lol.

Maybe I’m a sceptic, but if I buy a car and the engines spotless, I wonder why it’s been cleaned, what’s it hiding,, or maybe I’m the odd one out who doesn’t spend hours cleaning an engine no one will see.
I’d rather sell my car knowing it’s 100% mechanically right, if they wanna spit and polish there welcome,, 😁

Robbo1 wrote:

👍Don't think I have ever inspired anybody before lol.

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You just depressed me! I've stopped looking under the bonnet since I saw yours- and that's on the VSE.
The blue one is still caked in the same filth in the engine bay from the lanes around Summer Camp last year

Ha ha nice one. Did you sort out the rear badge for your car ?

I did, Ta :)
Haven't put it on yet as I've yet to mop the paint and it'll be one less thing to work around

no10chris wrote:

Maybe I’m a sceptic, but if I buy a car and the engines spotless, I wonder why it’s been cleaned, what’s it hiding,, or maybe I’m the odd one out who doesn’t spend hours cleaning an engine no one will see.
I’d rather sell my car knowing it’s 100% mechanically right, if they wanna spit and polish there welcome,, 😁

I agree that a shiney engine could draw suspicion, but if the rest of the car matches up then i'd see it as a good point. If the engine is spotless but the inside is full of dog hair and fag ends, probably best to walk away.
Think of it as a sort of diagnostic tool. If Rutland Rover had a clean engine, he'd probably have found his leak by now.

How do you shampoo and jetwash the underneath? at a local jetwash or do you put it up on stands?

local jetwash. 6 mins for 2 quid The only downside is if you're not the first customer of the day, you get wet knees. :-)

But at least you can use the suspension to give you more room :)

Underneath mine is clean, I had no options but to gunk and jet wash, the self lube chassis system went out of control.
If your gonna have a go I recommend a pair of safety Goggles, the crap goes everywhere

no10chris wrote:

Underneath mine is clean, I had no options but to gunk and jet wash, the self lube chassis system went out of control.
If your gonna have a go I recommend a pair of safety Goggles, the crap goes everywhere
I definitely use goggles/glasses. I do have a Karcher/jetwash thing (mainly for cleaning concrete) but I have to use it in the street which is crap because I live on a blind bend! I generally run the cars through the car wash at the local Sainsbury's which sprays up underneath as well.
During winter salt season I get to the local jetwash every couple of weeks to try and keep the rot off.

I might see if the nice boys at our local car wash will do underneath mine. They're always admiring the car so let's see how much they like it. They're Iraqis and Afghans so they will do anything for a few bob. lol

Morat wrote:
I generally run the cars through the car wash at the local Sainsbury's which sprays up underneath as well.

During winter salt season I get to the local jetwash every couple of weeks to try and keep the rot off.

I must check our Sainsburys for under chassis wash, I use it quite often as other half works there, £2.30 for top wash with staff card 👍

no10chris wrote:

... I use it quite often as other half works there, £2.30 for top wash with staff card 👍

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How much for the full bed bath Chris?!