Can I "rinse" outside of engine?

[johnb]

Had my bowrider out past weekend. Somehow one of the blue engine drain hoses came disconnected while underway. :wow: Until I lifted the cover, didn't realize that seawater was being blown into the engine area & bilge. I caught it early (noticed low temp on guage) and reconnected.

Now the previously clean and shiny engine is covered with seawater spots from all the water that was splattering around in the bilge area. I'm a little worried about extra corrosion from the splattered salt water. I'll be spraying the engine down with corrosion guard soon (winterization), but I'm wondering if I could safely "wet" spray or rinse down the engine without jeopardizing electronics or other parts of the engine. Was considering using my Salt-away gizmo.

I know folks power-wash their car engines, and there are different views on whether it is safe or not. What is the view of folks on this board regarding wet rinsing the outside of the engine?

Thanks,
John Bailey
2003 176 SRX (Baby Sea Ray)
Merc 3.0L w/ Alpha 1 Gen II

 

[fwebster]

Just get some good car or boat wash soap and spray the engine with it then rinse with fresh water....no need for a pressure washer, just a hose and nozzle. Avoid spraying high pressure water on electrical components.

You will need to re-coat the engine with an anticorrosion lubricant like Boeshield, Corrosion Block, etc.

 

[Four Suns]

I just washed my engines and engine room down a few weeks ago because I had a hydraulic line decide to blow and of course it was over one of the spinning shafts. This in turn sprayed the hydraulic fluid everywhere. I covered the air filters with bags and sprayed the engine down with Purple Power and used some car detailing brushes on it and then finished up with the water hose. I went and ran it for about a hour after that to heat the engine room up and make sure it was dried out. It smells good now. ;-)

As long as all of your connectors are waterproof, you should be able to do it. My engine manual even recommends using a steam cleaner on the engine from time to time. I would stay away from pressure washers. Those things will cut wire insulation as well as blow right through the the rubber water proof electrical connectors. I've seen people use pressure washers on their boat topsides and can't help but think that can't be good for caulked joints and the bedding the cleats and hardware are sitting on.

 

[Morpheus]

I hose my down as well, even the MM tech said it's ok as long as you don't go crazy on the alternator, starter and electric connections.

After it drys I spray it down with the CRC corrosion spray also keeps it nice and shiny.