So I bought a 98 a few weeks ago. Needs lots of love. Spent a lot on fluids and maintenance items and plan on doing it all real soon. Question is, I want to degrease and power wash the engine bay and entire bottom. It'll just show what's actually leaking. Anyways, what needs to be covered in the bay? Alternator I'm used to, but what about the coils on the bulkhead?

 

Don't use a pressure washer it can get into places that you don't want it to be in, the pressure is to strong, instead use foaming engine degreaser and soak the engine while warm not hot, 15 minutes later use a HF or HD bug sprayer with water and some simple green as a second coat, and finally rinse it down with the bug sprayer running just water. If you have a compressor you can blow off the excess water that has pooled up in some locations Try not to wet to much the serpentine belt it may squeal if it gets to wet, blowing off the belt with a compressor usually prevents that from happening, and should quite down once dry.

 

If you have the option, hook up to your hot water heater. I use a pressure washer (hooked to our water heater), I just don't direct the jet at the injectors or other sensitive areas. I've done it on dozens of trucks without issue.
I've found luck with a few cans of gunk, the purple version of simple green, and some cheap toilet brushes from the dollar store (chunk when done).

Cover the alternator, Fuse box, the coil pack, and the ECU on the pass side.
You can cover the main harness connector if you want to, its over behind the waster bottle area.

Make sure to use some sort of force air (leaf blower or compressor or cans of compressed air) and blow out all of the electrical connections and the engine bay in general.

 

Thanks Logan, that's about what I was looking for. I've always done that with my cars, but with this being a new (to me) car, I just wanted to check that there wasn't anything weird I needed to keep water out of.

 

Just take care as with any other car, you're probably going to remove some sludge that was preventing the engine from leaking in that area. So don't be surprised if you have a few new leaks when its cleaned up.
The crank sensor is on the drivers side, back of the block. I wouldn't blast it with water.

 

Thanks for the insight on the crank sensor. Seems to be touchy from other posts I've read. This thing is already a mess, so wouldn't be surprised if it uncovers new leaks, but HG have already been done, and I already plan on diving into most of the other stuff for gaskets and hose replacement just because. Basically trying to start with a clean slate. Spent hundreds on fluids and other preventives since I have no idea how it was treated before I got it. I can guess though considering some of the janky "fixes". So replacing all fluids. Fixing all bull**** wiring. Fixing terribly sealed sun roof(s).... And lots of other stuff!

 

Dude,

I feel your pain with the dirty dirty engine bay and under carriage. I purchased a 99’ SD and it feels and looks like they never ever looked in there or under the vehicle. It’s horrible to work on. I’ve been slowly cleaning as I can. Recently I got so fed up with it that I refused to work on anything until I cleaned it up. Lots of brake cleaner later and thrashed driveway it still is filthy.

I might of done more damage then good though.... it seems that a lot of the whatever height gunk seemed to at least be free rust protection and also seemed to contain or at least limit oil leaks. You won’t like what you find. If you have a leak it is my opinion that it needs to be addressed. It’s the curse of owning a Land Rover.

currently.... I ride my bike to work...

EDIT: I want to point out I am new to working on cars and I chose LR’s to learn on. I’m slowly realizing that they are the perfect project car and maybe not the ideal daily drive tinker it up as you go vehicle.
If I could do it over again. I would of procured another vehicle and waited to do everything at once with the Land Rover.

 

Dude,

I feel your pain with the dirty dirty engine bay and under carriage. I purchased a 99’ SD and it feels and looks like they never ever looked in there or under the vehicle. It’s horrible to work on. I’ve been slowly cleaning as I can. Recently I got so fed up with it that I refused to work on anything until I cleaned it up. Lots of brake cleaner later and thrashed driveway it still is filthy.

I might of done more damage then good though.... it seems that a lot of the whatever height gunk seemed to at least be free rust protection and also seemed to contain or at least limit oil leaks. You won’t like what you find. If you have a leak it is my opinion that it needs to be addressed. It’s the curse of owning a Land Rover.

currently.... I ride my bike to work...

 

I would advise against pressure washing the engine. There are to many brittle parts at this stage in its life (20yr old truck that gets hot enough to cook an egg). If you mess up an electrical part or blast something out of place you may do way more harm than good. Foam cleaner and various sized brushes/sponges. Some patience and a garden hose.

Forget trying to fix the sunroofs. Seal them and save yourself headache. They were terrible designs from day one. Do what you can to keep any more water from getting in.

 

I don't technically mean "fix" the sun roof. Just the bad seal job. It was rainy yesterday, so the bin I have sitting in the rear has about a gallon of water in it. I just mean seal it up properly.