I was thinking about cleaning my engine compartment but am a little hesitant as I don't want to do any damage. Have any of you cleaned it out before? If so, did you just hose it out?

 

Just hosed it out. On my Range Rover I leave the engine running and try not to BLAST anything electrical. I try to spray only the bits with oil and muck on them. On my Discovery I would just blast away for the most part.

 

Don't worry luxury1, just steam clean it and wipe it down when you are done. A car as young as yours should only require a spray. On my RR I use a detergent that makes the old oily engine look brand new every time. Your electronics are covered by plastic shields (as they are in most newer vehicles) so just take a pressure washer, or a hose to it and wipe it down. When cleaning, be careful not to spray cold water to the hot engine, a cracked block might be the result. So just make sure it is cool before proceeding.

 

Thanks for the tips guys! I am going to do this later this weekend.

 

Curiously, why would you need to do this on a car as young as yours? Rover of Manhattan has steamed ours off several times - though you really can't notice much. Ask them (or your dealer when it's in next for something to clean it up, after all it's under warranty and if they know you want another one, should be happy to oblige. And, yours is a lease - right? Why do you care? Mike

 

I just thought I would make it look as good as possible when turning it in off lease. This is my first lease and based off of your comment I am thinking that perhaps this is not necessary after all.

Thus, I will admit something that I don't usually admit. I am really cheap in some areas. I spend a fortune on many different things but then have a really frugile and cheap side of my personality and spending. It is most likely due to my upbringing as we didn't have much money growing up. There is a side of me that is always aware of how much things cost and then there is the other side that says, "you live once so enjoy!"

My cheap side is saying, don't get charged another dime for this car upon lease termination but I don't blink at a car payment over $1,000 per month (and about a trillion other expenses).

I know that it is strange...