Detailing an engine bay covering parts?

I have a small auto detailing business and I want to start offering detailing the engine bay. I've strayed away from it because it makes me nervous. Today I want to test it on my car, a 2001 Ford Escape XLT V6 3.0L. My dad always told me to make sure to cover the alternator and battery before spraying chemicals and water into the engine bay. I can cover the battery but the alternator is impossible to get to without jacking the car up and taking the rotar off. Is it ok if it gets a bit wet? I'll be using an electric 1800psi pressure washer and some gunk engine degreaser from auto zone. There's a bunch of videos and some say never to spray water in the engine, some say only use a garden hose, some say **** it, cover the battery, spray degreaser on it and spray it down. I'm getting mixed messages.

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Get a good auto electrician and a flatbed to haul cars to him after you blast the engine electrical with your pressure washer.

I've had a car not fire for a couple hours after wrapping the alternator and any exposed engine electrical in plastic and only using a garden hose and simple green with a soft bristle brush.

Never spray anything into the engine compartment! If you want to detail it charge a lot of money for rags and time to simply but painstakingly wipe everything down by hand with a rag moistened with brake cleaner.

You're going to force water into every connector in the engine compartment. Don't be surprised when the motor won't start.

Put away your pressure washer. Do not EVER use a pressure washer under the hood. EVER! You have to wrap every electrical connector with cling wrap and cover the alternator. Once you spray gunk degreaser on the engine, whatever drains off is considered toxic waste. It Can't go down the drain. You must soak it up with Pig pads or something like that. And, like others said, keep a tow truck service phone number handy for when it doesn't start after you've cleaned the engine.

I would avoid pressure washers under the hood as they blast water into electrical equipment which are not designed for it. Being under cover normally, most electrical parts and connections are only water resistant by the fact they need to be electrically insulated. They will not tolerate high pressure water. I hose out the engine bay of my truck and if the alternator gets too wet, it won't start. I just let it dry out and it's fine but while this is fine for your own vehicle, a paying customer may not accept it. Also I should say my truck has no electronics at all under the hood. Modern vehicles have computers, ECUs, sensors, etc. Which are all easily fried by over ambitious cleaning.

Don't detail engine bays. Or you will be getting SUED left and right by car owners because their cars have all kinds of electrical issues after getting their engine bay detailed.

I managed the detail/prep shop at a couple local new car dealers and we would often pressure wash dirty areas of engine bays on used cars but you run the risk of getting water intrusion into areas if not careful so it's a gamble you may not want to take without some experience. A dealer or detail shop can afford to repair cars that have water damaged items whereas you may not.

For the most part, you can avoid problems if you cover/wrap electrical items like distributors, alternators, electrical connections, etc. And keep the pressure wand head at a distance instead of up close and forcing water into electrical items/areas or connections. Most modern cars have weatherpoof connectors which avoids getting water into connections under normal conditions. Let the degreaser work for a while and scrub any very dirty areas manually and then just use the pressure wand or garden hose to rinse off the degreaser. You really only need to use the pressure washer at higher force on very grimy areas which are usually near valve covers, front engine or lower engine parts/steering/suspension. After washing/spraying, use a compressor and air nozzle or a leaf blower to blow off any residual water as much as possible before starting the car and letting the engine warm up to dry if off. Or if you can, let it air dry for a few hours. We usually did the engine compartment detailing first during a detailing job so it would be dry once we were done with the rest of the car. Wipe off/dry spark plug wires and wipe/spray them down with WD-40 to help avoid cross-arcing issues.

I've detailed hundreds of cars and only had a few issues with employees that were learning the process. But it's still a gamble for newbies.