Hi folks,

First let me say I am not at all mechanically inclined. I know zero about what is under the hood except that there is an engine there and you need to change the oil.

I have a 2000 Silverado 1500 2WD with a 4.3L V-6 and a 5 speed manual shift... I love my turck!!

My truck recently started to run very sluggish so I took it to a guy who "works on cars" (not an auto shop) and he replaced the plugs, wires, distributor cap, rotor and coil. It was time... 150,000 and all that had never been done.

This did nothing to help the problem, so for a couple weeks the truck stayed at his house while he tried to figure out what was wrong.

During this time, he assumed it had a fuel system problem and/or a leak in the intake manifold so he sprayed some copper (colored) gasket sealant on the manifold, some of the parts under the fuel injection... plus he nailed the conduit for the elctrical system real good (just great) and he got that stuff on what looks like some other parts just under the air cleaner on the engine and around the intake manifold.

When he failed to fix it, I decided to take the truck to a larger auto fix-it place that had the complete computer diagnosis equipment, etc... They diagnosed the problem as being a clogged catalytic convertor, they replaced the part, and the truck now runs great.

But...

Now, when I run the truck, that gunk the previous guy sprayed on the top of my engine is strting to burn off. It is smoking so bad from that stuff that it is coming in the heater system and is creating a large cloud of smoke in the passenger compartment. The amount of smoke is about the equivalent as if somebody exhaled a large bunch of cigar smoke through the vents in the dash. The smoke is coming from this spray gaskey sealant stuff this goober put on the top of my engine.

The stuff was bough at Murray's Auto parts. The guy at Murray's says to let me engine heat up, then spray water on the top of the engine to clean off the sealant stuff. The guy that sprayed the stuff on there says the same thing. One other mechanic (I called for further advice) said the same thing...

My only problem is...

I don't believe them that it is a good thing to spray water on the top of my engine. For one, what if it gets in the distributor cap. I can'r reach it to cover it, and I wouldn't know what I'm doing if I did. For two, what if water gets on the accessory belt? What if it gets in the alternator? To me, sparying water under the hood sounds like a nightmare.

Can anybody out in cyberland comfirm about the results expected aftyer spraying water under the hood, on a hot intake manifold, in order to clean this gunk off of there?

Will the engine parts crack once the water touches them?

I'm not even sure this stuff is water soluble.

It is definitely not going to dry under there, etc. As soon as the truck is up to operating temp, it comes billowing in the heater vents. I live in Michigan, and the temps are dropping, I need the heater right now and I can't use it.

I just drove 120 miles with no heater in 20 degree weather to avoid the billowing smoke coming in the herater ducts.

Spraying water on the top of the engine?

On the suyrface, this seems like a very bad idea...

I thought I would ask you folks what you think.

Thanks.

 

your not gonna hurt anything by spraying down your motor. don't worry about your belt, water wont hurt it a bit, or the alternator. I've never looked at a new 4.3 but i know the old one's had a distributor, you don't have to cover it, but try not to soak it.if you do have a distributor, it'son the back of the engine with 6 spark plug wires coming out of it. And most important, keep the dumb-*** that sprayed the stuff on the motor AWAY from your truck.

 

That first guy you took it too.......what a retard. Better check out what he charged you for. My buddy has an 2000 S-10. To the best of my knowledge, no distributor. Thus no cap and rotor. Make sure you weren't stiffed. Make sure he actually replaced parts!

 

A good rule of thumb in most detail shops when pressure washing the engine bay is to leave the vehicle running and don't spray directly at something electrical, nor spark plugs/coil packs/distributors. You can get em wet just don't soak them.

 

what 72 charger said...

but don't spray any engine HOT....warm is ok,but not hot...you can cravk the exh manifolds

 

How about brake parts cleaner? Or electrical parts cleaner? Will they cause damage to plastic parts?

 

possible,yes...we use whitewall cleaner under the hood