Its been a long time since I've posted to YotaTech, but I'm excited to be back. Unfortunately, my 4runner died back in December, so I just purchased a new 2008 Tacoma V6 4x4, and having a blast with it. Went on some mud trails this afternoon, including hitting a rather large mud puddle that I wasn't expecting to be as deep (about a foot). Needless to say, I got mud all over the truck, and some kicked up in the engine bay. Had some smoke come from the engine, but I assume that was the muddy water splashing the exhaust.

Since its my new truck, I'm ultra paranoid about it, and like a clean engine after I play in the mud (my other off-road buddies like to tease me about it). I was wondering your opinions on the best way to clean the engine. My old 4runner I used to use an engine cleaning foam from AutoZone, but it always left a horrible smell when the engine was warm. I was just curious if you used light sprays of water, or used a particular product? Thanks!

Wish I had some pictures to share!

 

Welcome back!
And congratulations on the new rig.

I clean my engine bay with Gunk Foamy Engine Brite spray.
I soak the whole engine and bay with it for about five minutes, then rinse.

I can do this in my driveway with the carwash hose, or at a coin-up.
If using a coin-up, do not use the full pressure of the hose.

You might want to cover a few things.
My good aftermarket alarm system was a little upset that I sprayed it, and it was going off on the way home from the coin-op.

It dried out, all was well within an hour after resetting it.

 

I've used coin operated car washes for years to clean my engine compartment and have had very few problems. In fact, the only problem that I can think of right now (or at least the only one that didn't dry out on it's own) was water in the distributor cap of a '92 Taurus. But then again, the cap was cracked.

I never have had a problem using the high pressure lever of the wash wand. But regardless of if you use high or low pressure, you don't want to get the wand tip close to electrical/electronic componants or spray water directly on such componants.

I also wash the engine from below and through the wheel wells. For that matter, I wash the transmission and transfer case and every crack and crevice I can get the wand tip into underneath the vehicle. My cracks and crevices stay pretty clean...