Dusty engine compartment

[VeeDoubleU]

I live here in the dusty meadows of Las Vegas and the engine compartment of my bus tends to collect some of these anoying dust particles...has enyone every had this problem?..a friend of mine told me, when i take it to the car wash, to just spray out the engine compartment with water...is thier any precautions I should take before doing this...like cover up some wires or cover the air filter?

Also I had just did a tune-up and oil change on my bus last weekend...I noticed the oil light was flickering on and off the first night of driving...then went away the next day and hasnt come back...is this normal?

Thanx in advance

[SuperBeetle71]

There are no long term dangers of washing the engine off. If it is a high pressure hose, try not to hit the carb or distributor or it will be awhile before you can start the engine because water in there will mess up ignition and fuel mixture til it dries.

Sometimes the oil light will flicker briefly after high speed runs on older more worn engines, its pretty normal. But you may want to check your idle speed, it should be 850 to 950 rpm's this may solve it.

[Joser]

I had the same problem with my 69 Westy since where I lived in Illinois still has lots of gravel roads. I would just hose the engine off with the garden hose whenever I washed the rest of the bus. I didn't cover anything up, but I was careful not to spray into the generator or at the distributor. I also would spray the engine down with Simple Green prior to hosing it off, just to give it some more shine and that nice scent.

For the flickering oil light, I'd check the oil level and maybe the wire from the oil pressure sender. When did the light flicker? At idle? After a high speed run? During sharp turn? All these could have some effect on the oil pressure light flickering.

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Joser
1972 Super Beetle
1972 Super Beetle (Parts)
1969 Westfalia