I got my 2007 Prius a few days ago. Today i had it at the Toyota dealer service place, to see about having a cargo net installed. The service manager raised the hood, i don't remember why, i had asked a question and that led to him raising the hood. i was shocked at how dirty the engine was and everything under the hood. The service manager said that was normal.??? He said things get dusty from driving around. Really? Previously i had an Accord and its engine has always looked clean, even at 166,000 miles. You raise the hood and there's no dust in there. Is this really normal on a prius to see a lot of dust under the hood? If so, why? If not, uh oh. I have heard that the engine is 'sealed' so maybe that makes it a nonissue. Do people routinely dust their engines? This would build up a lot over time if it has so much after 3 days.
Yes, the engine compartment gets pretty grimy. I assume the engine compartment was spotless when you first bought the car? In any event, considering the many electrical connections, what I do is to use a very gentle spray of water, as little as possible, to hose off the various parts. Keep the water away from the cylinder head valve cover because water potentially can leak into the spark plug wells and cause engine misfire. I dry off the parts using paper towels, and then take the car for a drive so that engine heat will complete the drying job.
166,000 miles and *no* visible dirt collected inside an Accord engine compartment, without ever being cleaned? I don't believe it.
