How to clean engine?

I want to clean the engine, but I don't want to harm any electrical parts. I bought some engine cleaner from Pep Boys, but I want to know what parts I should cover or stay clear of? Also, could I spray the engine with a water hose? Any other advice would be helpful.

Hi there,

You can clean the engine with the following method. Drive the car to the car wash machine with the high pressure gun.

Leave car running idle
Insert the appropriate coins
Turn the washing option to high pressure soap
Start spraying high pressure soap to your running engine, becareful not into your electrial components. You can get your engine done for 2 to 3 mins.
Rinse your engine with highpressure rinse for 2 mins. Then you're done.

I have done this too many times with my Supra and 4Runner. It works great.

Just to add to the above post,
You can cover your fuse box, and any other pertinent electronic items you don't want sprayed with the common grocery store plastic bags.
Once the engine has been cleaned to your satisfaction, remove the bags and wipe those parts clean. It's a little more work and a lot less trouble.

So, the parts I should be careful not to wet are the fuse box, the alternator, maybe intake box. Anything else I might be missing?

The fan may blow water all over with the engine on. Most engine cleaners work best on a warm engine. You could drive to the car wash, turn off the engine,cover the fuse box and distributor with plastic bags and tape, spray on the cleaner and the rinse off after it soaks awhile. If you don't cover right then most likely only thing is that you won't be able to start back up until the water dries. My fuse box is factory covered pretty good and I don't cover the alternator but you need to look at your distributor cap because alot of those aren't watertight and that will cause the vehicle to act like it's flooded if it gets too wet.