Hey all you F body nuts! I was wondering if it is ok to get a underbody flush on the Z. I heard it can damage the opti. I have 97 Z and I like to take it to this really nice car wash. But they can't turn off the underbody flush system. Just wondering if it was ok.

 

I was just wondering the same thing.

 

I get the underbody blasted. No problems. I also have a '97.

I only drive it through a car wash a few times a year, and I do that specifically to get the underbody blast.

All the other times it is hand washed.

Dan

 

with a 97 you have a vented opti so you should be fine to take it through without worry,

 

ive got a 96 and i used to work at a carwash and i took mine through once a week cuz i got a free wash once a week and i never had problems at all....then i had my engine bay sprayed down with some de-greaser and then power sprayed off....no problems....

 

The vented opti started in 95, so 95 or later should be fine. I don't know that I'd drive a 92-94 LT1 through one as the non-vented opti is much more suscetible to moisture.

 

I take my car regularly thru car washes which include underbody flush. Never had a problem. Your car is also a 97 so it does have the vented opti also.

 

DO NOT PRESSURE WASH THE ENGINE BAY.

This guy got lucky. Degreaser with a light wash should be ok. Just don't blast the opti area. You will regret it.

 

yea i was d*mn near sh*ttin myself watchin the guy do it....but yea i got lucky


LUCK

looked nice when i got it blasted tho...

 

Before I new about this website I used to flood my engine with water while I was washing my car. I never had any problems, I was one of the lucky ones I guess, now I lightly spray a fine mist while cleaning. Thank goodness its not my everyday drive and have to drive in this Wisconsin salt hell.

 

The vented opti cars are much more resistant to water. I pressure washed my 95 Formula probably 20+ times over the life of the car with no problems. Did I hold the nozzle right at the opti? NO. I was mainly trying to clean up the top (for appearance) not trying to get all the dirt/oil/grime off the engine. That opti had 60K miles on it and was still going strong when I got rid of the car (first one was replaced under warranty with water pump at 30K miles, nothing wrong with it but the dealers standard procedure was replace the opti if the water pump failed).

Personally, I would have no problem going through an underbody wash with my 97, as a matter of fact I have a coulple of times at our local highend carwah (touchfree) when it's been too cold for me to get outside and handwash the car.