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The warnings about electrical problems the others have given are valid. However, I've taken the chance and cleaned our '83, '84, 86, and '88 240's, as well as other cars, several times with no problems. I use Gunk foaming spray-on cleaner. There are two cautions I follow. First, I avoid spraying water on electrical connectors and parts as much as possible. This means the idle air control, the air mass meter, the distributor, the coil, etc. Usually the grease and dirt are on the head and block anyway. The second thing I've done, before any washing, it to treat all connectors with silicone grease. I open the connectors, clean them out with electrical contact spray and put some silicon grease on the connector contacts, then reassemble the connector. I use Sylglide brand silicone grease. You can get a large tube at most auto supply stores.
In the past I have had problems with water getting into the distributor, coil, and spark plugs and causing running problems. A careful drying with a hair drier fixes that. A trick I've been using seems to prevent this problem. I coat the spark plugs and boots with silicone grease them put the boots back on. I do the same with the ignition wires at the distributor and coil. Then I take off the distributor cap and squeeze a bead of silicone grease around the lower edge of the cap and reinstall the cap. All this seems to keep moisture out of the ignition areas and also makes the spark plug boots much easier to remove when I go to replace the plugs. As soon as I finish spraying the engine, I start it and let it warm up to dry off the water. I just did this to my '86 last week (twice) because I'm getting ready to do some work on it and because I wanted to check for any oil leaks. It's hard to find leaks on a dirty, greasy engine!
A word about the silicone grease. This is sooooo handy! Besides the electrical-ignition use I mentioned, I use it on the backs of brake pads to prevent brake squealing, and on places where the brake parts slide (careful not to get it on the surface of the pads or on the rotors). It also protects rubber boots on connectors. I think the reason it is so useful is that it doesn't melt and run at normal temperatures and is unaffected by water.
You'll need to decide for yourself if you want to clean your engine but a clean engine is much easier to maintain.
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