I washed engine yesterday let it dry off sprayed on some plastic conditioner on hoses etc... It started up fine I drove around a bit and parked it. Started it up a couple of hours later drove to a friends house. Several hours later I started it again drove home it was fine. Today drove it to work at 7 was fine. Started it up to leave at noon and it was idling with a lope or (bump) and was hesitating when driving. Eased as rpms increased but clearly less power and not running right. Could the wash not cause a problem till a day or so later? Also there was a odd sound comming from either the alternator or small steel round regulator of some sort right in front of it. There are a few hoses going to it maybe a fuel pressure regulator, not sure. The noise was mostly at idle and when revved it would go away then come back a few seconds after returning to idle. The noise hasn't occured today could it be a fuel problem that happened to occur after I washed it? I also took all the cops off sprayed the plugs a bit with wire-dryer and the cop (ignitors). Also ran some seafoam through the car and reset the battery to no avail. Also no engine light.
hesitation a day and a half after washing engine
- Thread starter purelux
- Start date
formerknown
Dedicated LVC Member
The COPS could have gotten wet. The boots are known to crack as they age and water may have dripped in. It happened to me and I had to replace some coil packs under warranty...
Well I have all 8 plugs out and cops as well. I sprayed the plug holes with deep-creep (seafoam aerosol). As well as the plugs were sprayed with it and the cop ignitor tips. Then all this has been sitting for several hours in my garage. Many of the plugs had water and debris to some extent on them after removal. How long would this need to sit before its safe to reinstall. I just don't want to start a fire with the deep-creep.
TownCar
Active LVC Member
purelux said:
I had the same problem, water got passed the spark plug wire boots and partially filled the plug wells. The stumbling didn't occur until the water was heated and filled the inside of the plug wells with condensation.
Removing the plugs without first blowing compressed air into the wells most likely let the water into the engine.
Put it all back together, blow some compressed air into the wells with a long neck blow gun fully inserted into the wells after you install the plugs, and get it running before the water does any damage to the cylinder walls.
Wear eye protection when you use the blow gun, all sorts of s-h-i-t-'s going to hit you in the face
I had the cops, and plugs removed for about 4-5 hrs and sprayed the plugs and the plug wells with sea-foam deep creep aerosol and let it sit the whole time. It acted exactly the same after as before. Wierd thing is though the engine light doesn't come on. One thing that I'm not sure about is the I think fuel pressure regulator at the front of the passenger side rail sounded like it was making a psst like sound. This was occuring the for 2 days or so before I washed the car. I don't know if it was a coincidence or if one of the cops just got wrecked by the condensation. I may end up taking it to the dealer since I don't even have a code to work with, nor equipment or time to try and test anything that it could be. I has been several days and if it hasn't dried by now I don't think its gonna. Its just wierd I went to work and it was fine then I left 5 hrs later and it now runs like crap.
Talked to my brothers friend who worked at as far as I know a local chain Leo's car wash. Anyways he said when they do a engine wash they are supposed to do it with the engine running. That way the computer is less likely to be confused or whatnot. As the heat and any poor idling then tends to be very temporary if at all. I am either going to have to take it to the dealer or a local speed shop that did my diff gears and lsd and now does dyno tuning and sells metco suspension as well. Would the dealer have trouble with diagnosis since I had my ecm tuned by jerry now of sct (not a chip). My dad drove the car and thinks its a fuel problem by the way it runs not a spark problem. He said it almost acts like an old carburated car that isn't getting enough fuel. I am wondering if that wasn't a fuel regulator and didn't as a coincidence finally go from making noise to actually messing up fuel pressure. The thing is attached right on top of the front of the pass side fuel rail. It also has what looks like one of the thin colored plastic emmission lines running to the side of it facing the drivers side. Next time if I do the cleaning it'll be with a wet rag and some cleaning solution.
i washed my engine last night...then only thing tody...i got an abs light, wired...but i went to a road with no cars, and slammed on the brakes...its all good, so tomorrow ill check the brake fluid...and probably flush it!!!