washed engine and now she runs terrible! HELP

[Vanquish]

Re: washed engine and now she runs terrible! HELP

I guess I'm one of those dumbies.:) I pop the hood spray the engine, firewall and everything under the hood with engine cleaner. Then take a hose and spray the hell out of it. I've had no problems in years. Besides if water under the hood is going to cause a problem I would like to know before I get in a hard rain.

Well, consider yourself lucky. Getting any electrical wet underneath the hood is a no-no. Especially coil packs, because they usually fault out when enough water hits them. Also almost ever connector that is engine related under there will throw a code if it gets wet. I would seriously consider covering up as much electrical as you can before you go spraying like a mad man in your engine bay.

well hell-advance sells one(coilpack) for 23 bucks-im broke for like 2-3 days tho. and my freakin car is only runnin off of 5 cylinders-what a bummer. is it gonna hurt it to drive to work? i dont think it will but id like to hear what you guys think

You will be fine driving on 5 cylinders for the next few days. Only differences you will notice is a loss in horsepower (minimal) and it may take a second longer to turn over when you go to crank it.

[Bonemaro]

Re: washed engine and now she runs terrible! HELP

Also, be sure to disconnect the battery before doing all this and keep it disconnected for at least 20-30 minutes.

Is it important to disconnect the battery prior to touching the coils? When I did mine, I touched them quite a bit an didn't get zapped. Was I just a lucky bastard?

[Vanquish]

Re: washed engine and now she runs terrible! HELP

Is it important to disconnect the battery prior to touching the coils? When I did mine, I touched them quite a bit an didn't get zapped. Was I just a lucky bastard?

Yes you were, but I was under the impression they only held a charge whenever the car was turned on or the key was turned to the Accessory option. I could be wrong about that though, I've never been dumb/brave enough to try and find out myself.

[Bonemaro]

Re: washed engine and now she runs terrible! HELP

Yes you were, but I was under the impression they only held a charge whenever the car was turned on or the key was turned to the Accessory option. I could be wrong about that though, I've never been dumb/brave enough to try and find out myself.

Yeah, cause I was all over the contacts a mere few minutes after shutting the car off from a 30 mile drive. The packs were still almost too hot to touch just from driving. Fortunate for me, I didn't do a William Kemmler impression.

[auto666]

Re: washed engine and now she runs terrible! HELP

just FYI you cant get shocked if your not touching the car or real close to touching the car. electricity needs a full circuit to move so with out you grounding your self on the car it cant shock you

[1994camaroV6]

Re: washed engine and now she runs terrible! HELP

:banana: one of the few things I DO RIGHT!!! always cover up the electrical connections, battery, and ill take off my cold air then take like a walmart bag and rubber band it around the throttle intake.

[HeadyFirebird'00]

Re: washed engine and now she runs terrible! HELP

i would never spray water all under the hood like a crazzy madman. To be safe, use a wet rag and do it all by hand, and rinse the rag out often with lite saopy water. i think with all the ways water likes to get into everything it would be wiser not the blast the engine with buttloads of water to clean it off, just to clean it. depends on your goal, and what your trying to do with by cleaning it out.

[alexhoughton]

Re: washed engine and now she runs terrible! HELP

changed coil packs and she runs better. runs good as long as im light on the gas-but then if i hit the gas to kick the motor down it starts sputtering again. what would do that? tps?

[Jhonathan_W]

Re: washed engine and now she runs terrible! HELP

Check the plugs and wires. I had a few out and bad wiring and it did the same thing.

[zlexiss]

Re: washed engine and now she runs terrible! HELP

The high voltage (secondary) side on coil packs will only be energized when the car is running. It's a transformer, which needs AC current to work. For ignition coils the AC component comes in when the 12V DC to the primary is turned on and off - it's the change in current which energizes the secondary. Constant 12V or constant 0V = no power to the secondary

[alexhoughton]

Re: washed engine and now she runs terrible! HELP

Check the plugs and wires. I had a few out and bad wiring and it did the same thing.

have u not been listening? thats the first thing i did

[jackiegeorge]

Re: washed engine and now she runs terrible! HELP

my 96 camaro 3.8l engine would throw a service engine soon and blink the light when i went to the car wash. i was not washing the engine. barley made it home the last 2 times car would not pull itsself and the ses light was flashing. the problem a plastic hold down screw missing from the lower cowl was letting the coil packs get soaking wet whenever i washed the car. removed the coil pack and four of the spades from the module were corroded over in green gunk. replaced module and coils from a salvage yard and replaced missing screw and now it runs better than ever. steve

[alexhoughton]

Re: washed engine and now she runs terrible! HELP

once again guys-read my posts- ive done all this sh*t with the coils. this piece of junk is not throwing any codes either

[alexhoughton]

Re: washed engine and now she runs terrible! HELP

ok guys imgetting mad-nobody has been of any help on here. ima smart enuf mechanic to have tried all the dumb stuff. no codes are being thrown, no service engine soon light-car still acts like its misfiring. for you slow people out there let me say this again-coilpacks have been checked and changed along with plugs and wires. im ready to totalthis piece of sh*t. it used torun like a f*ckin top. anybody in lafayette indiana want a camaro?

[97rs4life]

Re: washed engine and now she runs terrible! HELP

how about you relax, diagnosing a car that we have never seen or heard run is kind of difficult over the internet. If you are that impatient get your arse to a mechanic in town and let them dig into it.

Check your wires to make sure they are not arcing first of all or crossed, then examine your vacuum lines to see if any are cracked or loose from you washing your engine. Then go from there with things like cleaning the tb