Washed Engine Bay - Ran then Died

swamlurk · Post by **swamlurk** » 14 Sep 2019, 23:48

Hey everyone, first post.

So I washed the engine bay using purple degreaser and just a spray bottle of water to rinse and paint brushes to get everything. I dried everything pretty good I thought with an air compressor.

It started up fine but then died after about a minute of driving. I managed to push it home and pulled the plug wires and distributor cap and blew them out with compressed air too. I then let it sit about 5 hours and tried it again and it started. So I took it for a drive again (2am here so I couldn't let it idle in the driveway - neighbors) and it died again. Not in a place I can push it home this time.

Anyone have any ideas?

Post by **precopster** » 15 Sep 2019, 15:47

Yes NEVER wash engine bay.

Remove ECM clean contacts. You may have damaged ECM by shorting pins with water.

Knock sensors are hardest to get to.

Looks good but doesn't run.

Post by **scot850** » 15 Sep 2019, 17:29

Unfortunately Mike is right. Biggest issue is usually distributor on -98 cars. I would remove the distributor cap and wires and let them dry our near some heat. Also check the cam sensor wires and it's connector for damp and blow out and use contact cleaner to make sure moisture is dispersed. Ensure the cam sensor wire has not been routed too close to the distributor or it will the signal for the cam sensor. Make sure the coil and cable are also dry.

Then it is as Mike says. Check ECU and box for water ingress.

Neil