washed engine bay - strange problem. need the experts
03-16-09, 03:46 PM
#1
washed engine bay - strange problem. need the experts
hey guys, i'm somewhat of a n00b on here, but i definitely am no n00b to cars. 
i pressure washed my engine bay yesterday (just the edges and by the firewall as best i could) and totally tried to avoid the engine and battery and all went well. then i pulled into my driveway...
the car started randomly misfiring, then it started misfiring more, then more, until it finally stalled..... i started it back up and it was running very rough, misfiring horribly, back firing, and barely running. it's just like after 30 seconds or so, the engine starts dropping the ignition signal for some reason.
1. i disconnected all of the injectors and made sure their connectors were dry.
2. i took both distributor caps off and cleaned them because i thought there may have been water in them (there wasn't)
3. i reset the ECU and the car fired up just fine (it had been off for a couple hours at this point) then started doing the misfiring again, kept doing it, it got worse, etc. just like before.
i am thinking maybe i somehow messed up one or both of my ignition coils, or possibly the ECU. the weird thing is that the car runs PERFECTLY smooth for about 30 seconds after it has sat for a while, then starts the random misfiring that progresses into running horribly, stalling, and not wanting to start... CEL is NOT on.
anyone have any ideas?
i pressure washed my engine bay yesterday (just the edges and by the firewall as best i could) and totally tried to avoid the engine and battery and all went well. then i pulled into my driveway...
the car started randomly misfiring, then it started misfiring more, then more, until it finally stalled..... i started it back up and it was running very rough, misfiring horribly, back firing, and barely running. it's just like after 30 seconds or so, the engine starts dropping the ignition signal for some reason.
1. i disconnected all of the injectors and made sure their connectors were dry.
2. i took both distributor caps off and cleaned them because i thought there may have been water in them (there wasn't)
3. i reset the ECU and the car fired up just fine (it had been off for a couple hours at this point) then started doing the misfiring again, kept doing it, it got worse, etc. just like before.
i am thinking maybe i somehow messed up one or both of my ignition coils, or possibly the ECU. the weird thing is that the car runs PERFECTLY smooth for about 30 seconds after it has sat for a while, then starts the random misfiring that progresses into running horribly, stalling, and not wanting to start... CEL is NOT on.
anyone have any ideas?
03-16-09, 04:52 PM
#2
Lead Lap
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Did you check the spark plug holes? Water will run right into those and stay there... break out the turkey baster and suck the water our or compressed air...
The same thing I think has happened to everyone on here the on the first motor wash... which is why I never wash mine.
The same thing I think has happened to everyone on here the on the first motor wash... which is why I never wash mine.
03-16-09, 04:56 PM
#3
yes i had all of the spark plugs out. the plug holes are nice and clean.
and i don't think having water in the spark plug holes would cause this problem, as the engine starts and runs perfectly fine for about 30 seconds. it's like something warms up and just stops working (coil or something?)
and i don't think having water in the spark plug holes would cause this problem, as the engine starts and runs perfectly fine for about 30 seconds. it's like something warms up and just stops working (coil or something?)
03-16-09, 05:03 PM
#5
NEVER PRESSURE WASH YOUR ENGINE!!!
we need a sticky on top of the page that pops open every time you log in lol
have fun with it. let everything dry out.
you probably have water in the spark plug valley. take off the plastic covers on the cylinder head so you can expose cylinder 1-2 and 5-6. you wont be able to get to 3-4 without removing the throttle body. take off the spark plug wires and see if there is water down there. it is most likely in cylinders 5 and 6 since the engine is tilted back a bit.
if there is water, use compressed air to get as much of it out as possible. you can also remove the plugs and let the water go into the combustion chamber. without reinstalling the plugs crank the motor. pull the EFI fuse first so you dont waste gas too.
good luck
we need a sticky on top of the page that pops open every time you log in lol
have fun with it. let everything dry out.
you probably have water in the spark plug valley. take off the plastic covers on the cylinder head so you can expose cylinder 1-2 and 5-6. you wont be able to get to 3-4 without removing the throttle body. take off the spark plug wires and see if there is water down there. it is most likely in cylinders 5 and 6 since the engine is tilted back a bit.
if there is water, use compressed air to get as much of it out as possible. you can also remove the plugs and let the water go into the combustion chamber. without reinstalling the plugs crank the motor. pull the EFI fuse first so you dont waste gas too.
good luck
03-16-09, 06:04 PM
#6
NEVER PRESSURE WASH YOUR ENGINE!!!
we need a sticky on top of the page that pops open every time you log in lol
have fun with it. let everything dry out.
you probably have water in the spark plug valley. take off the plastic covers on the cylinder head so you can expose cylinder 1-2 and 5-6. you wont be able to get to 3-4 without removing the throttle body. take off the spark plug wires and see if there is water down there. it is most likely in cylinders 5 and 6 since the engine is tilted back a bit.
if there is water, use compressed air to get as much of it out as possible. you can also remove the plugs and let the water go into the combustion chamber. without reinstalling the plugs crank the motor. pull the EFI fuse first so you dont waste gas too.
good luck
we need a sticky on top of the page that pops open every time you log in lol
have fun with it. let everything dry out.
you probably have water in the spark plug valley. take off the plastic covers on the cylinder head so you can expose cylinder 1-2 and 5-6. you wont be able to get to 3-4 without removing the throttle body. take off the spark plug wires and see if there is water down there. it is most likely in cylinders 5 and 6 since the engine is tilted back a bit.
if there is water, use compressed air to get as much of it out as possible. you can also remove the plugs and let the water go into the combustion chamber. without reinstalling the plugs crank the motor. pull the EFI fuse first so you dont waste gas too.
good luck
they're all dry. all of them. they're dry.
03-16-09, 06:31 PM
#7
Maybe I should make a sticky about not pressure washing the engine on an SC. I just closed two of these threads this month because we have so many floating around with simple solutions to this problem.
When I first bought my SC 5 years ago I must admit I wasnt very mechanically inclined. I too pressure washed my dirty bay. I found out the hard way. When I started the car it sounded like a Subaru because of the misfire. I knew water had gotten in somewhere even though the plug holes had appeared to be dry. I drove around for about an hour keeping the RPMs high to try and create a lot of heat in the engine bay. Eventually all the water had evaporated and the bay was dry as a bone. I started the car up and all was back to normal. Next time you have the need to clean your engine bay just try a different approach.
When I first bought my SC 5 years ago I must admit I wasnt very mechanically inclined. I too pressure washed my dirty bay. I found out the hard way. When I started the car it sounded like a Subaru because of the misfire. I knew water had gotten in somewhere even though the plug holes had appeared to be dry. I drove around for about an hour keeping the RPMs high to try and create a lot of heat in the engine bay. Eventually all the water had evaporated and the bay was dry as a bone. I started the car up and all was back to normal. Next time you have the need to clean your engine bay just try a different approach.
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03-16-09, 07:15 PM
#8
see below. I drove around for about an hour keeping the RPMs high to try and create a lot of heat in the engine bay. Eventually all the water had evaporated and the bay was dry as a bone. I started the car up and all was back to normal. Next time you have the need to clean your engine bay just try a different approach.
03-16-09, 07:25 PM
#10
if you are mechanically inclined then sit down and logically think about how everything is connected and how one component can affect another and stop being a punk.
btw you never mentioned "no water in the plug holes" on your initial post so your response is not at all necessary in that manner.
03-16-09, 07:32 PM
#11
if you are mechanically inclined then sit down and logically think about how everything is connected and how one component can affect another and stop being a punk.
btw you never mentioned "no water in the plug holes" on your initial post so your response is not at all necessary in that manner.
btw you never mentioned "no water in the plug holes" on your initial post so your response is not at all necessary in that manner.
03-16-09, 07:52 PM
#13
i am going to swap out some good used coils tomorrow and i'll report back in this thread.
i've had to replace the passenger ign coil on an sc400 i did some work on last year, so i won't be surprised if these coils are bad on my car.
i've had to replace the passenger ign coil on an sc400 i did some work on last year, so i won't be surprised if these coils are bad on my car.
03-17-09, 01:05 AM
#14
Lexus Test Driver
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You are not the first and you are not alone !
Maybe this will help. Your problem is likely addressed in one of these threads posted by previous members who washed first and asked questions later. Favorite quote: "Anything else you can think of to prevent this from happening again?" Like why would you even think of ever doing it again?:
a warning to all sc300 owners!!!
Washed my engin then....
My buddy sprayed off his SC's motor and now its misfiring. Cause?
power washed engine and now missing on 4 cyl's
SC300 engine idles strange
help! engine shuttering
Help!!! My SC might be damaged!!!
for the second time in a row, I washed my engine
Water in Intake Manifold Spark Plugs
Bad Engine Skip
water soaked engine
Degreased engine and it stopped running
MISFIRE After Engine Cleaning
Just washed engine bay, now car wont start
MisFire during Acceleration - Assistance
washed engine bay - strange problem. need the experts latest
And a pathetic poll I started asking members if there should be a sticky...Should there be a sticky warning members about cleaning the engine?
a warning to all sc300 owners!!!
Washed my engin then....
My buddy sprayed off his SC's motor and now its misfiring. Cause?
power washed engine and now missing on 4 cyl's
SC300 engine idles strange
help! engine shuttering
Help!!! My SC might be damaged!!!
for the second time in a row, I washed my engine
Water in Intake Manifold Spark Plugs
Bad Engine Skip
water soaked engine
Degreased engine and it stopped running
MISFIRE After Engine Cleaning
Just washed engine bay, now car wont start
MisFire during Acceleration - Assistance
washed engine bay - strange problem. need the experts latest
And a pathetic poll I started asking members if there should be a sticky...Should there be a sticky warning members about cleaning the engine?
Last edited by SCoupe; 03-17-09 at 11:02 PM.
03-17-09, 03:53 PM
#15
ok guys i have an update.
i swapped out coils and nothing changed.
after swapping the coils, i started the car, it was running perfectly fine during cold start like it has been doing, then i noticed that i had some wires that were ripped/broken, the 2-wire plug coming out of the passenger side head right under the cam gear/distributor. I'm not sure what this is for, but its wires were definitely broken. it was a 2 wire plug with a white and red wire. anybody know what this plug is for? the thing is, i discovered these broken wires while the car was running and idling perfectly smoothly before it got warmed up and started the misfire/die thing.
the weird thing about this problem is that it starts up and runs perfectly fine for a minute or two (depending on how long it has sat prior to starting) then it just starts misfiring, then more and more til it shuts off.
now that most of the ignition stuff has checked out OK, i'm thinking maybe the ECU got screwed up when those wires got ripped? i'm really not sure.
i swapped out coils and nothing changed.
after swapping the coils, i started the car, it was running perfectly fine during cold start like it has been doing, then i noticed that i had some wires that were ripped/broken, the 2-wire plug coming out of the passenger side head right under the cam gear/distributor. I'm not sure what this is for, but its wires were definitely broken. it was a 2 wire plug with a white and red wire. anybody know what this plug is for? the thing is, i discovered these broken wires while the car was running and idling perfectly smoothly before it got warmed up and started the misfire/die thing.
the weird thing about this problem is that it starts up and runs perfectly fine for a minute or two (depending on how long it has sat prior to starting) then it just starts misfiring, then more and more til it shuts off.
now that most of the ignition stuff has checked out OK, i'm thinking maybe the ECU got screwed up when those wires got ripped? i'm really not sure.