rough idle/drivability problems after engine wash
 

Hello ALL! I am new to this forum, just started tinkering with my car and I need help.

I have a 99 Protege LX. So I washed my engine using a degreaser that I bought from an auto part store then rinsed it off with water. The thing I forgot to do is cover the electrical parts.

Now I have rough idle, car is hard to drive and white smoke when I opened the hood. CEL flashes while driving then steadies when I stop. Exhaust pipe is chugging and water coming out.

Checked all vaccum lines, MAF seems to be OK per test I followed from Haynes (cleaned MAF too). Do not know where the EGR is so haven't tested that yet. Where else should I check? What should I do?

Do not want to drive my car to Autozone to get the code since I'm afraid I might stall halfway. Pls help.

sounds as though you got moisture somewhere in your electrical system.

It also sounds like you may have injested water in the motor. I hate to say it but you need a professional mechanic to look at this for you. There may SEVERE damage.

The 'white smoke' under the hood is probably steam. No problem unless it persists. You didn't shoot water down the intake didja'?

To dry it - run it to hot and then shut it off and let the heat evap the moisture.
If after a coupple of cycles - and it is still 'bad' - you may need to get a ride to Autozone and buy a code reader ($130) to find out which connector has water in it.

The water in the tailpipe? A little is normal - how much are talking about here? Was the engine really hot when you sprayed it with cold water? Could you have cracked a head? Not likely.

Please report back!

take your sparks plugs out and check them, usually water will get in there and mess them up if you wash your engine bay

Car was sitting in the driveway for at least a couple of hours before I washed the engine.

I'm letting the car sit in the driveway for now and starting it each morning to see if in case water did seep somewhere, if it has dried and hoping everything is back to normal. Unfortunately, after 4 days, idle is still rough/worst when I try to shift to gears and tailpipe is still spitting water (not so much, though).

Sorry for asking a stupid question - which intake?

yup, youve' blown a head gasket or cracked the head. Coolant is leaking into your combustion chamber and being pumped out the exhaust by your piston.

Water ingestion is scary stuff. A guy I worked with years ago took a company fleet vehicle through a deep puddle, it gulped in some water, and breathed its last. Water (unlike air) does NOT compress. The mechanics found a connecting rod bent like a piece of elbow maccaroni, the result of the ingested water having nowhere to go on the compression stroke. The engine required a full rebuild, and ever since the car has never been 100%.

Take note, people. This is precisely the kind of damage that will happen to your car if you have a CAI on it and you decide to drive through water deep enough to submerge the filter.

If you MUST clean your engine off, I suggest using a rag and some 409 (used sparingly). Mine is clean enough to eat off of, and all it took was a little elbow grease.

i just wrap a walmart bag around my filter. Never let me down yet.

This sounds more like he cracked the head rather than sprayed water up in the intake. A hot motor with cold water will shatter like fine china.

Yeah, it's called "Thermal Shock".

Before jumping the gun and declaring a cracked head or blown gasket, I'd check the coolant level. Don't just check the overflow tank, remove the pressure cap and look at how low the coolant is. The fluid won't be all the way up to the top, but should be within an inch or two.

Since you let it sit for a few hours before hosing it down, the head should not have cracked. It also sounds like you have a stock intake, since you asked "Which intake", so the probability of this being a water ingestion issue is low. Regardless, check the air box where the air filter resides. If you have water in there, then that could be part of the issue. It should be relatively dry.

Also, check the plugs still. The rough idle is most likely from severe mis-fires. The way the plugs sit in the head, it's real easy to get water to start pooling in the plug hole. If that happens the plugs won't spark, they'll just ground to the head. So before you pull the plug out, used compressed air to clear the hole. If you don't have a compressor. . . use canned air from the office supply/computer store. Unplug the spark plug wires from the coil and blow that connection out as well.

Do all mentioned above before starting it again and letting it idle.

When you let it idle in the morning, water will come out of the tailpipe until the engine and exhaust system are warm. Water is a by-product of combustion, when the exhaust system is cold, the water condenses and comes out the tail pipe. The exhaust pipe is chugging because the engine is running rough.

good advice. after checking your coolant level check your dipstick as well to see if oil is mixing with the water...it will look milky or runny if it is.

even water in the plugs will not cause it to spit water out of the exhaust more than just a time or two...if he's "pumping" water he's cracked something.

Good point on checking for water in the oil.

A cold engine will have some water come out the tailpipe. "Spitting" could've been an over exaggeration. Keep in mind he's thinking the recent engine cleaning is gonna run him over a grand. Which would put most people into a panicked state. Consequently, every nuance comes to him in vivid detail.

good point.

take out the plugs and wires and blow dry them with compressed air or a hair dryer.a flashing cel is only one code that can make it flash and thats a missfire code.p0300-p0301-to p0304.i dont think you have a blown head gasket if this all started after you washed the motor.small amounts of water out the tail pipe is normal.the water will not evaporate out of the plug boots.start with that and see.dont keep running it the miss will burn up the converter.

if that doesnt work with the key off unplug every connector you can get to and blow them out with compressed air.both sides of the connector and plug them back up.you may have water grounding out a sensor and the computer cant understand what its seeing.wrong info and the fuel injection is going off the false data

thanks for all your suggestions... ill try them tomorrow morning... thanks again..

THANKS to all of you, guys, I found the problem! Spark plug number 3 was flooded with water. I might have pulled the boot a while back but was not able to re-plugged tightly before I washed the car. So I cleaned that up and checked all the plugs. Plugs are in good condition. I also replaced the wires while I'm at it. I plan to replace the plugs in about 3K miles. I'm at 87k now.

I do have a couple of question, though. When I drive the car the first half mile - there is this clicking noise like somebody is playin with the fence with a stick. It goes away after driving for a while. Also, it smells like there is rubber burning under the hood. Are these normal?

Thanks again to all of you. You're a life saver.

Did you take all of the plugs out and dry out the bore? FYI, if you had side tracking on the plug once, you'll get it again (even if it is now dry). You'll see a thin black line on the outside of the insulator, a carbon trace of sorts (this is conductive). And, if you go over it with your fingernail, it will feel almost etched to you. Replace this plug and check the others. Also, your cable/ coil might have similar problems. Coat the rubber with silicone grease when you put it back together.

I'm willing to bet that the clicking noise you are hearing is electrical arcing... it could be from water penetrating your ignition system, but then again, it could be from any number of things. You did, after all, spray down a good portion of the harness, etc when you pressure washed the car.

I meant to coat the inside of the coil/ cable boots, where the plug is inserted, with silicone grease...

I did put dielectric on the inside of the coil/cable boots. I'm going to replace all the plugs later on. If I need to, I'll replace all of them tomorrow.

I should have mentioned that I observed the clicking even before the washing incident. So this is not related to that.

However, I think the rubber burning smell probably started after the washing.

Thanks again!