Ran thru a puddle that was deeper than I thought. Car started spitting and spuddering. all the idiot lights came on as it was stalling. started it again
but now it runs very rough. Ran it for two days waiting for it to dry out.
checked the cap , cleaned it , and the rotor.
pulled each plug wire while running, created a miss as i did each cylinder.
spark was very good.
Looking for answers to what to look at. sensors , etc.

Thanks, Bill

95 850 Glt
160K Auto.

 

Remove each spark plug wire again and look down in the hole to see if there is any water in there. They are "supposed" to be water proof, but don't bet on it. I had the same thing and I had some water in the spark plug wells.

 

Check the intake tubes for water and make sure any vacuum lines didn't get damaged.

Any codes?

 

You said you cleaned the cap, rotor, wires.
Did you carefully wipe them out and down with WD40 ?? I don't like the stuff for a lubricant but it's fantastic to clean out caps, rotors and coat wires. WD stands for water displacement and that's what WD40 was born for. Don't forget to wipe down the coil wire too. Spraying inside the coils tower and blowing it out would be good to do. Do the wires separate from the cap and rotor. If re-cleaning the cap and rotor doesn't help but cleaning the wires does they need to be replaced.
Spreading a little dielectric compound around the top of the wires where they seal to the head before you put them in will help ease installation and also help keep the plugs well dry.

If it's still running rough after all that wouldn't hurt to blow out and then WD40 spray the cam and crankshaft sensor electrical connectors and the coils. If nothing else it's good maintenance.
Might want to pull the cover and check the well the engine and trans computers are to see if it's wet in there too

 

Any codes?

Have you considered the engine may have inhaled some H2O and hydraulic-locked? I would ck compression to be sure.. Engine making noise?

 

How deep was this water hole anyway?

 

I think what Robert is asking is did you see fish through the windshield
.
.

 

THANKS for all the responses. I will start investigating tonight.
the puddle was about a foot deep , but I was going 35 mph.
Just read a p301 code this morning. cleared it , drove 20 miles today, didn;t come back. car runs , just runs like its on 4 cylinders.
I did look for water in the spark plug tubes.
going to look at #1 cylinder again.

thanks, Bill

 

Fingers crossed it is something simple for you.


Love that pic by the way Kiss !

 

I'll have to get with Robert one of these days and start my Video career. It's good to have a little humor, can't let the cars win !!

 

I have changed plugs, fuel filter, dry gas, pulled injector wires off one by one,spark plug wires one by one. All working ok.
The car died out 10 times in a row, but restarted immediately, then cleared up. That's when I suspected water in gas, Heet and new filter, we,ll see

 

When you pulled the filter did you tip the "IN" nipple down into a drain pan to see if any water came out ?? Most FI filters will catch moisture and when tipped with the fuel tank end down you'll see dirt and water if it was excessive in the filter. The other trick is to try and blow through it to gauge if it's restricted, from in to out.

How do you think water got into the fuel tank from running through a puddle ??

 

No I did not check the filter. wished now i did. I am just ruling out the water in gas symptom. Car still runs with loss power and idles rough. I am driving it to work daily.
gas mileage is down to 15mpg. When i hit the puddle, the alternator shorted out for a few seconds, all the idiot lights came on while it was stalling, but kept running.
went 1/2 more then it stalled. started again. no problems with alternator. checked
output voltage. don.t know what else to check. its not throwing any codes.
all thoughts welcomed.

 

Ditto on the W.D.40