I have an issue I was hoping to get some quick feedback on. This past weekend I was on a roadtrip and came across some torrential downpours while driving. I didn't think too much of it. When I got to my destination it was still raining pretty good. The next morning I took the car out for a ride and I got a CEL and the car started to bog down and almost seemed as if it was misfiring!

I had just installed the MS CAI a week prior and this was the first rain I had encountered. While driving above 4-5k rpm the engine seemed to misfire or bog down greatly, the CEL light came on as well as the traction control light.

I brought the car home quickly and inspected the intake. The filter itself was wet due to the rain. I pulled the MAF sensor and the sensor was soaked with water!!! I did not drive through any puddles, just through some heavy rain and the car sat overnight as it rained.

I now have a CEL light on and I am concerned that I may have water in my engine. I have not taken it for a drive since this occurence, I wanted to give it a chance to all dry out. What is everyone's thoughts?? Quick help is needed as I have a 300 mile drive in front of me in a day and the dealer in the area is not open.

Assistance is needed!!!

What is everyone's thoughts??

 

wow that really sucks, wish i knew what to say to help you

 

need to scan it and see what the code is, but I think your MAF is shorted.

 

When I had my Mazda 3 I had a CAI. I would get water in there just by driving like you but I found a trick to getting rid of the CEL temporarily. I just turn the car on and off 3 times with driving it in between and it went away. Now I don't know of that works on our cars but I would def want to get that checked out.

 

ouch... that sucks. hope its under warranty, cuz it is MS.

 

How the hell did you get water in it? Only way for water to get in is to have the filter submerged and it's pretty far off the ground. I find it hard to believe if it wasn't submerged, but I guess it's possible...

Water in your engine isn't that big of a deal, especially when it's a rotary. Rotaries don't hydrolock like Pistons, very difficult. Lots of rx7 people actually do a "water treatment" where they use vacuum lines to suck in a gallon of water into the engine. The water evaporates and steam cleans the engine and gets the carbon out. Yes it runs like **** for a while, exactly the way you're describing. Just drive it around, let the water work its way through and evaporate and all will be well.

 

Oh yah and then for the CEL just unplug the battery overnight, then in the morning hook it bak up, turn car to ON and do the brake pump ECU clear.

 

Well better news today. The MAF has dried out and I reset the ECU to clear the CEL light. I took the car out for a ride and it seems to be fine now, not bogging down.

My original concern was that there was water in the engine and the fear of hydro-lock. After all, if the water has reached the MAF, my thoughts were it has reached the engine.

I still do not understand how this occurred. The previous night I was driving through some heavy rain (cars were pulling off of the road because they couldn't see), although I drove about 3 hours more after this and I did not have any issues. The following day is when I had problems after my car was just sitting in my driveway? It had rained hard overnight and after the first start up is when I had performance issues. Could the filter have soaked up a lot of water sitting in rain and then sucked it up the intake once I ran the car? This is a major concern for me seeing that this was the first time that my 8 was rained on with the CAI and I had some serious performance issues.

It seems two others on this forum with the MS CAI have had similar issues with the CEL after a hard rain, but I do not believe to the extent of my condition. If this is a common issue with the MS CAI then it needs to be addressed ASAP.

All thoughts and comments are welcome.

 

I have a thought...

I think you had moister collecting and condensing on the MAF. Since it works by testing the temp of the sensor (sends a small current through the metal line that hangs down the length and how long it takes to cool) the moisture would reak havoc on the sensor readings! Essentially it could be telling the car that there was more air going down the intake than there actually was. You were in essence starving it of oxygen.

Here's a quick future check for it. Pull the sensor out (losen two screws and slide it out of the intake hose) and spray the metal parts (not the electronics) down with carb cleaner (away from the car so you don't ruin your paint). Replace it and see how it runs. Allow some time for the car to run without the problem and I be the CEL will go away on its' own. After just a few times of running without the problem it should store the code and shut off the light. Scan tools and a laptop are really handy though. I'd recommend one.

And torrential downpours can cause similar problems in other cars but your engine can handle moisture better than most. Just keep it off the MAF.

 

I've driven through extremely hard rains in the past week and have noticed no problems what-so-ever. I don't think I'd recommend driving through any really deep puddles, but then I wouldn't do that in any car with a cold air intake.