I was driving home from work today and when i was going around a corner at a stop sign i hit a small puddle. It wasn't big enough where i thought it would be a problem. When i reached 4th gear the car started to sputter and the car wouldn't respong to the gas pedal. I stopped at the gas station and the car stopped at idle. It restarted a few times, but would eventually keep shutting off. Can anyone help shed some light?!

 

You might have knocked a sparkplug wire off. Or got water in the intake...

 

i will have to check that, there were no CEL's or anything either

 

waited it out overnight and tried to start it this morning and it wont start up, its like it wants to but just keeps sputtering. Spark plug wires are all in tact, what is the next step?!?!

 

Pull the sparkplugs and see if they're fouled (wet).

 

I was hoping I wouldnt have to do that, its a pain in the ***!!!

 

pulling the spark plugs is one of the easiest things to do.

 

Its just really hard to believe that the water went up that ram air duct, into my intake. I took a flashlight and looked in the duct and it was dry.

 

I have no garage, and its been raining for 2 days straight. For me it would be difficult, I should have explained.

 

With all the rain in your area perhaps you rather got some bad gas (water in the gas)?

 

i just had an issue where my intake tube disconnected from the revi box (clamp loosened somehow) so at speed it was fine but it would die immediately at idle b/c there was no air flow without movement, or it was 1000 degree air flowing in b/c it was hanging down a bit in the engine bay. from your sig you have the revi too...see if that tube that connects to the box is loose. probably not b/c i noticed it immediately when i looked at the engine bay but just in case...

 

yeah i believe mine was still intact, i think i would of noticed that, but i will double check

 

your answer=

seriously though.. good luck...i also believe its the water in the intake...happened to me, disconnect battery and reconnect...

 

Check the air filter...water up through the Revi Intake will show a dry inlet from the air flow after a big slash but the filter is likely soaked. Keep us posted on the outcome!

 

Had the car towed to my buddy's shop, They pulled the plugs and 2 of them were fouled (wet). Havent heard any news other than they were gonna put in new spark plugs. I dont know what the next step is though........

 

As long as it's now dried out with sparkplugs replaced you should be fine. Lesson learned... and so we move on.

Make sure you get quality gas too.

 

They replaced the spark plugs, it still wont start though. They dont quite know why it wont start though!! Ive still got my fingers crossed haha!! I have had the car since december last year and only get gas at 1 place and used 93 everytime, never changed that!

 

Also...........The engine had no water in it, and they de-flooded it, still it would not start though!

 

It doesn't make sense that a small volume of water would foul the spark plugs or flood the engine. I would suggest that something electrical shorted out or was damaged. Check the MAF and ignition related components first as per the FSM.

I don't mean to sound mean, but if pulling the spark plug wires is intimidating for you, it might be a better to take it to a shop.

 

He did take it to a shop and they found and replaced two fouled 'plugs, but they still can't start it.

Cleaning the MAF is always a good thing.

Not to just throw hardware at the problem, but perhaps time for new coils and cables as well?

 

First thing I'd do is check to see if the filter is wet and then proceed to clean out the MAF.

Second part is to pray.

If that fails, I'd replace spark plugs and wires.

Pray some more.

And if it's still doing the same then I would go ahead and replace coils.

 

And if that doesn't work. well you have stumped us.....


So Pray a lil more!!!!

 

I was trying to be nice about the "buddy's shop." Obviously the plugs weren't really fouled. IMO it's often hard to tell if a plug is truly fouled. On my old TII I ran a plug with a good 1/4" of the electrode missing and all of them caked in a crazy amount of suit and the car ran/started with no issues, but calling the plugs fouled doesn't make sense. When tuning an megasquirt I've fouled plugs that didn't look all that bad.

 

Why not turn the key and tell us exactly what sounds are heard, does it throw black smoke from the exhaust , does it smell rich? Pull one plug, and hold it safely an inch away from the block and tell us if you see a decent spark or not- what color is it, etc.
Details will help.

An did you pull the MAF to be sure the internals are completely dried out?

Good luck.

 

The shop i took it to pulled the air filter and said it was dry, I took a look at the spark plugs that they had pulled out and they were black and brown. I had just replaced them about 5 months ago and replaced the wires and coils at the same time. They said on a normal car if the plugs looked like that it would be from detonation!! And they shouldnt look like that after 5 months. And they are starting to think that the puddle i hit might of just been coincidence. No water in the intake or engine.............It has now been towed to mazda since they specialize in rotary engines.