Davalos Posted December 17, 2006 Share Posted December 17, 2006 1990 Wagon SPFI Okay, I was at the carwash yesterday … my mission was to clear-out all the oil from the motor on and around the seals, because I’m about to pull the motor & re-seal the thing. I left the car running & started on the underside – the oil pan, supports, all the lines & joints, and just blasted away. Then I hit the passenger’s side, hit the tranny casing, the valve covers, the boots & axle, oil filler neck, lower supports, wheel arches, etc. Moved over to the front, & hit the power steering reservoir, fan cover, SPFI Casing, intake manifold, brackets for the alternator, A/C Compressor, rubber hoses, spare tire, etc. Then I went around to the drivers’ side. I hit the hoses, the valve cover, the lower supports, and I purposely avoided the distributor. But somewhere in there, BAM!!!!!!!! Right on the rear portion of that valve cover, the car died, and I mean DIED for a good 20 minutes. I mean, it was instant. I have no idea what I might have hit. But it was dead as a doornail for a good 20 minutes (turned but didn’t hit),and ran really rough for about 10 minutes after that. This is the weird part … the ECU light is no longer on. Not at all. It’s been on since I got the car, and I’ve gone thru the whole Code-34 EGR Solenoid RiggaMaRoll, all to no effect. But now the light is OFF. And it hasn’t come back on. The only other way I’ve been able to get the light off is to a) clear the codes using the connectors, when I replace the fusible links, and once when I changed he battery; and in all those times the code comes back on after about 10 minutes of driving. I’ve been driving for at least an hour today. ?????????????????????????? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveT Posted December 17, 2006 Share Posted December 17, 2006 But now the light is OFF. And it hasn’t come back on. Man, is that weird. WAG = wire or pin intermittant in the harness is a possibility. The engine wireing harness is in that area. I had a vexing ECU code in one car that turned out to be 1 wire in the engine harness that was broken. But the insulation had no sign of the break. Discovered it by accident, just the right bending caused make / break of the circuit. After un taping the harness, I found the break - ever so slight bump in the insulation, and it could be felt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted December 17, 2006 Share Posted December 17, 2006 Water got into the crank angle sensor of the distributor probably. It's very sensitive as the slots on the disc are small, and the infra-red emitter will be refracted by the tinyest drop of water. Keeping a can of WD40 around to dry out distributor components is a good idea. You can also cover the distributor with a common rubber surgical glove, poke the wires through the fingers, and put a rubber band around the wrist area to cover the whole unit. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davalos Posted December 17, 2006 Author Share Posted December 17, 2006 Interesting ... didn't really know it was that sensitive. I blasted a 3.8GM V6 for like 20 minutes today, hitting the control boxes, the plugs directly, etc. Wow ... It seems like you could easily splash water up there naturally with puddles or something ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeshoup Posted December 17, 2006 Share Posted December 17, 2006 Yeah you can, KBD learned that on one rainy day going to the junkyard. Sidewinder (one of the local yards) had a huge puddle in the road going up to it. Drove his SPFI wagon through it. That was one rough ride back As far as your CEL, does it come on when you turn the keys to ON, but don't start? Perhaps the CEL burned out somehow? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted December 17, 2006 Share Posted December 17, 2006 Some are, and some aren't - by that I mean the fitment of the cap, and if there is even still a rubber seal under it. Remember you are dealing with a 15 to 20 year old car. Most likely the cap/rotor has been replaced several times, and probably not with OEM parts. If you get a new rubber seal, and a quality cap you shouldn't have any trouble unless you blast a lot of water through the vent hole on top. There's a reason they make rubber booties for toy's and baja VW's and stuff. Been meaning to try and cram a Hitachi distributor onto on of the VW distributor booties that EMPI makes. They are like $20. GD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveT Posted December 17, 2006 Share Posted December 17, 2006 a huge puddle in the road going up to it. Drove is SPFI wagon through it. You remind me of a puddle 20 years ago... 76 4WD wagon 1400 4speed. On a stretch of highway I travelled frequently. It had rained & whatever, caused a dip in the 3 lanes of highway to be about 6" deep, by looking at the wheels of the cars ahead as they went through. probably 30-50 feet long. No one too close to me, so I poped into 4WD, droped to 3rd, floor the gas. I forget what that car would do wound up in 3rd gear, but probably 50 + or -. Went straight through the puddle pedal down. I remember glancing in the rearview mirror, seeing a wall of water on either side of the car shooting skyward. I was out of the puddle before the water came down. Shifted back to 4th gear, continued to my destination. Didn't bother the engine or anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffast Posted December 17, 2006 Share Posted December 17, 2006 Yeah you can, KBD learned that on one rainy day going to the junkyard. Sidewinder (one of the local yards) had a huge puddle in the road going up to it. Drove his SPFI wagon through it. That was one rough ride back we all have to do it, it's instinct, you see mud and instantly you want it on the sides of your car Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davalos Posted December 17, 2006 Author Share Posted December 17, 2006 Yeah - it shines bright as can be with the rest them when I start it ... I have a feeling it's something else, now that I think about it. I blasted that area pretty well - perhaps I sorted somethig out in those solenoids ... maybe in a couple days when things dry out ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloyale Posted December 17, 2006 Share Posted December 17, 2006 Wait, let me get this straight. Your Check engine light comes on like normal at start and then goes off(normal). Isn't that what you want? or did you like that little red light mocking you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davalos Posted December 17, 2006 Author Share Posted December 17, 2006 It's been mocking me for a year, hehe. The light used to be on all the time - it was throwing Code 34 which is the EGR Solenoid Circuit, I believe. Went thru this ordeal of trying to reaplce various parts, all to no avail - finally gave-up & resolved to ignore it (and to clear it once every few months to make sure it's not throwing multiple codes). Evidently, the way to clear that code is to replace a reistor with a different one to "Fool" the system into thinking it's all-set. So now that it's off afte rthe power-washing thing, it's just a mystery to me. GD's explanation offers a reason why it stalled, but I am still stumped on the light. But I don't know for sure it went off when the car stalled - I was spraying for 5-6 minutes before it stalled, so things coule have been happening before that & I just didn't notice the light or something .. I dunno ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgd73 Posted December 17, 2006 Share Posted December 17, 2006 It's been mocking me for a year, hehe. The light used to be on all the time - it was throwing Code 34 which is the EGR Solenoid Circuit, I believe. Went thru this ordeal of trying to reaplce various parts, all to no avail - finally gave-up & resolved to ignore it (and to clear it once every few months to make sure it's not throwing multiple codes). Evidently, the way to clear that code is to replace a reistor with a different one to "Fool" the system into thinking it's all-set. So now that it's off afte rthe power-washing thing, it's just a mystery to me. GD's explanation offers a reason why it stalled, but I am still stumped on the light. But I don't know for sure it went off when the car stalled - I was spraying for 5-6 minutes before it stalled, so things coule have been happening before that & I just didn't notice the light or something .. I dunno ... Mine did this too, only the spfi, the carb ones I clean don't. The engine ground finds different places on different soobs, I would swear the paint color even acts as a different guide.you hit a sweet spot. My ECU light with code 34 kicked off audibly when I hit the radiator on driver side of car- Everytime. That is actually a nice find once you find it, keep the whole engine bay clean-- it may find a spot to keep it from coming on at all. You noted the back of valve cover.... is there any open rusted metal nearby? paint it (unless it is the engine itself). It has no choice to move to a weaker link, if rusty something is the source. Of course this is all invisible, GD loves it when I talk of this stuff. If you can repeat that light kicking off at the radiator when cleaning, it is not a bad thing, it proves a tight clean painted engine bay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4x4_Welder Posted December 17, 2006 Share Posted December 17, 2006 If spraying down with water makes the ground connection, then there is a serious problem with the engine ground. Color/rust on the engine/ etc doesn't make a difference. If there is green crud on the ground cable, that's the problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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