2nd Generation Specific (1986-1992) 1986-1992 Discussion including performance modifications and technical support sections.

Electrical Problems After Water Crossing

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Old Mar 21, 2011 | 06:43 PM
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Electrical Problems After Water Crossing

So I crossed a flooded road that I thought was MUCH shallower, car bogged down in second and I shifted to first and made it across, then the car bucked and hesitated. Lots of water splashed everywhere under the hood, it was probably 8-10 inches deep in the middle.
It started to hesitate badly when going into boost on the way home. I let it sit for a day to dry out and then tested again yesterday. All seemed ok after some slight initial hesitation. I drove it today (my birthday too) and about 40 miles from home I stopped to check the river level and it died on me. It started back up, but the idle was hunting a little and not steady like normal.
So I got it to a friends house and stopped. Then I noticed when the key was put to on I could hear my fuel pump running, which it shouldn't. The pump has been rewired and has been fine for 4-5 months. Then the car wouldn't even drive anymore. It would just fall completely on it's face when given more than just a slight push on the pedal.
Before the water crossing all was fine, I had just installed a Coolingmist AI system running straight water and it was going fine. So it's been an awesome birthday... Hopefully I can get her going again with your help.
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Old Mar 21, 2011 | 07:12 PM
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I'd probably start by pulling off as many electrical connectors as possible to let them air out. It's hard to say what might have been affected if water splashed everywhere.
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Old Mar 21, 2011 | 07:34 PM
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Well it wasn't completely all over everything, just seemed like some spray got up on stuff. It's just strange as I have driven it some very heavy rain.
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Old Mar 21, 2011 | 07:36 PM
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I'm assuming it's holding oil and coolant? I lost my N/A engine crossing water that got deeper than I expected. I shattered my rear iron at the oil filter pedestal. My failure was probably more catastrophic and sudden than yours, but something bad along those lines certainly could have happened.
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Old Mar 21, 2011 | 08:59 PM
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I had a buddy get water all over my engine and the car idled horribly amd ran super rich (so rich that the gas fumes in the tail pipe caught fire) and kept flooding. A tps adjustment and variable resistor adjustment fixed my issue. Might be worth a.shot. But then again i dunno if that works for you, my car is n/a.
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Old Mar 21, 2011 | 10:10 PM
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I'll check that out. The fuel pump running with the key to on is what is confusing me the most. It's been raining a bunch lately too which makes it a pain to diagnose. Voltage to the pump was good also. I'm about 40 miles away from my car at the moment which also sucks for diagnosing.
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Old Mar 22, 2011 | 05:38 PM
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Well the problem wasn't related to my water crossing it seems. I thought about my symptoms last night and figured the AFM had to be telling my fuel pump to turn on. So I opened it up and moved the flapper and it was sticking and not coming back to rest. I cleaned it out as best I could and got it moving properly then put her back on and started it up and my car was all good. Took it for a few test runs and that is definitely what my problem was. I bought some AFM/MAF cleaner at the parts store and I am going to thoroughly clean it and make sure it is moving smoothly.
I also noticed that my K&N filter has been rubbing on it's underside and it actually rubbed through the filter and made a slight hole. New filter time. I wish I could just ditch that POS AFM as well but Rtek doesn't seem to be going to be doing that, so it's time for a Haltech.
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Old Mar 22, 2011 | 06:35 PM
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Originally Posted by 1SWEET7
Well the problem wasn't related to my water crossing it seems. I thought about my symptoms last night and figured the AFM had to be telling my fuel pump to turn on. So I opened it up and moved the flapper and it was sticking and not coming back to rest. I cleaned it out as best I could and got it moving properly then put her back on and started it up and my car was all good. Took it for a few test runs and that is definitely what my problem was. I bought some AFM/MAF cleaner at the parts store and I am going to thoroughly clean it and make sure it is moving smoothly.
I also noticed that my K&N filter has been rubbing on it's underside and it actually rubbed through the filter and made a slight hole. New filter time. I wish I could just ditch that POS AFM as well but Rtek doesn't seem to be going to be doing that, so it's time for a Haltech.
I just got a Vert about a month or so ago.
I did a "after storage check" on it,as I knew it sat for awhile,But in a Decent location.
the Condensation in teh Engine bay Seized the air pump Solid,and teh AFM flapper would not move,period.
I didn't even think about starting it until I double checked everything( I am glad I did too.).
The good thing about this is I know now How to take an air pump Apart and also how to fix an S4 AFM!.
Glad to see you got your car running good again..you'll be a Better Wrench yet!!!
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Old Mar 22, 2011 | 08:44 PM
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Yeah I should have known to check it. I took everything apart and super cleaned the AFM and also fine sanded some areas which seemed to be scraping slightly. I just took it for a drive and it feels like it's running way better than it ever has before! I have really learned everything I know about working on cars from this site, the FSM and my Haynes manual. I'm just glad nothing got burned up in the water crossing! Thanks to everyone!
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Old Mar 23, 2011 | 06:33 AM
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way to go man. Glad it all worked out for you. Always feels good to get our 7's running right and get em back on the road. Speaking of which......I need to go get the tranny back in my car so i can drive mine. lol
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Old Mar 23, 2011 | 02:32 PM
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Glad you're issues weren't on the same scale that mine were!! But I can't complain, my engine problems led me to do a turbo swap.
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