HuntMarsh

i have a '99 GT. last night i had a radiator cap crack on me, and it spewed antifreeze all over the front of the engine compartment. i knew washing down the engine bay with water wasnt a great idea, but i needed this stuff off quick. i tried to keep the water away from everything electrical and the engine itself, just concentrated on the cooling system where most of it was spilled. anyways, shortly afterwards, i drove the car and it feels like its missing BADLY and my service engine light even came on. i then took a leaf blower to the entire engine compartment trying to blow away all remaining water. i got everything all dry and the service engine light went back off, but the car still feels like its missing and even idles a little weird. ive heard of water getting to the spark plugs or something that could cause it to do this. any ideas of what needs to be dried out and be done? again, i know it was a stupid idea, so dont trash me, but i need help.

thanks guys!

ScottXL

Odds are you didn't mess up anything by spraying the engine. Infact, I've read where people intentionally PRESSURE CLEAN their engines. [Degreaser + Pressure Clean = SPARKLIN'!!] When you say "it feels like something is missing," is it not delivering the proper torque? And the odds of water getting into your spark plugs are miniscule to none. I'm not sure if they changed the engine in '99, but the 98 engine's spark plugs are mounted on a diagnal part on the bottom part of the engine. So, the possibility of you spraying into the spark plugs are pretty low.
The only thing I can think of is maybe they put in a chip on the '99 models and up and you accidently sprayed it. I'm not really sure, so I can't be of any more help.
But, if you did happen to get water into your spark plugs, when you idle the RPM would be dynamic [Go over it's idle normal, then under a bit, then shoot back up. That's what happened to me] and when you went to drive your car would shake like it was having a seizure.


EDIT:: You might've gotten anti-freeze on a wire connector. If I were you I'd go around by your radiator and disconnect all those cute little connectors, see if you see anything visually wrong, then put 'em right back together.
P.S. -- Don't mess up.

945LSTANG

thats a stupid idea. your best bet is to pull some codes even if the light went off.

HPDE

You did fill the system back up and properly bleed it right? hows your temp?

So the cap just failed, or is it possible that a HG is failing and pressurized the system. (that would cause a mis as well)

ScottXL

Hey, I didn't say it was smart. But, I'm sure if you did it, your engine would come out pearly and sparkly... and probably dead. :P