Stalls in rain?
 

Alright, this problem i have had enough of. I live in new york, and in december i was in a accident that took out my fog light and my splash shield in the right passanger fender, my BBK intakes located there also. Since then, i been driving in rain or whenever it rains and my car wants to stall. It will drive fine then after awhile it starts bucking in gear, any gear, sometimes 5th if its bad. If im not going over 3k rpms it will start bogging. Same sound you get when you flood a atv or dirtbike. I have had enough of this because first, it makes my car sound like it was in the ocean and salvaged, it sounds like crap and im sure its hurting thecar. My guess is that the airfilters getting wet and sucking in air, water and thats being mixed in the injection of gas. Someone suggested that it maybe the injector or sparkplug wires and they may have a rip or something letting condinsation in it. I have no idea, its a weird problem and its damaging the car and its unsafe. In a few cases my car has stalled doing 30mph and i couldnt steer.This problem is not a low gear issue, its all gears. I can be traveling anywhere from 10-60mph and it does it. After 70 it seems to just deal with it and acceleration is greatly decreased.

Note - This problem does not happen when it snows, during or after, even with slush and wet roads. Possibly a humidity problem?

in addition, when my rpm's drop... They fall like a rock instantly down to either 0 or 200rpms then rocket back up or try to set back up to 800

RE: Stalls in rain?
 

I would say definitely divert your intake or get another splash shield and PREVENT water from entering your intake . . .you sound rather smart so I'm sure you know that your intake pulls air DIRECTLY into your engine. If you get WATER into your engine your engine WILL hydrolock and you will need to purchase a new engine. Most people won't even rebuild a hydro'd engine. Air compresses . . .liquids do not.

-Stig

RE: Stalls in rain?
 

yeah i didnt kno about hydrolock but i figured the oxygen and gas combustion was fked up wit water particals and a foreign gas caused it to go crazy, i think im going to just bring it to a shop soon and get there idea, splash guards on the way, im going to fix the light also. If it occurs again, im changing the airfilter inward. Any other ideas to the problem?

RE: Stalls in rain?
 

Sounds more like it's affecting the ignition if you're getting such quick drop-outs. Maybe a connector getting wet. Worth looking at and maybe renew the di-elctric grease in them.

RE: Stalls in rain?
 

thats my 2nd guess. I narrowed it down to intake or ignition related. Possibly both. I just took it for a cruise around down and down some backroads and did like 90 on one of them, its doing alright, the acceleration seems less responsive when i oopen up, but when i got home i felt the air filter and its not moist, its wet to the touch. So im hinting that the airfilters caroded with crap and it needs to be changed. I think its the splash guard but im not risking it again. Any other ideas.

My rpms were at around 600-800ish. I perfer 900 but its idleing alright. It seems like its dropping after 1k when im at a stop it drops to 600 like its not getting enough air. But then again i coulda swore it was a normal 800 but that could also be linked to the air filter.

RE: Stalls in rain?
 

and what are symptoms of hydrolocking?

RE: Stalls in rain?
 

so you've been driving around town in wet weather with a cai and no splashguard??

you were just asking for problems.

RE: Stalls in rain?
 

its my only car, i have to manage. Its getting a splashguard asap. Its not leaving the house until it has one. I just need to know if i did any un-reverseable damage and if i indeed locked my engine up even the slightest. And will water in the enginevap eventually. Its not likei tookin enough water to flood the engine.

RE: Stalls in rain?
 

youll probably be fine, you have to have a decent amount of water in the cylinder to hydrolock it. it was probably just plugging up the cats thats why it was bucking. Ive hydrolocked my motor from a blown headgasket so trust me when i say you will know if it happens. If your really concerned about it and think you might have sucked up too much water next time you start the car up pull all the spark plugs out and let the starter turn the motor over a few times and have someone watch under the hood, if you see streams ofwater flying out of the plug holes you got a problem, if nothing comes out i wouldnt worry about it.

RE: Stalls in rain?
 

^ good reply. a hydrolocked motor isn't necessarily the end of the world, especially if it's your daily driver. I have had luck with fixing a few in my day. Only for friends though. Personally I have never hydrolocked one. I have stalled a couple with a quick blast of water and was in a bogging truck that cracked a block by getting it so hot, then running through a mud bog and drastically cooling the temperature of the cast iron. All that really happens when you hydrolock a motor is that enough water gets into the combustion chamber to prevent your engine from firing. (which of course isn't the best thing in the world, but it's not a reason to junk your car either.) I would try the aforementioned procedure and see what you get. You will most likely get lucky and the car will be fine, especially if she's still running good without it raining. But definitely get that splash shield, and try to keep as much water as possible out of the engine bay. Good luck