fender1983

I was dumb enough to wash my engine while it was off. I was worried about water getting inside the air filter and sucked in the engine (so I shut it off)...

Now the engine starts but not all cylinders are running. I barely made it home on half-engine.

It's been 3 hours since then, but nothing changed. The engine idles very rough. I assume water got on the coils.

Any ideas? I hope it will start tomorrow. What should I do if it won't run properly?

Thanks.

MU71L4710N

for future reference....garden hose is not a good idea to use on an engine

couple things you probably did.

1) if you were hosing your air filter, moisture was probably drawn into your intake and got on your maf. pull the MAF out and let it air dry (keyword there. no cloths, no hair dryers)

2) pull your cops off and let them air dry or blow them out with compressed air. blow your spark plug wells out with air also.

MelloYello

Water on the valve covers by the plugs ?

fender1983

Nope, no air in intake. I wrapped air filter in plastic bag and engine was not running so air would not suck it.


P.S. It was not garden hose. It was much worse - coin self wash. ))) I washed my engines many times there, unfortunately Mustang did not really like that bath.

fender1983

I can clearly see puddles on the valve covers. I tried to dry them with paper towels. Unfortunately I didn't have any tools to pull coils out.

MelloYello

Do you have an air hose? its a tight fit but you gotta get the water out.. bet thats your problem Ive done it myself. Get a rag... Keep the hood open let it dry out.

fender1983

Can't really do much here. I live in apartment complex. I may try to drive it to my work shop tomorrow, but it 7 miles. 7 miles on half-engine probably not a very good idea. I guess I have to wait until it dry itself.

fender1983

It started today, but after couple miles when engine was warm it started to run funky. The idle is rough and when I try to axelerate it would shake like one of the cylinders would try to shut off.

I hope now when engine is warm it would dry faster.


However, should I clean my spark plugs since I had to drive it with 6 cylinders and porbably have tons of s$$%t on them. What do you think?

hiboostwoody

Don't drive it when it is misfiring. You risk a big chance of killing the catalytic converter. The unburned fuel from the misifiring cylinders collects in the cat and will burn it out.

chronos

There is nothing wrong with washing your motor. I have always washed my motors and will continue to do so. I have had my engines look like new after 20+ years of service. There are a few tricks I use when washing a motor. 1-Never do it while engine is running. 2- Never do it with engine hot. Specially on an aluminum block. 3- Cover the alt & computer with foil (also distributor & coil on older cars). 4- Use only the pressure of a garden hose. The car wash machines may be too strong. 5- When done blow out all the water from all the little crevices. I use a shop vac and get ALL the water out. 6- Allow car to sit in sun for a while to allow for full drying. 7- Start & run for a little while to make certain all moisture evaporates out of engine bay. This is a process that cannot be done speedily and have good results. Must take your time. I have always done it this way and have never had a problem.

You probably have a wet air filter or a few of the plugs are wet. Something is causing the misfire, dry it out thoroughly. If you left pools of water, that will take days or weeks to dry on it's own, you must blow that engine dry.