*Need Help ASAP* No Start Problem! - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

Semi · 09-17-2009, 01:22 AM

Hello eveyone, I need some help figuring out if I ruined my Camry's distributor or starter or not. (1994 Camry 2.2L)

This afternoon I washed my engine bay with a garden hose and Simple Green MAX, and I did cover up the alternator, distributor (but not the spark plug wires connected to it as I recall), and the battery, fuse boxes.

I had it sitting in my parking stall in the apartment parking for about 4 and half hour, and thought the engine looked dry enough to take my mom to the swimming pool, so I start up the car and it seemed ok at first, but when I backed up from the stall, I noticed the car was sluggish (misfiring perhaps), and went out to the front of the apartment, then it stalled, after that I tried to start it up about 20 times, then there's this weird "glllack" sound coming out from the engine bay which did not sound anything like normal "trying to start up" sound to me, and it may seem like the sound was coming out from either the distributor or starter (couldn't tell which exactly because it was dark at night time).

One other thing, the car "did" start up about 5 ~ 6 times during the attempted start up, only to stall again because I removed my foot away from the gas pedal (which results low RPM that wasn't enough to keep it running).

My question is:

1 - Would the "constant trying to start" damage any of the 2 components?

2 - If water (about 20ml) drops onto the distributor or the plug wire connector to the distributor, would it cause any damage?

3 - Would the starter be damaged if water gets on it during the wash? (I did not cover it because one of the thread that talked about engine bay wash, the guy did not cover it up either but he washed the engine bay too)

Your help is much appreciated, thank you.

abew330 · 09-17-2009, 03:20 AM

you might have water in the spark plug holes

Semi · 09-17-2009, 03:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by abew330

you might have water in the spark plug holes

I have just tried to start again, it seemed to start up fine, but only to encounter the same stall again if I don't keep the RPM up, the problem is that "glllack" sound from the engine bay is back again after about 8 times of re-start and the sound would come out when I turn the key to ignite.

Should I keep the engine running at a stable RPM for a while and see if that would dry up the water that got in there? (shouldn't have too much water in there because I avoid sparying too much water on it when I was showering the engine bay)

SexieWASD · 09-17-2009, 07:00 AM

A couple of times that I have washed my engine bay water got into the spark plug tubes. It will stop firing on one or two cylinders until the water is removed. Now I have learned to dry out the tubes with an air compressor after.

finfinder · 09-17-2009, 07:39 AM

How old are your spark plug wires ? water and old wires don't mix well.

Start the car and keep the rpms up and see if the engine settles down after about 10-12 minutes.
Once it gets the operating temperature up to normal that should dry up the water.

reverendgodless · 09-17-2009, 07:49 AM

check the spark plugs, dry em off, take the distb cap off and dry it off, then if that fails, check the tps, or maf, those things are UBER finicky about anything but air getting on em

Semi · 09-17-2009, 08:14 AM

The spark wires are quite new, as for the other stuff, I have no proper tools to take them off, nor do I think I should try to because I do not have enough knowledge to properly take those things off and put them back, I don't want to further damaging the parts, I did notice this time when I tried to start it, it seems easier to start it now, and at one time the engine was able to keep running at idling rpm, maybe it just needs more time to dry up, but I guess I will have to take skytrain to work later.

I really appreciate your help guys, for now I think I'll wait longer and see if the problem goes away with time, I'll update the thread with any changes.

PS: she was running like nothing happened right after the shower, which started to do this 4 hours after I parked her in the parking stall 10 mins after the shower, does this sound normal?

Mike Gerber · 09-17-2009, 10:06 AM

Try opening the hood and pointing the car toward where the sunlight will get to the engine. That should help dry things out. That's something you can do with little or no knowledge.

You said the spark plug wires are new. How new and are they OEM? I have seen cheap aftermarket wires fail in as little as 1 year or 20,000 miles. As an FYI, you do not need any tools to change the spark plug wires.

Mike

Semi · 09-17-2009, 11:05 AM

Since I didn't buy the plug wires so I can't tell you if they are aftermarket wires, but I highly doubt it, because the "uncle" that I take my car for service and maintenance (who does it in his garage), when I was replacing the defective distributor, he ordered new wires along with the new distributor which was made in Japan, bit expensive, and I recall he told me that the new wires are pretty good in quality, so I tend to believe they are OEM.

Thanks for the tip too, but it's quite foggy and cloudy here today, can't take her out for a sun bath, hopefully it'll clear up by the time I am off from work.