98 Camry 2.2L missing in Rain?

[frogman1195]

Hey everyone. New to this site.

I looked didn't se this problem, so here goes. I have as stated above a 98 Camry. I have over 150,000 miles on it. The original 5SFE engine had one problem since the moment I bought it when the car was 1 year old. Every time it hit a puddle of water on the right side of the car one cylinder would cutout.

It wasn't a real problem since about a mile it came back. It was just a minor aggrivation. When the cylinder was lost you could feel the car lose power and start to vibrate. Problem is I changed out that engine with another with 24,000 on it and the bugger does the same thing but much much worse.

I guess this engine must lose two cylinders when it hit water. I have as of yet not looked at any parts on the car except visually as they are. I am going to pull the crank shaft sensor and the two coilpack to see if I see cracks in either.

The reason I'm writing this is that it happened on 2 out of 2 engines for me and I can't find the problem mentioned on the net anywhere. Also just want to know, has any one else has run into this problem?

Thanks for the help

Dave

[2wickedtoyz]

might be the plug wires have small cracks in them

[Mike Gerber]

^ I have to agree. Did you use the same set of plug wires on both engines?

Mike

[ASG14]

x3, lol. We all agree.

[frogman1195]

Crap guys. Can't you come up with something better than plug wires. Gees No, I did not use the same plug wires. The engine was complete except starter, altenator, and AC compressor.

If this is a common problem it would seem to be in the wiring harness, I suppose! I still have to inspect the coil packs so maybe I'll find one cracked, but what bothers me about them is they came with the engine and they are on the left side. Left side water doesn't cause the problem.

Thanks again

[LynchburgCSI]

Originally Posted by frogman1195

Crap guys. Can't you come up with something better than plug wires. Gees No, I did not use the same plug wires. The engine was complete except starter, altenator, and AC compressor.

If this is a common problem it would seem to be in the wiring harness, I suppose! I still have to inspect the coil packs so maybe I'll find one cracked, but what bothers me about them is they came with the engine and they are on the left side. Left side water doesn't cause the problem.

Thanks again

Eliminate the common problem. Even if you think there's no way that something could be the problem, check it anyways.

[Rattlin_Steele]

Seems like a real head-scratcher. You might have to get a water spray bottle and see if you can pin it down that way, especially if you can do it in the dark. You say the harness wasn't changed, the really long wire that goes to the crank sensor might be a good candidate since it's connector to the crank sensor is pretty exposed there on the alternator bracket. The cam sensor connector/wire on the backside might be taking some spray from the PS belt slinging water possibly.

On a sidenote, that's pretty amazing to find an engine with only 24K!

[BamZipPow]

Originally Posted by frogman1195

Left side water doesn't cause the problem.

Just so we're all on the same page...all directionals are based from the driver's perspective, right? Left side = left turn signal, right side = right turn signal.

Not based on the perspective of looking from the front of the car into the engine bay...