vacuum sucks! 1995 4afe problem

[madalo]

Hey guys, maybe a couple good troubleshooters can help me a bit. My rolla runs rough like its missing a cylinder. here's the situation (sorry this is long):

its a 95 4afe with about 125k mi. never had a problem with it til now. this problem happened after I washed the car and hosed down the engine compartment (wont do that again for a while). the fact that the problem was induced after it got wet, led me to believe that there's water in the vacuum line or the dist. cap was wet, i checked it, and no water, and replaced the cap and the rotor anyway because it was old.

I maybe fouled a plug or a wire, or its the fuel pump, injector or filter... but the reason i don't think its like that, is because the car runs smooth and fine up until it reaches operating temparature. then it starts to go ga-glug ga-glug ga-glug all the time - particularly while accelerating under heavy load at low rpm. while cruising on the freeway at mid rpm and not much gas, its not noticable, likewise the problem is less frequent above 2-2.5k rpm (no tach but by ear). under 2k and its constant. glug glug glug glug.

anyway the car doesn't accelerate for crap and all of these symptoms make me think its something in the vacuum system which is affecting the map or fuel pressure. I checked the idle-up valve and its ok not sure how to check the other stuff yet (still reading)

here's my theory: i think water got in through the vacuum modulator (filter thingy) and perhaps a tiny drop of water pierced a membrane in something like egr or something and causing a vacuum leak. does that sound logical?

i'm just throwing my thoughts out here, in hopes that someone may have gone through this before. i'm no expert but i don't know any other way spraying the engine could have caused permanent damage other than shorting out a sensor or fouling a plug.

let me know if anybody has any thoughts or experiences on this. today i'm going to check out the plugs.

thanks, take care

Dan

PS: is it possible that a faulty sparkplug could act up only after its warm?

[madalo]

changed the plugs... premature jubilation, it ran normal for a while. then after a few miles the prob came back, not as harsh, but still there. when i pulled the plugs the misfiring plug was discolored and oddly i heard a boiling sound when i pulled the plug. this scared me because first thing coming to mind is cracked head or blown head gasket, but i honestly think its from when i sprayed it down with the hose, even though it was a few days ago. the old plug was wet on the outside, but no water on the inside. tomorrow im gonna pull the new plugs and check them and try to check the wire. will listen for boiling sounds again. any thoughts are appreciated.

Dan

[madalo]

changed the plugs... premature jubilation, it ran normal for a while. then after a few miles the prob came back, not as harsh, but still there. when i pulled the plugs the misfiring plug was discolored and oddly i heard a boiling sound when i pulled the plug. this scared me because first thing coming to mind is cracked head or blown head gasket, but i honestly think its from when i sprayed it down with the hose, even though it was a few days ago. the old plug was wet on the outside, but no water on the inside. tomorrow im gonna pull the new plugs and check them and try to check the wire. will listen for boiling sounds again. any thoughts are appreciated.

Dan

[|PuNiSh3R|]

Uh.. boiling eh? check your radiator.. make sure u aren't losing coolant Might have just been a coincidence...

[madalo]

i think the water was a coincidence. leftover from spraying the engine. the same cylinder is misfiring, i pulled the plugs to check them again tonight. I tested the plug wires with my meter, and #4 gave me about 12ohms and #3 gave me 8ohms, #2 9ohms, #1 10 ohms... that tells me that the #4 wire has a problem. Will replacing it solve it? I don't know, we'll see tomorrow.

Dan