[MattL]

Guys I need your help, i just finished washing my 1990 Camry 3S-FE. After rinsing it down, I let it sit while I put the hose and stuff away. I come back and try to start it and it doesn't. Cranks fine at normal speed but the engine won't fire up!! So the starting components must be working.... I guess it's just the engine???
I gotta get it up and running!!

 

[CrawlingEye]

did you cover anything?

check your cap and rotor.

 

[MattL]

did you cover anything?

check your cap and rotor.

I covered the alternator, distributor, battery, air filter, started motor (I believe) and the air intake.

heh, I'm kind of ignorant when it comes to car engines, I just know the pure basics so cap and rotor?

 

[emerald_gen3]

i'd pull ur spark plug wires out of the engine and see if the holes have any water in them, i used to have an 87 and 2 of the holes were half full of water after a good washing... we dried the water out the best we could, then it started...

 

[Erbe]

i think eventually your engine will start...but you are gonna have to give it time to dry out

 

[userlain]

same thing happened to me with my 3s-fe. i tried it every 30 minutes. it gradually started to sound better. when it started running i had to drive it really nice and easy because it would crap out randomly for a few days. now its shiney and runs fine.

 

[MattL]

i'd pull ur spark plug wires out of the engine and see if the holes have any water in them, i used to have an 87 and 2 of the holes were half full of water after a good washing... we dried the water out the best we could, then it started...

I pulled all four spark plugs out and the wells appear dry. I kind of dried it my self as well. Anymore ideas??

 

[MattL]

Thanks for your suggestions. It's been 3 hours or so. I guess i'll give it time.

 

[MattL]

Does anyone know how to take off the distributor cap? All I see is 1 screw.

 

[es250nut]

Screws? There is one on each side and one on the bottom. After you take the cap off use a little WD-40 on the inside of the cap and on the inside of the distributor. That will displace any water that is in there. You may have to move the air intake hose out of the way to get to all three screws. Be careful not to loose them as you are pulling them out or putting them back in, it's quite easy.

 

[karazy]

If you don't get it started and haven't killed the battery by dark, have someone turn it over while you check the wiring for sparks. If the wires are too wet you'll see a nice light show and you may have to either use more WD40 or a hair drier.

 

[CrawlingEye]

When you covered the battery, you didn't use aluminum foil, did you? You have to be VERY careful since aluminum foil could be conductive.

 

[MattL]

When you covered the battery, you didn't use aluminum foil, did you? You have to be VERY careful since aluminum foil could be conductive.

No i didn't use aluminum foil to cover the battery, just a plastic bag. But i did something stupid, while i was cleaning the terminals I hit the + and - with my 12mm wrench.

It's dark here and i guess i should see if there are any sparks.

Thanks everyone and I hope to get this fixed by tomorrow.

 

[Your Uncle Moe]

Let it sit all day long with the hood up. The water will eventually dry and all will be well.

 

[Rapeacivic]

^
Unless it starts raining

 

[jwa276]

it happened to me too... i could start my car tho.. i actually ended up getting some water in the distributor cap and then one of the cylinders wasnt firing.... just had to replace the distributor rotor, which was cheap!

jon

 

[jhbhatia]

a long time ago in my celica, i could not start her as well. I just pushed her to the nearly hotel and caught the bus back home. Came back a few days later and she started just fine (and worked great for the rest of 60K miles i had her).

 

[epborden]

:lol: dude...

I washed my engine bay once with no covers, it started and drove for a couple of feet and then stalled right at the exit...

Started right back up though, dried her off clean at high speeds..

 

[MattL]

Well last night I tried to start it, no wet wires or anything because there were no sparks. Just tried it this morning to no avail. I guess i'll have someone look at it... BTW, what i think is the started motor, under it is a small pool pof water. I dried it up last evening so I guess it draining is a good thing...

 

[MattL]

I really want to take off the distibutor cap but I think i'm gonna mess it up even more. Simple task...

It's been 26 hours since i washed it... Are you sure it'll dry out by itself?