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240 No start after washing engine and again this morning after raining

Marvelous3

Marvelous3

Who engineered this?
Joined
Nov 12, 2002
Location
Atlanta
So I think I may need new plug wires but I?ll tell you my story.

So wash the car last week. Got excited and hit the engine bay with simple green and a brush. Hosed it off. I didn?t cover anything, oops. Car wouldn?t start for like a day afterwards. Figured something I didn?t cover needed to dry out.

Car ran fine the last few days.

It rained last night/this so when I got in it this morning it no starts on me again. Engine cranks and it will sort of back fire but won?t turn over. I pulled the distributor cap off and it?s dry inside. Postings on here and elsewhere suggest no statt after rain is usually plug wires that have absorbed condensation. What does turbobricks think?
 
Blow out the distributor cap (regardless of if it looks dry) and then each boot of each plug wire (including coil wire). Also blow out where the wires plug into the cap, and where they plug into the coil.

I have probably had the same thing happen to me 10+ times with various different cars and every single time it’s been ignition related.
 
iHateVolvoPeople said:
Blow out the distributor cap (regardless of if it looks dry) and then each boot of each plug wire (including coil wire). Also blow out where the wires plug into the cap, and where they plug into the coil.

I have probably had the same thing happen to me 10+ times with various different cars and every single time it?s been ignition related.
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I may just replace the cap rotor and plugs anyways since I can?t remember the last time they were changed. I know they?ve needed to be replaced so this might be the reason to do it. I?ll run through everything though before I start changing parts out.

I figured it was ignition related and knew someone else had done what I did before so thanks for the feedback.
 
Marvelous3 said:
I may just replace the cap rotor and plugs anyways since I can?t remember the last time they were changed. I know they?ve needed to be replaced so this might be the reason to do it. I?ll run through everything though before I start changing parts out.

I figured it was ignition related and knew someone else had done what I did before so thanks for the feedback.
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The only things I really avoid when spraying are the AMM (too expensive to fry another one), and the alternator cus those should get wet either. Pretty much everything else is okay. But when ignition stuff gets wet it might act up for a little, then it fixes itself over time.
 
I have had this happen on many 2/7/9 series cars when the insulation on the crank sensor is cracked/splitting. It takes them 1-3 days to dry out and then they run fine again. I always trailer them to the car wash when I clean them the first time because of this.
 
I don’t know if it bares mentioning but when I go to crank it the tach does not move. And by diagnostic block is died on #2 and #6. If I press the button the red light lights but it doesn’t flash anything back at me.
 
Marvelous3 said:
I don?t know if it bares mentioning but when I go to crank it the tach does not move. And by diagnostic block is died on #2 and #6. If I press the button the red light lights but it doesn?t flash anything back at me.
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What Roy said is also common. How does your crank sensor look?
 
Crank sensor looks okay. No chaffing or broken sheeting. Of course I dropped the ****ing bolt that holds it on and can’t find it now.
 
The fact your tach drops out indicates a CPS or power stage problem. That's where I would be looking. Even a small amount of water getting into the connector of the CPS will make them not function. That is located right below the hood-cowl gap where rain can easily get in.
 
2manyturbos said:
The fact your tach drops out indicates a CPS or power stage problem. That's where I would be looking. Even a small amount of water getting into the connector of the CPS will make them not function. That is located right below the hood-cowl gap where rain can easily get in.
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Doesn?t the tach signal also indirectly come from the coil red/white?
 
The tach is hooked to the low-tension side of the coil, so it won't register anything that happens 'downstream' of the coil. I.e. bad coil, wires, cap, rotor, plugs. If it's dropping out at that point, it has to be the components upstream of the coil.
 
Okay so I’m about 90% sure it’s crank sensor. New cap rotor plugs and wires didn’t fix anything. It needed them anyways so no harm there. Like you said, the tach doesn’t move when cranking which it should. I sprayed some starter fluid in the intake just to be sure it wasn’t fuel and it still doesn’t fire.

The connector looks dry but maybe the sensor is bad. I think I replaced the sensor like 5 or 6 years ago so could be time for a new one. Idk.
 
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