hmmm....ideas, anyone?

cbarr300 · Jul 13, 2006

First of all..I wanted to say hello to all the fellow stangers on this excellent forum. I have been lurking for a while and gathering info and must say that this is an excellent site.

So...to the point. I was on my way to work after a nice downpour, just cruising along. I came upon what appeared to be a small lake in the middle of the street. After looking around I came to the conclusion that there was no way around the "lake." I eased through it and shortly after doing so the car died and wouldn't crank back up.

I checked the gas and the spark and those check out. So I came to the assumption that it was my inline fuel pump that maybe somehow got messed up by the water? Nothing else seems to make sense. The fuel pump is mounted in the front of my fuel tank and I'm thinking the water may have been a bit too high and messed the pump up. I am going to go out and check the fuel pressure tomorrow. I'm thinking my gauge in the car is screwed up.

1) That is a possible scenario, correct?
2) Thank you for any suggestions/replies

Clay

Pro306stang · Jul 13, 2006

Seems that you're off to a good start. There are only three basic items to make that beast run; fuel, air, and spark. You said you had fuel and spark, now check for blockage in the air intake (wet filter) If it's getting fuel, is it enough, is the spark strong. Possible water could have gotten in the distributor. Are your plug wire in good repair. Check any fuses to the inline pump.

Good luck, Stroker

cbarr300 · Jul 13, 2006

ohhh, sorry...When I said fuel I meant checking to make sure I didn't run out of gas. Sorry bout that. I have spark at the plugs...That's one thing I didn't consider. There is a possibility that the filter got wet, I'll have to check that.....

My autometer gauge has been acting funny lately and jumped up to 60 psi vs. the usual ~35. It also has moments when it clicks on and off. I may just have a wire lose in the back of the gauge...I'll check tomorrow.

I'm fairly certain it has something to do with my fuel pump, though. I went through a nice sized puddle of water and the only thing I can think of is that the water somehow messed the pump up...maybe the positive and negative connections were crossed via the conductivity of the water? Like I said though, it died right as I was going through the water.

I just have to get out there and check the fuel pressure tomorrow before work... I did check to make sure that the pump was getting power, though, and it was.

Strange

Clay

HISSIN50 · Jul 13, 2006

Clay, as I recall, there's a fuse for the FP in the underhood fusebox. Checking fuses is the place to start IMHO.

A question for these guys is: will a soggy MAF keep the car from starting? I dunno.

Good luck and welcome to the boards!

mo_dingo · Jul 13, 2006

HISSIN50 said:
Clay, as I recall, there's a fuse for the FP in the underhood fusebox. Checking fuses is the place to start IMHO.

A question for these guys is: will a soggy MAF keep the car from starting? I dunno.

Good luck and welcome to the boards!

Well I don't see the MAF retaining water. The housing wouldn't hold any, and if the elements got wet, once the MAF got 5V the 2 element wires get pretty hot, so the water should evaporate/disapate very quickly.

That's my take on it. But the filter being soaked could present a problem.

Another thing to consider is maybe water got sucked into the filter and into the engine???
Scott

Pokageek · Jul 14, 2006

I would say, let it dry out. Same thing happened to my college car and did the same thing. 24 hours later all gone.

rudeone707 · Jul 14, 2006

dang that sucks bro, my grandma went through one of those so called "lakes" in texas last year and the car stopped, apparently she needed a new engine after that.

cbarr300 · Jul 14, 2006

Naw, I don't think it's anything as serious as a new engine....though that would give me a reason to step up to a 347....

Thanks for the input everyone. I'll get up in the morning and check to see if maybe it dried up and I'll also check the fuel pump.

I'll post the results of the day up tomorrow.

Later all

Clay

HISSIN50 · Jul 14, 2006

Scott, thanks for the thoughts on the MAF (I obviously didnt literally mean that the MAF would get soggy). I wasnt sure how mineral deposits hitting the hot wires would work or if the wires could break because of this.

Clay, since you have spark, ensuring you have fuel pressure (as you have planned for tomorrow) sounds like a good plan.

WHen I've been caught in the monsoon rain (Scott, when I moved here, I went down some side streets that I shouldnt have - I didnt know better. ) I'd lose spark (ignitions normally are the first thing to take a poop when it's wet). So this is kinda funky....

Another vote for checking the cap too. If water was inside and arcing the spark around, the ignition timing (with respect to a given cylinder) could be off. Been there and done that. Even when guys wash the engine, it can take hours for things to dry off.

Good luck Clay.

EDIT: Clay posted while I pecked.

Pennywise2 · Jul 14, 2006

Welcome to the Asylum.
You may have got water in the spark plug holes or spark plug wires.

ProKiller · Jul 14, 2006

how deep was the water?

let it dry out for a while then give it a shot. I got stuck in a downpour and water got sucked up my filter and took a day to dry out. car was fine though

cbarr300 · Jul 14, 2006

Well, went out and messed with the car today and here are the results.

I powered the fuel pump via some small jumper cables I had to see if it would turn over...I had it on there for about 2 seconds and determined that the pump was turning over....

I decided to try to start the car after that and....it cranked..it was a little rough though which was pretty much expected. After it was going for a bit I cut it off and tried to re-crank it...It worked. I did it again just to be sure and it cranked for about 20 secs then cut out. I tried cranking it every time after that and it would catch the cut off. I tried to jump the FP again and no problems thus far.

I then let it warm up a bit and started revving it slowly up to 4500....around 3000-3500 it starts to lose power and almost want to cut off. I looked at the A/F meter and realized it was running extremely rich....I attributed this to the air filter (I'm replacing that after I post this).

I got curious and decided to rev it up to about 5000 quickly....sometimes it'll jump right up to where I want it to be and others it'll almost cut out...and then other times it will sound like it's going to cut out and then pick back up and hit the 5000 mark. When it does this it sounds like its going to cut out for about one second, if that helps.

I'll post the results of changing out the air filter once I get it done...Prolly in a couple hours.

Sorry, kinda long

Clay

95Vert · Jul 14, 2006

Did you check your dizzy?

mo_dingo · Jul 14, 2006

HISSIN50 said:
Scott, thanks for the thoughts on the MAF (I obviously didnt literally mean that the MAF would get soggy). I wasnt sure how mineral deposits hitting the hot wires would work or if the wires could break because of this.

Clay, since you have spark, ensuring you have fuel pressure (as you have planned for tomorrow) sounds like a good plan.

WHen I've been caught in the monsoon rain (Scott, when I moved here, I went down some side streets that I shouldnt have - I didnt know better. ) I'd lose spark (ignitions normally are the first thing to take a poop when it's wet). So this is kinda funky....

Another vote for checking the cap too. If water was inside and arcing the spark around, the ignition timing (with respect to a given cylinder) could be off. Been there and done that. Even when guys wash the engine, it can take hours for things to dry off.

Good luck Clay.

EDIT: Clay posted while I pecked.

Yeah, my friend went down a side street near my old house after crusing speedway and hyrdolocked his early eighties camry. I wanted to smack him...

I just couldn't believe that we actually had rain here again. Check out what it did to my house.

But you do make a good point, I didn't think about already hot wires getting water all over it. That would have been the case. Since they are a sem-conductor, who knows what would happen. Could have made the wires brittle and broken. They are so damn tiny!!!
Scott

cbarr300 · Jul 14, 2006

Ahhh yes, the sweet sound of a revving supercharged 306. I changed the air filter and that made all the difference in the world...and, the only problem that i'm having with my fuel pump now is that it isn't wanting to keep the car running when I crank it...It takes about 3 tries to get it going...but when it goes, it goes.

I've also been having somewhat of an idle problem here lately also...been going up and down in a rythem. The new air filter made the idle problem go away so now the car purrs....err, grumbles.

It's getting to be time to tune everything again; I think I'll do that next week just to make sure it's in tip top shape.

Now I just have to find that annoying oil leak that keeps dripping on the long tubes. Valve cover gasket maybe? Either that or my PCV's fudged and somehow shooting oil out

Oh yeah, I'm also on the brink of buying one of those fluidynes (sp). The cars been running really hot lately so I'm just gonna go and do new hoses, radiator, thermostat..and I might as well do the water pump while I'm at it...getting on the old side.

Again, thanks to all those that helped me out. Man I love the internet

Clay

HISSIN50 · Jul 14, 2006

Clay, glad to hear it's fixed. If your FP is kinda old, a fresh one might be an idea (if your old one is lacking pressure and/or requiring lots of cranking before building suficient pressure. I wasnt sure exactly what was occuring for you).

If you're still having FP power issues, the FP relay is in the CCRM. Some wire testing might help (first make sure the inertia switch is closed, if you havent).

Scott, I had the same exact thing happen with a tree blocking the garage door several years back. These last storms whipped us pretty good.
Isnt your stang supposed to be in the garage instead (seniority)?

hmmm....ideas, anyone?

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