S.O.S.!!! Dead in the street!

[projectstang]

It was a nice afternoon out, so I figured I'd take the stang for a spin and a little car wash. The drive was nice, but I should have skipped the wash. After I got done with the outside, I sprayed down the engine (yes, I let it cool for a coupla hours before spraying the engine) Anyway, I was careful to avoid spraying as much of the electrical as possible, but when I got in to start it, it ran for about 10 seconds (enough to get me into the street), backfired a couple times, then died. It's still out there, and I don't know what to do. Any advice???

 

[my66coupe]

Did you cover the distributor, and carb in plastic bags? If not I bet you soaked your distributor and or the carb. I would pull the Cap and look. Let it dry out for a few hours and see what happens...

Mike

 

[67CoupeDriva]

Small block? Dry out the distributor cap.

 

[Gummi Bear]

It's nothing to get excited about. I have to wash my engine all the time (it gets muddy/cruddy) and it'll pull this maneuver. Check the distributor cap, as suggested. Also - if you have an open element breather, and it's sucking water through, it'll act up. Let it all dry out, and hit the dizzy cap with a towel, it should be fine.

 

[projectstang]

I covered the carb, but not the cap. I just ran out and checked, and sure enough!! Amazing how a few drops of water can give a guy a heart attack!!
Thanks, guys!!!

 

[67CoupeDriva]

No problem...just wait till it happens driving though a puddle and sputters out on you. The 5.0's had a wrap that went around the distributor to help prevent that. I use one on my '67.

 

[Pakrat]

As a better safe than sorry measure, it never hurts to spray the inside of the cap with some WD40 as well since water and oil don't mix.

 

[1320stang]

Pak's got it right. WD40 was originally designed do displace moisture in electrical panels that were out in the elements.

Another thing you can do is to get a late model cap that's bigger in diameter and get a rubber cap cover off a Fox Mustang (works sorta like a diaper, 'cept it keeps water out) and it'll look good and be functional.

 

[projectstang]

That all sounds good, but how about this plan. I will keep spraying under the hood and complain to my father over and over about how the car won't start, then beg to switch to an MSD system!! think that'd work???

 

[monk302]

I did the same thing last year, I wound up pushing my car up a hill to get it back to my house. Thankfully it was just water in the cap. Car sounded like hell before it died.

 

[2nd Mustang]

Here's a simple trick I used on my off road VW engines. I used a small bead of silicone on the cap surface that attaches to the distributor, then plug in each plug and coil wire into the cap and place a small bead of silicone in the hole where the wires plug into the cap and place the boots over them. If you do it carefully, you can't even see the silicone. I've driven my off road bugs in the worst rain storms while other vehicles were dying on the side of the trails. Of course, my Stang's engine never see's water on purpose. I use Simple Green to clean, compressed air to blow off the crud and vinyl protectant to give it the shine and refreshing smell.