Ok,
I had the car washed and waxed today.
(Cuz I was in a hurry and didn't feel like doing it myself and getting all dirty before my dinner meeting)
They told me that they wash ramair cars all the time with no problem.

Car went through the wash (not running) and then they dried and waxed it.
Car looks real nice, they did a good job.
But it's running really rough, it sounds like like an untuned carbed engine.
No error codes or warning lights, just a lack of power and rough acceleration.
Idles a little rough, but it's really noticible at the high end.

Any ideas? I pulled the filter (K&N) out and and letting it dry
Even drove it without the filter, no help

I hope it's not permanent damage, I'm gonna be REALLY pissed off.

 

opti?

 

****, they washed the underside too.

 

I would say its something w/ the ignition. A little water in the opti or on some wires. Water in the filter/airbox wouldn't last very long. That small bit wouldn't effect the engine. It should get sucked dry in no time. I'd put my money on the ignition system.

 

Crap, any troubleshooting tips?

I have a spare set of wires and a MSD cap/rotor in the trunk that i was planning to return (since I didn't end up needing them)

 

It should dry out on its own if you have a day or so. Not sure if its your daily driver or not. Thier aren't really any troubleshooting steps I know of for moisture in the the ign. system. How much time has passed?

 

Definite opti-****. Mine ran stumbly for a few miutes after the auto car wash once.... Now it only gets hand washes.

 

5 Hours

I'll check it again tomorrow.
It's my daily driver, but I still have the van for the weekend.
Wife will need it Monday though.

Never getting it auto-washed again.
It's just not worth it.

 

It's morning, still no dice.
And it turns out caps/rots are listed as "not covered" on the warranty.

Looking into distributorless ignitions today.

 

it's not a cap/rotor assembly.. the whole thing needs to be replaced if it's the opti typically.

And as for a DIS system, those still rely on the Opti's optical portion and if that's what is soaked and bad, then you still need a new Opti.

I'd say that's your issue though. I've had it happen, and normally it cleans itself out in a day or so.

 

I'll give it some time and see what happens.

 

You could pull it off and hit it with some contact cleaner, and let it dry real good.

Its worth a shot.

 

Sounds like the opti got wet to me. It should dry out and be just fine.


The guy that put my MSD opti on accidentally did something wrong, not sure what... But it gets wet when I go through the Laserwash or give my car a heavy spraying of water. :blah:

Yesterday I ran it through the Laserwash and picked up a rough idle in the bay (3rd time). :blah: I ran the car in 3rd down the road to keep the RPM up, jumped on the highway and did several WOT runs up to 70. Car ran perfectly after that.

Hopefully yours dries out.

 

Thanks for the tips and support guys, I'm really stressing over this.
I bought this car because I wanted to enjoy it, not be embarassed by it.

Took it for a spin today, seems to be running better at low RPM.
When I mash on it. it definitely doesn't have all it's ponies.
What usually sends me into a fishtail now just makes a bunch of noise. (It does still press me into my seat, which is a good sign I guess)

I'll try it out again tomorrow and see what happens.

 

I’m extremely relieved and at least mildly embarrassed to report that the car has now been repaired for $40. Looks like the problem was a clamp holding a piece of the Y-pipe assembly got knocked loose and allowed a nice 2” gap between it and the rest of the exhaust system. I had Midas weld the pieces together and throw the clamps in the trash. Problem solved.

So, if there was any water in the Opti, it’s long gone. The rough running was due to the exhaust leak. (something I should have caught while I was under there the first time).