hey i washed the trans am yesterday and powerwashed the engine bay when i started it the tach was all over the place so i stopped and pulled the coil wire of and dryed them out, also let the car sit for a minute. then as i started driving i started to lose voltage but the car ran fine. i then lost more and more voltage in a 1 hour period. i was down to 8 volts and parked it. the wierd thing to me is that it kept running, if the alternator was going to go out normaly it will just puke... but this thing ran for an hour and just slowly lost power, i dont think it is possible for it run off the battery for that long. but anyways what would have caused this thing to crap out like that?? all info is helpful

 

first off you never want to do that to a LT1. you are lucky that your opti is still working...for now anyways. you may have gotten something shorted out in the alt.

 

when i had a bad alternator i had the same exact things occur.

 

It sounds like an alternator problem to me too. Check to make sure the charging post an the back of the alternator is still attached and tight. Also check to make sure there is no damage to the plug that supplies power to the alternator. If those things appear to be ok then it sounds like the alternator is gone. Best way to check though is by taking it off and running over to autozone and having it tested on their bench tester.

 

thanks for the reasponses, i have built 3 of these lt1's now and never had this problem when i sprayed it down, the opti has been converted to the vented opti with a vac hose ran to the intake. not too worried there but i just thought it was funny that the alternator went out that way, i checked the positive lead off of the alternator and it was tight with no corosion, but now i will rap the alt with plastic before i spray it.

 

There's been more than one vented opti lost due to washing the engine. Just check around the board and you'll find them. I'd be very, very careful.

 

I can't believe you did that.

I used to detail cars... and I must say the best way to clean the engine is by hand. Honestly too many sensors and things to mess up. Power washers should be used on wheels only.

 

I wonder how many failed opties due to power washing an engine bay were actually just a wet air filter. Water getting in the motor will cause it to miss just like a bad opti and after it dries out everything is back to normal... again much like a wet opti or any distributor. I never understood how an opti can drown by power washing the motor when its behind the waterpump and under the intake elbow. Seems to me most of the water would be deflected away from it. The filter on the other hand is pretty easy to get wet if you arent careful... especially so for any aftermarket CAI kit.

 

LOL, i love reading these posts. My boss used to do that to customers cars all the time and id tell him time and time again to stop. He was bored, for some stupid reason felt he would wash the engine bay out, and in the process soak everything under the hood because he doesnt know enough about what not to get wet. Couldnt tell you how many headaches he caused me, because I was the one that had to fix the damn things after they wouldnt restart. Then next week he'd be back at it again. Ive seen him fill spark plug galleys to the point where they wouldnt fire because when you pull the wire the plug is submersed in water. Hoses and engines just do not go together these days, too many electrical things to damage. Your alternator may dry out and live, but yeah, you dont want to make a habbit of doing that, and vented or not, the last thing you want to do is test the integrity of your opti seals because you wanted to wash the engine off the easy way. As far as the tach bouncing around, it might have been caused my spikes from the alternator, but I hate to tell you, when my last 2 optis went out, they started by doing that, then slowly it started idling erratically jumping from 500 rpm to 1500 to 2000 then back to 1000 and the tach was bouncing all over and wasnt reading right; i saw the tach spike to 3 and 5k rpm when I know the engine was only around 1500. At any rate, good luck, and dont do that again!

 

I wash my engine bay with just a regular garaden hose and soap...never had any problems...is it ok to use a normal hose?

 

Not if you spray it on electrical connections or the optispark.

 

I would stick to water & soap, bucket, and a rag. Perhaps a spray bottle. To much can go wrong on these cars, it's just not worth it.

 

lmfao.......anyone who power washes their engine bay deserves some engine problems.

 

I'm curious.... when you "power wash" your engine, how many 1,000psi do you set your power washer at?

 

update i put the new alt on today, and i thought i fixed the problem, however on the test drive the car started losing voltage then it would jump back up, when i rev it it will mis at 4500 so i guess i bought a new opti. the biggest thing was i took it for a test, after letting it idle for 30 minutes, and it started to stumble at idle, then it died and would not start, it would fire but not keep running.
now my last 2 lt1's i would pressure wash all the time and i do been all the time, and i never had a problem. i guess it was my time. live and learn