Was pouring yesterday afternoon on the drive home and abhout a mile from my house i had to drive through about 6-8 inches of water...it was unavoidable. So i went through at about 3mph...naturally cars coming the other direction were causing huge waves. By the time i got out of this 50 foot area of water the car started missing/stuttering. This morning when i start it i get the same. I assumed my opti got wet.

Previously i had tkaen this opti apart when i thought i had a problem with it and used a rbeuild kit from autozone...at the time i went ahead and sealed it with gold RTV sealant...there's no way water should be able to get in the thing at this point. Oh, and previously my other problem wasn't a bad opti btw...and this opti has a couple hundred miles of problem free use.

Anyways, i went out a few minutes ago and figured i'd check some other things. I tried unplugging the MAF sensor thinking maybe it got wet. When is tarted the car after unplugging the MAF the car started up but backfired like crazy...i only let it run about 5 seconds and i probably got about 6 or 7 backfires. That was completely unexpected and the engine knocked REALLY bad. I"m not quite sure what that even tells me if anything. I've started the car before without the MAF plugged in (twice in fact) and generally i just expereince an extra high idle (like 1k rpms) without it plugged in. Any clues about this and any input on whether this may or may not be opti related?

EDIT: I won't have a chance to scan the car until tommorrow...i'm hoping that will reveal something. But the whole MAF unplug thing totally threw me.

 

well, the two most common would be a wet opti, or you might have sucked some water into the engine and done some damage. Do you have a CAI on the car?

 

yup i have a CAI...i sort of thought maybe water got intot he engine. I guess i could try pulling plugs and drain he oil. Just what i need with an engine that now has only 30 (yes 30) miles on it.

 

I'd change the oil. I'd also not try to start it anymore untill you pull all the spark plugs. Pull them and then crank it over a few times to get any water out of the cylinders. You might still be able to get away with minimal damage.....but there may be a bent rod or some other internal problems

 

hmm, eve with water levels where they were...water should have sitll been a good 4-6 inches below my air element (which is surrounded on 4 sides). I suppose it's possible...but i'm still confused as to why the engine would go nuts when the MAF is unplugged. I mena it stumbles and misses with the MAF pluggedin...but MAF unplugged the thing knocks and backfires like mad...timing is obviously way off. Water in the engine wouldn't throw the timing way out.

 

im just guessing here, but if water got into the opti it could make the spark innacurate. But you did say it only does it when the MAF is unplugged so I'm not sure. Someone should chime in with some other ideas

 

sorry i think i might have confused you. maybe i'm a bit longwinded on the keyboard lol.

initially i had problems when driving home...after driving through the water the last mile to my house the car was accelerating roughly and idling rough and stumbling. it still does that today...only difference is when i unplug the MAF the car starts backfiring at a rate of about 2 times per second and knocks real bad (almost liek the timing is about 90 degrees out). Hope that is more clear. That's what has me so confused is how much WORSE it gets once i unplug the MAF...which should simply be putting the car into speed density mode and not affecting timing.

Hopefully i can get more info when scanning tommorrow. If anyone has any ideas PLEASE chime in. I could probably use some insight on what kind of things to check for when scanning aside from the obvious. Car is NOT throwing SES so i'm not expecting low pulse codes. TIA.

 

well the two things i would look at is opti or water got sucked it the engine.if after draining the oil and taking out the plugs you dont notice anything unusual i would do a complete opti swap,not just a rebuild cap and rotor.most likely its your opti.

 

stop the madness!!!! if you sucked water through the air filter there will be no water in the oil it went out the exhaust pipe. I would check plug wires wher they connect to the opti.

IF and i say IF there was water in the oil you would know it by looking at the dipstick. VERY unlikely there is water in the oil. Sounds like ignition got wet and that is supported by the unplugging the MAF and BF asn well as running rough. If it is not throwing a code or light nothing will show up on a scan. Unless of course you run it long enough to foul the O2 sensors. Check the ignition componets. Wire coil included.

 

Well, i guess you should always go with your first instinct. I took the opti off and dissasembled it and as i initially suspected it had water in it all over. I cleaned it up and am going to put it back on tommorrow morning since i didn't have time before work to finish up today. Thanks Guys.