washed engine bay - check engine light came on

[squall458]

Alright. I spent the day doing an oil change and washing the engine bay. Now the check engine light is on and the car idles really rough. It feels like its going to die at idle and there is no power to accelerate after I come to a stop. It sounds like I got water in my spark plugs. Any thoughts on what to do or the cause. :( What a wasted day.

Success! My dad and I dried everything out, cleaned it, and put it back together. I air dried it with paper towels and my air compressor. Works perfectly now and the CEL is gone!!! I panicked so much because nothing like this has happened to me and i was worried about the cost of getting it fixed. Thanks to everyone in this thread who helped me out! i really appreciate it! Take care guys.

[Canuck_2005]

if water reached the spark plugs a wasted day is the least of your problems.... were you pressure washing your airbox while it was running? lol..

[squall458]

It was just a regular hose. No pressure wash. I had a bag over the air intake and the fuse box. Forgot about the spark plug area :(. What should I do now?

[Justin]

I would just leave the car for a good day to let things dry out and then give it a try again. Do not continue to drive it like it is currenty running.

[squall458]

I drove it for an hour in total so far to try to heat up the engine to dissipate the water. bad move I guess. Do you think that might cause any long term damage? I was following this guide:
http://www.toprotege.com/forums/showthread.php?t=33558&highlight=clean+engine

And I have done this before. This time was bad luck. :(

[Justin]

I drove it for an hour in total so far to try to heat up the engine to dissipate the water. bad move I guess. Do you think that might cause any long term damage? I was following this guide:
http://www.toprotege.com/forums/showthread.php?t=33558&highlight=clean+engine

And I have done this before. This time was bad luck. :(


I have washed my engine many times. I actually just washed it about an hour ago. I've never had any problems. I almost sounds like 1 cylinder is not firing. You can check this by running the engine and then one at a time remove a spark plug wire. If the engine changes how it is running then that cylinder is working. It the engine does not change then that cylinder is the problem.

[squall458]

So if its the plugs, do you think I should just get them changed tomorrow?

[Desolatax]

This actually just happened to me yesterday, ended up being one of the spark plug leads got disconnected (I was using a pressure washer).
I'd suggest leaving it for the day, and then reseating all of the leads tomorrow.

[Justin]

So if its the plugs, do you think I should just get them changed tomorrow?

I really doubt it would be a plug but rather a problem with the plug not receiving the current required to spark. Maybe a wet plug wire connection or something. I doubt water would get into the plug itself. Make sure all the plug wires are pushed on tight

[sickcars]

What kind of car is it?

[squall458]

2002 Mazda Protege 5, 2.0L, auto.

[lumlum1013]

had the same thing happened to my EX-protege5 also...
i was drivin' on the highway after gettin' my car detailed, CEL came
on, some chokin' and weird noise....drove back to
the detailer, they removed my spark wires, and each spark plugs...
and found some water in one of the holes, then he dried w/
paper towels, and sprayed WD-40........let me off in 15min,
and car was ok again~

[squall458]

Its worse than I thought. There is some white foam (the foam I used to clean the engine) inside the spark plug well. I cleaned it but I have a feeling I have to take out the spark plug and dry it below, which I dont have the tool for. :( And its raining outside.

[DrXenon]

Its worse than I thought. There is some white foam (the foam I used to clean the engine) inside the spark plug well. I cleaned it but I have a feeling I have to take out the spark plug and dry it below, which I dont have the tool for. :( And its raining outside.

The water could not possibly have made it into the combustion chamber; you don't need to remove the spark plugs. Just remove the spark plug wires and dry them (and the tops of the spark plugs) with a hair dryer.

[neospice]

Happened to my friend after washing his engine... to fix it, remove the spark plug boots and take a straw with a thin towel wrapped around it and just insert it into each of the spark plug holes and basically dry it out. Should run fine after that.

[squall458]

Could it be the coils??

[Doc_]

Your panicking too much it's just a wet plug wire. dry your spark plug wires.

[squall458]

I'm new to cars and cant afford to fix this at the mechanic so I am really panicking. I wish it wasnt raining outside so I could dry it. The engine feels so horrible, it stutters and bounces pretty strongly at idle. It accelerates poorly now and I am worried its something other than the spark/wires.

[AGR-1]

Not a good idea to use a garden hose or pressure washer on any motor it can easely dammage electronic modules/components

The possibility of water having gone into the spark plug openings is usually the culprit, remove the plug wires and dry put the area around the plugs, where the spark plug joins the cylinder head. There are already several posts suggesting this procedure, which should solve your problem.

Start by eliminating the simplest variable which is water around the spark plugs, prior to jumping to other possible and more expensive causes.

[sunnybono]

I really doubt it would be a plug but rather a problem with the plug not receiving the current required to spark. Maybe a wet plug wire connection or something. I doubt water would get into the plug itself. Make sure all the plug wires are pushed on tight

I'm thinking a little silicone spray on the spark plug wires and distributor cap (if you have one) might do the trick!!!!

sk

[squall458]

Success! My dad and I dried everything out, cleaned it, and put it back together. I air dried it with paper towels and my air compressor. Works perfectly now and the CEL is gone!!! I panicked so much because nothing like this has happened to me and i was worried about the cost of getting it fixed. Thanks to everyone in this thread who helped me out! i really appreciate it! Take care guys.

[sumrandomguy]

wat was the culprit?
did u dry the spark plug wires?

[squall458]

Yes the wires and the spark plug well chamber just in case. I suspect it was the wires though.