Puma had a recent swim in floods...now its low idling, stalling and kangarooing

[PumiethePuma]

Hi all,

Sadly I had a bit of a moment with some surprise flood water on Friday, it was hidden around a corner or else I would have wimped out and just turned around but it caught me off guard...cats don't like water after all! The engine stalled, lots of steam, got it going again and went for a drive to dry it out. It would feel as if I was hitting the brake during acceleration, so I drove until that went away, as it 'dried out' it would only do this at higher and higher revs, so kept driving until this went away entirely. Sat and Sunday morning it was all fine and dandy, I thought all was well with my beloved puma.

Sadly my return trip home on Sunday gave me lumpy throttle, high idle, lack of power (if you accelerate say over 2500rpm or with a heavier foot it'd feel as if you've hit the limiter) and kangarooing all over the place. managed to get it home. Sprayed some electric bits with wd40, took Throttle Position Sensor on and off, as last time my Puma had throttle problems it was that seemed to be this issue (revs very high at idle, seemed to want to accelerate of its own accord... new part and eco reset seemed to fix it).

This morning same thing, serious lack of power and you could hear the exhaust blipping where something isn't right with the throttle. Yellow engine warning light came on.

Im not really mechanically gifted so just a bit of a play today, took air filter out felt little damp so will change tomorrow, tried disconnecting battery with no real joy. However since then its not idle high, but low now. Glugging and stalling.Engine lights off but thats not making me happy. :?

Seems now to sound a lot like a ICV problem others have had. idles between 500-800 rather lumpy, stalls if you give it a rev. Lacking any carb cleaner I took it off this evening and 'inspected' it, and replaced it. Will give it a clean and see if that helps along with a dry air filter!

The car seemed completely fine after it had dried out and sat and sunday morning was running perfectly, I was a little late for something Sunday so the Puma had a bit of chance to stretch its legs (nothing silly wasn't spending the 30mins on the redline! Honest Officer...) , wondering if that would have caused any thing to circulate when I got back in it 5 hours later?

Any advice would be great, will try more diagnostics for dummies tomorrow!

Thanks in advance. Its a 2001 1.7 no modifications apart from some sticky Yoko AD08r tires.

 

[lusid666]

Total shot in the dark here but have you removed the plastic cover from the top of the engine to check there is no water around your spark plugs?

 

[Van_Dammesque]

Have you checked to see if the air filter and the box is totally dry and clean?
You maybe waterboarding your car :lol: :lol:

Good luck though!

 

[red]

I can't offer much advice, my only experience of cars and deep water ended up with a seized engine in a ZS (not mine) so it sounds like you've avoided this which is positive.

It's probably going to take a while for everything to dry out properly so maybe it will self right? There's many sensors which won't like being submerged.

I hope you get it sorted out.

 

[PumiethePuma]

Thanks for the replies!

lusid666 - No I haven't yet but I will have look today, thanks for the idea.

Van_Dammesque - Yes its a bit damp and gave the area a dry, am changing the filter today. And no i haven't waterboarded it...that is against the Geneva Convention... I do however play 80s Instrumental rock in it though as a form of psychological torture... :wink:

Red- Yes I'm hoping that too, I was hoping just unplugging and drying would help. Just seemed funny it was fine after and the days after.

I think my enthusiasm with the throttle seemed to upset it sunday morning.... :?


Thanks for all your help!

 

[Wild E. Coyote]

I would take a look at lambda as well. It looks as if it was submerged in water and perhaps the heater went south, or at least the contacts have corroded. All is pointing in the direction of some electrical problem and or water induced corrosion at all connectors.
If the air filter was damp, have you checked MAF? The water might have got into it, and since it is a hot wire element it might have damaged it and you are havng erratic readouts what would explain the behaviour of your engine as it is now. Also, have you taken the IAT sensor on intake manifold and chacked it as well?
Also food for thought: how deep was car in the water? If it was some serious water, you must be having some water in the gearbox (entered via breather) and that MUST go out ASAP or you might have some corrosion issues within gearbox soon.

 

[PumiethePuma]

^

thanks Wild E, Ill check that in sec once I've had a google where to find all those bits!

Thanks once again!

 

[PumiethePuma]

Sorry I have cleaned the MAF with carb cleaner. wILL check IAT.

Thanks!

 

[Wild E. Coyote]

[post]368439[/post] Sorry I have cleaned the MAF with carb cleaner. wILL check IAT.

Thanks!

Carb cleaner leaves oily residue to lubricate carb. Use some brake cleaner to clean that off. MAF has to be clean of everything

 

[PumiethePuma]

[post]368441[/post]

[post]368439[/post] Sorry I have cleaned the MAF with carb cleaner. wILL check IAT.

Thanks!

Carb cleaner leaves oily residue to lubricate carb. Use some brake cleaner to clean that off. MAF has to be clean of everything

Ah ok. Was fine after I refitted the ICV and MAF, but the bloody thing won't start now its as if the battery is flat...!

Any idea whats the best thing to clean IAT with? Didnt realise there was specific MAF cleaner just read on another puma/ford forum that carb cleaner would be good, I'm not that well versed with mechanics, but keen to learn!

Thanks for all the tips really appreciate it.

 

[Wild E. Coyote]

The same thing. All these sensors need clean sucfaces to operate as they should. Brake cleaner is designed to evaporate completely so use it instead of carb cleaner. BUT, brake cleaners are usually in very high pressure cans (to be able to clean the dirt away as well as dissolving it) so be carefull while appying it as you could destroy the wires you are trying to clean

 

[PumiethePuma]

!After a week of faffing got it sorted. Throttle position sensor. Thanks for all the help, cars basically been serviced in the process so not all bad news!

Thanks for all advice!

 

[RoadWarrior]

You're rather lucky you didn't hydrolock your engine. Extremely easy to hydrolock, even going through a big puddle can hydrolock your engine, even more so the lower the car is!

I wouldn't have started it again, in future if it happens again leave it off, remove all spark plugs and turn it over so the water can escape instead of causing a barrier and ruining your engine. Then dry the airbox out and put a new airfilter in, and see if any damage has happened. :idea:

P.S you can start it without the airbox, but it'll have trouble idling. Or you can just leave the filter out to start it for about 5 minutes as it's running very lean without the air filter. :wink: