Odd engine behavior
 

Hello all,

So here is my dilemma. I have the 99 SC2 3-door, 173k, automatic with the dohc 1.9l. I've replaced plugs, wires, ecm, coils, crank position sensor,fuel filter, air filter, valve gasket transmission filter and fluid, pcv, regular maintenance and cleaned out the maf. All done within the last 8 months. Plugs were gapped to spec and the whole nine yards. Today I left work and it ran good. Came off the highway ran through a carwash and it began to miss and sputter at low rpms 5 minutes down the road. Nothing under the hood appears to have gotten wet. Anything over 2000 rpms and it runs smooth otherwise it bucks and sputter. Check engine light flashed at one time but is out now, even driving around. In park or neutral it's smooth. Any small load on the engine and it turns into a popcorn fart. Temperature stays at the 1/4 Mark. I checked the wires and they're all nicely seated, no cracks in the coils. Any input is appreciated. Thanks in advance.:confused:

flashing SES = active misfire if i remember correctly.
So it is likely SOME part of the ignition system got wet OR some water got into the air intake system. Pull your air filter and check of there is any water in the bottom of the box, and if the filter is wet.You might get lucky and find a pending code that has not yet turned on the SES.

Does the 99 have the PCM up by the battery?

Take a vid and post a link to photobucket or something similar --

I agree with derf. Something HAD to have gotten wet, because I sure as hell don't believe in coincidence.

Well. It stopped doing it after dielectric grease on the coils. No stored codes. I think moisture was definitely the culprit.

Glad to hear everything's back to normal.

Thanks. I checked the airbox, no water. I'll run it through the wash again when this winter slop stops falling from the sky and see if it happens again.

Glutton for punishment? Find a diff car wash.

No. I've been punnished enough in this lifetime. I'd just rather test it 1 mile from my house, rather than hitting a puddle 30 miles away. Pulled everything apart, put dielectric grease on everything, put it back together and ran it through the wash again today. No problems to report! I'm definitely switching over to copper core plugs this spring though.