I'm new to the forums, I have a 1991 Cadillac Coupe DeVille, 4.9L FWD, it has 190,000 miles. The car has been running fine since I got it about a week ago. I recently changed the spark plugs, the PCV valve, fuel filter, Automatic Transmission Fluid, and changed the oil. I don't know the last time any service has been done so I just want to cover most of the basics.

Anyways, my problem, last night I sprayed engine degreaser over the entire engine, let it sit for 15 mintues, hosed everything off, then I manually dried with a towel. This morning when I started the car it cranked over perfectly fine. I drove about 2 blocks away and started to go up a slight hill and the engine began to shutter. I figured it was probably cold still, I kept driving maybe 3 miles and it was getting worse. As I was about to turn on a street to pull over, I hit the gas and the engine died completely. Tried a couple things, the engine was cranking over fine just wouldn't fire up. Had the car towed now it sits in my driveway.

I have a good idea that water got into something electrical and that is why it won't start. My plan is to just let it sit for a few hours and I'm charging the battery as well since it lost some power from trying to start it. I hoping its just a small amount and that it didn't get into the cylinders. The engine IS cranking so I know it's not seized. I'm going to go pull a few plugs and see if they're wet and still sparking good. Other than that I'm clueless as what to do next. I open to any oppinions.

Thanks

 

if you didnt cover the distributor and coils to hose it down, you will probably find the failure there.


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Thats what I've been thinking. My only concern is I cleaned it off a few days ago the same way and it was fine. This time though I hosed it off then it sat for 7 hours. Also I don't understand how come it ran and started in the morning then died. I would think if it had water in it, it wouldn't have started at all in the morning.

 

Water can "stand" all kinds of places, and a condition you describe happens. WD40 is designed to displace water. Remove distributor cap, it is not necessary to remove plug wires, if you compressed air blow out distributor. If not lightly spray with WD40 then wipe with paper towel. Also remove cover for coil to make sure water isn't there.

 

Well the car started up this afternoon. Didn't do anything just let it sit. So I'm guessing it probably was water in the distributor.

It's running a little rough now. I havn't tried driving it yet cause I don't want to get stuck. I let it idle for about 10 or 15 minutes and the exhaust was super loud. Gave it some gas and it was fine but when it got up into the real higher RPM's it backfired. I thinking maybe its either still a little wet and not getting a strong spark or maybe that water got into the exhaust somehow. Not sure, any ideas?

 

im not too sure if you have distribuitor or coilpacks
i did the same thing to my car i presure wash the engine and right after
it started shacking and acting weird.
it lost alot of power and it wouldnt start right away.
i changed map sensor o2 sensors sparkplugs, sparkplug wires, and nothing!!
so i decided to unplug the wires of the coil packs and when you do that the electricity jumps from one side to the other!
make sure you desconect the cables while the car its off.
you dont wanna get shocked..
ok so i disconected one and it was working fine i turned off the car and conected back and disconected another coil pack and it wasnt doing anything. so!! i went to autozone and bought a new one for like 26 bucks replaced it and it started to working better i desconected another one and it wasnt working either so i got another coil pack n the car stared working beautiful.
i went back to keep messing with the car because it still had problems
starting up so what my dumb bitt did was to put water all over the engine to cool it down big mistake!! ived heard the coil packs making a weird noise when i started it again so i checked them and guess what!
the original coil packs that it had werent working anymore.
so i went to autozone replaced them and the thing runs great.
if it has coil packs that might be your problem i spent over 1,000 dollars before i found out what it was when the problem was only under 150
so i hope its that.

good luck
and by the way sorry for telling you the whole story lol
b4 i knew it i had a huge paragraph.

 

i said coils or distributor .. to make it applicable to any GM model made since 1950, a more correct answer would be the 'ignition system' ..

protect the ignition system from water when washing, make sure engine is warm (you can touch it), not cold or hot. as soon as the flood is over, uncover ignition, start engine and run it to operating temp.



.

 

Thanks everybody for all the help. Car is running normal, well I wouldn't say normal but back to how it was. I appreciate it.

 

I understand you sorted out the problem but I just want to share this new method of cleaning your car engine, well, the entire car for that matter. It's a process called organic cleaning – interior steam cleaning. That's right, steam, my friends. It is safe, it is clean, and it's very effective. It'll bring your car back to its original shine and glory.

 

I am having the same issue as true2blue92. My, all ivory/gold package, 1992 Coupe DeVille 159,960mi has been in storage for the last 12 years and I decided to get it going again. Since it was in storage mice lived in the engine bay, living in the hood insulation. I got it out of storage and changed the fluids and added fresh fuel (likely with some old too) and it fired right up and ran good all weekend. I drove about 8 miles, just making sure there weren't any major issues and leaks and there were none at all. Since it was running great I decided to completely wash the car down for a detail and wax before I licensed it again. When I got to the hood I decided, against my better judgement, to wash the engine bay with the nozzle on "flood" to remove the terrible smelling mice excrement and urine. When I was done washing and drying out the engine bay, with an air hose, I tried to start the car and nothing! It would just crank and crank. I have looked at several other forums and several suggest changing plugs, plug wires, distributor cap etc. I checked the front four plugs for spark and they all have spark, albeit I am not sure how strong or weak spark is. Fuel is getting to injectors as I checked the fuel rail port and fuel comes out when under pressure. Others have suggested letting it dry out and it is nearly a week now and it is still doing the same thing. According to the suggestions above, I will try to replace the coil on the distributor but wanted to ask if anybody knows what numbers to look for when testing the coil? Would the spark plugs be getting spark if the coil were bad/weak?

Thanks all