I have now had my 95 Extended Cab Toyota Truck for about two months and I have driven it about a thousand miles. It runs really, really well (60k original miles) and has not given me a single problem, except......

when I go through the car wash. I'm talking about the laser-guided, brush-less type of spray down after you fill up at the gas station, a drive through with the hood down. The first time, my truck died in the wash. It was difficult to start, but it did. Next time, same thing. Next time, I turned it off during the wash and it was fine. Fourth time, it wouldn't restart at all and a guy had to help me push it out. Twenty minutes later, it started, very reluctantly, sputtering and back-firing. A mile down the road it died. I pulled over and it re-started. Both my regular mechanic and my fanatic Toyota friend/mechanic were really surprised and stumped after looking under the hood. Nothing obviously wrong. This is a truck that starts instantly ordinarily and idles perfectly.

Any ideas or suggestions are appreciated.

 

Well am thinking your Ground wire probably got wet..

 

Tell me more....I'm not much of a mechanic. Where is it?

 

water in your distributor.

 

First of all I would avoid that type of car wash.Look again under the hood at the intake plastic pipe thing going to the mas airflow sensor.(the box in the front right side if you are looking at the engine)That piping can get damaged and brittle after a while and allow for leaks. I have found leaks where the pipes fit into each other.I took some electrical tape and gave it a good seal.I'm just thinking maybe while your truck is being heavily washed it's choking for air?Also Maybe your mas airflow sensor is going out.My friend recently had the same re accuring problem.The truck would just die out of the blue and he would have to let it sit for about 20min till it would start again.We thought it was a bad fuel issue but after cleaning out the tank and a bunch of other sh!t it was still the same.I tested my MAF sensor on his truck and that was it.He found one and it never happened again.

 

Water in dist sounds good too.Can you see wetness in the engine area after you have gone through?

 

Water in the distributor was the guess of both my guys. But it seems like one of those deals where I drive it until something goes out. It's impossible to tell just looking at the distributor. And my Toyoat fanatic friend said that you should be able to open the hood and spray down the whole engine without killing it.

 

Yea, definitely doing a hand wash next time! It needs a good wax job anyway. But I wonder what is going to happen while Im driving in the next Texas toad-strangling rain storm!

 

I did see a lot of water on the battery.

 

Black tape where the cap meets the metal part of the dist. and put zip ties on each of the spark plug boots where they plug into the dist. For now and test again.I just cant imagine water finding its way in from the top with the hood and all that unless that machine sprays up from the bottom too.IDK.

 

Ya when you are using a hose to wash your truck you might as well test for leaks everywhere. Like around the ecu, battery, leaks near electronics.

 

When it dies it's just cranking and cranking or no action at all?

 

Cranking and cranking!

 

How long has it been since the last time this happened?

 

Since the last time that I went througha car wash, as described above.

 

When was the last time you went through the car wash?????I ask because if it hasn't happened in a week or so since it would lead me to believe something just got wet and it's not a bigger issue.

 

with the truck running, pop the hood and start spraying things (lightly) with a hose. if the engine starts to bog out or it dies, look at the last spot you were spraying for the problem.

 

I went through the wash about ten days ago and the truck has driven just fine ever since then.

 

I haven't lifted the hood in a while, but I think the distributor on my 22r has a rubber boot around it to protect it from water. Do the RE's have this as well? and if so, does your truck have it? It sounds simple, but if the previous owner tossed it thinking it wasn't important, it may be overlooked.

 

so i think some thing just got wet...your porbably just fine...i think it was a small issue