Hey all, New to the site, hope you guys can answer a question for me. I have a '89 pickup with a 22re out of a '95 pickup and last night after it had been raining hard all day i went out to start my truck ans it missed a bit but then smoothed out. Got in to leave 5 or so minutes later and when i reved it a few times it missed then died. It cranked fine but wouldn't start, tried again a bit later and it started but every time I would hit a puddle it would missfire for a while before smoothing out. On the way home from work this morning it ran fine. Plugs, wires cap, and rotor are about a year old. Any suggestions?
Take the plugs out and dry them out. Same with the spark plug wires and distributor cap. Hope that solves it.
Something that I use that will help is go to the store & get a bottle of rubbing alcohol-(doesnt matter if its clear or green) & add it to your gas. Believe it or not, but it helps evaporate any moisture in the tank, lines & anywhere else water may have gotten. Try that & see if that helps, plus Id take the plugs out, clean them & dry them too.
Chances are that if you are having a water issue, it is not in your fuel system. (Sorry smctoy.) This is why: If you have any moisture in the fuel system, then the problem would not be so intermittent. The fact that the missing occurs directly following the exposure to puddles or standing water indicates the likely hood of moisture inside the distributor cap. Try removing the cap and inspecting for any residual condensation. If there is any, dry it out (duh right?). Then see if you have a gasket on your cap. If there isn't one, you can use form-a-gasket to seal around the edges. Also, look for any cracks that may have developed in the cap. Removing the plugs will likely not find the culprit in this situation, but it's never a bad idea to check them for wear and fuel mixture. Definitely check the wires. Powdery white spots on the insulation around areas of rubbing can indicate arcing which could cause power loss and possibly misfire. Hope this helps.
Well, i had that problem about 6 months ago, what would trigger that was, rain, puddles of water and fog, i changed everything i could think of from spark plugs to filters, more then once, then i thougth COIL, i had one laying around in my parts box changed it and bingo, everything was fixed, try that and let me know, im almost 100% sure its that! Phil
Quick simple test for ignition system and componets: Get a spray bottle, mix in 50/50 water and rubbing alcohol. Then with the engine running spray the sparkplug wires, ignition coil and cap and look for arching. If it archs or starts to run rough replace your wires cap rotor, and possibly ignition coil.
sound.vision is right. the spray bottle test usually works pretty good. water is a conductor so if your secondary ign components are deteriorated the spark will jump out via the water which is now the nearest path to ground.
