engine cuts out after going through pool of water

potter on

Hi guys,

hope someone here can help me. I have a 97 VW polo which gives me problem in wet condition. that is if i drive through a pool of water , the engine stutters and conks out. I usually cannot start the car again for about 10-15 mins after this. would really appreciate if anyone can diagnose the problem.

cheers,

Dirk Gently

don't drive through pools of water.

Berty

Buy an amphibuos car or dont drive through anything bigger than a puddle.

Silly person.

potter on

potter on wrote: »

Hi guys,

hope someone here can help me. I have a 97 VW polo which gives me problem in wet condition. that is if i drive through a pool of water , the engine stutters and conks out. I usually cannot start the car again for about 10-15 mins after this. would really appreciate if anyone can diagnose the problem.

cheers,

hi guys,

thanks for the reply, it is actually large puddles of water give me problem. I try to avoid them, however sometimes when there is oncoming traffic, I have no choice but going through them. i am thinking of selling the car, thus trying to figure out what the problem is.

omb0wyn5ehpij9

There is something getting wet that shouldnt be. When it dries out again, the car will start again. You would need to check under the car to see what is exposed which shouldnt be, so maybe it would be easier to bring it to a mechanic!

Guy:Incognito

When you sell the car an buy another, be asware that you shouldnt be driving ANY car through large bodies of water. If you really must go through puddles that are likely to splash a good bit of water up inot the negine bay, crawl through it. if it's likely to be more thna a few inches deep, try your best to avoid altogether.

Captain Slow IRL

Check the distributor cap on the passenger side, top of the engine - circled red here! If you pop it off, give it a wipe of a cloth and see if that helps. Spray in some wd40 or electrical contact spray if you can lay your hands on any!
There's a clip on top and bottom, make sure you put it back on the same position you took it off and make sure nothing falls out/down.

x in the city

maybe you need to remind yourself you drive a polo and not a toyota land cruiser....?

:rolleyes:

DublinDilbert

The distributor looks very high up, it would want to be some puddle to get up that high!


Another trick is get a window-lean type spray bottle spray a mist of water over the high tension components with the engine running. Listen for changes in the engine speed.... Also turn off all the lights and see if you can see any arching as you spray the mist of water....

Savman

"Doctor, it hurts when I do that."

"Don't do that."

starn

Could be a problm with the rotar arm. Easy enough to fix. A replacement will only cost you a fiver.

DublinWriter

potter on wrote: »

hope someone here can help me. I have a 97 VW polo which gives me problem in wet condition. that is if i drive through a pool of water , the engine stutters and conks out. I usually cannot start the car again for about 10-15 mins after this.

Wow, that brings back memories. My old 84 VW Golf MK3 used to do that back in the early 90's.

I tried spraying various parts of the engine with sealant but the only solution I eventually found was to buy a Nissan.

Prenderb

potter on wrote: »

hi guys,

thanks for the reply, it is actually large puddles of water give me problem. I try to avoid them, however sometimes when there is oncoming traffic, I have no choice but going through them. i am thinking of selling the car, thus trying to figure out what the problem is.

Sometimes when there is oncoming traffic - could you stop short of the puddle? If there's an obstruction in the road you dont HAVE to drive through it....

It's not good for the car, as it seems to be telling you! I knew someone once who had to have very expensive €1000 worth of work done because water from a puddle had been drawn into the engine. I would really try to avoid this kind of "puddles" if I were you.

Jonty

sounds like a distributer cap to me.

how deep are these "puddles"?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWkxeS3swQY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4kOYDDh8og
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORfORWm_j2Q&feature=channel

It BeeMee

potter on wrote: »

i am thinking of selling the car, thus trying to figure out what the problem is.

Make sure you sell it on a dry day.

T-Maxx

Wow, a lot of useful responses here...

(Brings me to the conclusion that they've not driven in Ireland before or they're simply smart *****)

Anyway, I had the same problem with a Seat Ibiza - moisture getting into the distributor. Open it up and clean it out - there might have been some damage caused to the electrodes due to arcing - then spray it with WD-40, close it up and wrap some shrink wrap around it. Solved.

Some cars are just more prone to getting water in the electrics than others.

omb0wyn5ehpij9

Why is everybody presuming the OP is driving through massive puddles that look like mini lakes?
They said they had a problem with there car, not there driving style!

javaboy

Bryn wrote: »

Why is everybody presuming the OP is driving through massive puddles that look like mini lakes?
They said they had a problem with there car, not there driving style!

Well for one thing, I drive some crappy back roads that get flooded regularly and I am rarely/never forced to drive through a puddle at the kind of speed that causes a lot of splashing. I'm usually able to stop short of the puddle if there is oncoming traffic on the other side.

Another thing is that the OP hasn't told us whether they are puddles or lakes. So most people are going on their own experience of driving which is probably similar to my own. i.e. you're rarely forced to drive through a puddle above a crawl.

If the puddles he's talking about are the <1cm deep 'puddles' you get at the side of the road then yeah there's definitely something up with the car but he already mentioned that if he can he goes around them so we can guess that they're big enough puddles.

Steve

It sounds like it could be a hairline crack in the distributor cover.
It could also be HT leads on the way out.

It doesn't take much moisture to set these off.

macroman

Change plugs and leads, check distributor cap or if it has one the coil pack. Take it easy going through any amount of water, as if your air intake sucks water and it gets into the cylinders you'll have a substantial amount of work ahead of you!

Lumen

FWIW, I have always driven at speed through standing water/large puddles (less than about four inches) and never had this sort of problem in any car.

potter on

Thanks Guys for your help on this. Looks like I'll have to have a mechanic look at it.