kenshi

My wife and i decided to ditch the kids and do a little Boxing Day shopping in tax free Oregon. Trip down was uneventful, but the sky opened up on the way back to Seattle.

This is my first time with this car in an extended downpour. The previous owner would not be too happy with me driving in the rain...

-The S03s handled all but the biggest puddles remarkably well.

--The car seems to be more stable at 80mph than at 60mph.

-We managed to tweak the heat controls so that the cabin was both fog free and warm.

-After about 2 hours in the pouring rain with wipers at "2 clicks up" the whole time, i noticed the car loosing power from time to time, felt like a couple of small hiccups. Engine speed was constant around 3.2 to 3.5k, oil temp was just below qtr mark, oil pressure was at 4. Something got wet perhaps?

--Stopped for gas and to check engine bay, i noticed that there was steam coming out from the rear passenger wheel well. Since there is no coolant to boil over, I figure that is the oil return tube or exhaust meeting some water.

--Checked the engine bay. The fan and distributor cap got wet. Toweled it off, drove off, no more hiccups. Drives like a charm.

--Back in Seattle (ironically not raining here), car idles a little rough at the off ramp and stop lights. Perhaps whatever got wet is not all the way dry yet.

??Is it normal for the distributor cap and fan to get wet?
??Might there be a bigger problem?
??Is all that steam from the wheel well getting into the air box somehow?
??Why did i drive 7+ hours to shop for 2 hours and not complain about having to drive or shop ?

Thanks
alf

Dave Thomas

??Is it normal for the distributor cap and fan to get wet?

Yes - happens to me all the time when I wash it. If it's making the ignition short out, you might be ready for a new cap and wires.

??Might there be a bigger problem?

Not likely based on your description.

??Is all that steam from the wheel well getting into the air box somehow?

I suppose some of it could be drawn back through the deck lid grille but it would more likely get sucked in by the fan rather than into the air box.
A small amount of steam isn't going to cause any internal engine problems.

??Why did i drive 7+ hours to shop for 2 hours and not complain about having to drive.

Perhaps it was the company of your lovely companion?

I had an opportunity to make a 4 hour drive to Indianapolis last September to take a drive around the F1 course. Detailed the 911 the day before, awoke to a torrential downpour and drove in solid rain all the way there. The car never missed a beat. Well, except for one thing; we were flying across I70 at about 85 mph when I heard the engine speed increase and noticed the tach was slowly creeping up - the REAR wheels were hydroplaning but the fronts were still firmly planted! I slowly backed out of the throttle and it settled down. Never had that happen before!

Bob's flat-six

GOOD INFO: I've often wondered how much of a problem heavy rain would be to the engine compartment.
Sound like the SO3'S did a good job too, Glad I picked them.
Sounds more like a Hobbit journey than a shopping trip? Where there any dragons?
Cheers and have a Happy New Year <img src="graemlins/wave.gif" border="0" alt="[byebye]" />

Bill W.

As far as water in the dist cap, a good temp. way to clear this up (if you don't have a new cap in your back pocket) is to give the inside of the cap a quick spray w/ WD40. Way back when, when I drove a wrecker for a service station in Fla., we carried a can for all the downpours we got and more times than not it would fix a non-start problem. It works like a charm. I would also spray the wires near your cap but if the wires are arcing you'd be better off replacing the wires because most likely they're breaking down on hard acceleration too.

HTH,
Bill W.

kenshi

Thanks all for the input. I just took apart and checked out the dist cap and rotor. The dust cover has a crack in it and part of the rim has broken off, the contact points in the cap and the rotor are black and sort of gritty.

Just put in an order to Pelican for cap, rotor and dust cover. Nice little 10 min project while i am changing the oil. Now i have to wait for another down pour to test out this fix.

alf

RANDY P

Yeah, that cap is toast. Weird watching the steam after a drive.

rjp

JDaniel

I got stuck in some serious torrential downpours this summer. The consequence was a squeaky fan belt when then car was first fired up... it only lasted about 4 or 5 days.

kenshi

Update.

The power hiccups seem to have gone away by itself, no more random power loss while driving.

However, the idle is still quite erratic. Going up and down between 800 and 1200. Hopefully, a new cap and rotor this weekend will take care of it.

Any advise from the board if it does not correct with the new cap and rotor?

alf

ZCAT3

You can try cleaning the idle stabilizer valve - a quick DIY project that will likely help your idle even if the ISV is not the main culprit. A bad O2 sensor can also cause an erratic idle. Check out <a href="http://www.p-car.com" target="_blank">www.p-car.com</a> for the ISV cleaning DIY (it is for a 993 but it is the same as your car).

kenshi

Found the problem. It is a bad Oxygen Sensor, unplugged it to try to isolate the problem and the car runs great. Must have got wet and shorted out. The wires were cut off at the wheel well and crimped back together with connectors and left unprotected.

Since i already ordered a new cap and rotor, might as well clean the ICV while i have the bonnet open. Never thought fixing a car could be enjoyable before i bought a 911.