Hi Guys! Here is my issue, I'm hoping someone has the answer... I took a girl out on a date doing some off-roading on a small island here in San Diego called Fiesta Island, tooling around in the sand and also going in and out of the water (maybe up to about 1.5-2 feet and about 15-20 mph), splashing a lot of salt water around (I know I know... very corrosive - the plan was to take it straight to the carwash after I was done). Unfortunately after about 15 mins or so of playing around in and out of the water the car just died. I immediately looked at the intake, but it was dry on the engine side of the air-filter. Let her sit about 10-15 mins and she would just crank... kept retrying every 5-10 mins and finally got her started, but she would die immediately if I just let her idle. another 10-15 mins later got her started again, so I had my date hold the rpm up around 2500 while I looked at the engine - everything looked fine, but then as I switched places with her, rpm went back to idle and she died again. Got her started a few attempts later and as soon as I put her into drive she died. Finally took an uber to go get my tools and drop the girl off (who was a great sport btw - hoping there is a second date haha) and here is what I attempted:


Disconnected negative battery terminal and touched it to positive terminal to reset computer. No change.


Unplugged spark plug cables and wiped them down on both ends to make sure they were dry. No change.


Wiped down the MAF with a rag. No change.


Popped out the CPS (pain in the *** - had to drop the exhaust just to get to it), wiped her down real well and popped her back in being very careful not to get any sand/grease on her since I was doing on this still on the sand at the island). No change.


Now at some point - I can't remember after which step - I got her started and the rpm was VERY erratic, even if I had my foot on the gas. I would floor it and it would take a few seconds to climb up to about 3500 RPM, after it reached 3500 RPM it would scream past up to about 5000 RPM and no more erratic RPM until she dropped back below 3500.


I removed the Idle Air Control motor and she had a lot of black gunk (carbon?) on her so I took a brass bristle brush to it and got all that off. I slid the sleeve down and it looked like there was some yellowish film so I wiped that off and rinsed it with distilled water. Popped it back in hoping that would be the problem... No such luck.


Also, most times that I did get her started, I would hear a low-pitched popping noise... intake backfire?


Finally had to call my buddy to tow me off the island with his Land Cruiser - imagine the embarrassment!!! haha!


I am about to go back over to the car and try and start her again, hoping that maybe something dried up and now she will start.


I saw a brief mention in a post somewhere along the way that the ECU can cause problems after driving through water... Any ideas on that? And if so, what would I want to check out on the ECU? Also, is there only one ECU on the car? The one near the passenger side foot well?


Thank you guys, let me know if you need any more info! - Jordan

 

do you have some sort of electrical contact cleaner ? , water is something we under estimate a lot... it can get into places we cant see... spray out the inside end of the plug wires on both ends , ( im thinking this is the V8 ?) remove the distributor cap and spray inside let dry off and replace , it should start ,

if its the model i'm thinking of , the fan throw's water on the distributor because its at the front of the engine ....

 

Hi justryan! Thanks for your reply. I actually don't have a conventional distributor on this model... I can't remember what style this is, but here is the pic and it is at the rear of the engine. Yes, a V8 (4.0). Contact cleaner isn't a bad idea though!

 

UPDATE: Just came back from going to try and start it and it just cranked again, no start. Then it started to sound like the battery was getting weak (slower cranking), so I stopped.

 

i strongly believe its a water issue , on the electrical parts/connections, open and spray of all the connections that you can see , when salt water dries off it leaves a coating , which may restrict contact ...

 

stop everything !......go directly to the ecu mounted strategicly over the pas side fenderwell where it can and does eventually get wet.....dry on the outside.....nice and corroded on the inside....unhook the battery and remove the ecu........take of the covers and clean it out....seal it back up with rtv......good luck

 

Hi Xceller8... Thank you for your reply. Quick question regarding the location of the ECU. Is it the one that is inside the vehicle, near the pass side footwell? I am fairly familiar with this one, since I did the rear window solder fix on it awhile back, but I am wondering if there is another ECU that could be in the actual engine compartment that I do not know about. A quick internet search was not very helpful and either was searching the RAVE. The one I am talking about is in this pic that I found online, is it also the one you are talking about?

 

...or are you referring to what the RAVE is calling the Engine Control Module (ECM)? Sorry for my ignorant questions.

 

I pulled my ECM apart (under the hood on the pass fender) and found a lot of corrosion inside I cleaned it all out and sealed the module so it wouldn't get water or whatever inside again. There is supposed to be a piece of rubber moulding on the fender lip right above it to keep water from running down inside. Mine was missing. I did not have any problems with mine when I took it apart, I was having fuel pump trouble and was basically cleaning everything everywhere trying to make a difference. There are some connectors that could be leaking too. I filled them with dielectric grease to keep the water out (silicone grease) ECCM is located towards the firewall and mounted on the inner fender on the motor side. right near the washer fluid bottle (on my Disco 1) I believe the one in the footwell controls the power windows and sunroofs.

 

UPDATE: went back to the car last night to open and clean the ECU and did a couple other things as well... She finally started up, and is currently running like a champ!!! So here is what I did...

Pulled the ECU and opened it up. Not horrible corrosion like I was expecting, but in one corner there was some mud that was still wet... How this mud got past the covers I have no idea... There wasn't even evidence of mud on the outside. Along with the mud were a few solder joints that were corroded and also what looked like a few spots that had streaks of dried salt. I didn't have electronic cleaner, but I picked up 91% rubbing alcohol and took that to the board with a toothbrush. Reassembled and reinstalled.

Next I threw about 3-4oz of the rubbing alcohol into the gas tank (a little less than 1/4 full) just to help dry out any water that may have entered there.

One last thing I did was removed the IAC valve again and doused it with the rubbing alcohol and let that evaporate, just in case it had been wet still from me cleaning it with just water before.

At first crank it still acted up, so I removed the IAC valve and tried starting it just to see if the IAC could have been seized in the closed position and starving the engine of air. It started but then died immediately. Reinstalled the IAC and boom! She was back in action. Drove her home and parked her, shut her off and restarted just to see and restarted like a champ. If anything changes when I try and start her again on a cold start I will let you all know, but I think she is back in action!

Thank you all for your tips! Not exactly sure which step fixed it, but my guess is the ECU played a huge part.

Cheers!