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2G No start after car wash

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Turbodhi

Proven Member
115
10
Oct 18, 2015
Olathe, Kansas
Hey guys,

I went through the car wash and as I was leaving and pulling up to the stop sign, the car died and has not started back up.

I checked under the hood and the battery was covered in water so I dried it off in a quick attempt to fix the problem. Nothing. I have not begun the diagnosis yet because it's late. I'm also going to try it tomorrow hoping that it was just something that needed to dry off.

The car will crank but not turn over. Fuel pressure is 45 psi and constant so its getting fuel to the rail. I have not checked if the injectors are firing. I couldn't tell if there was spark from my quick checking but I'll dig a bit deeper.

Any other ideas as to what I might want to try for diagnosing this issue?
 
I would double check for crankshaft end play but if you didn't before, unbolt/loosen the clutch slave cylinder so you're not preloading the crank with the clutch pressure plate.
 
I had a very similar problem when I went to a car wash and power washed the engine. Drove off and it started sputtering about 5-10 minutes later then just stalled out on the interstate. I managed to pull it over and got to a parking lot and floored the heck out of it. Took a few minutes but it finally got going again. Spark plugs had fouled out. Replaced them soon after but everytime I wash the engine now, I always leave the car running ;)
 
Were the bolts loose? Was anything loose? That sensor is destroyed, should be obvious what smashed it. If it isn't, it is what you hope it not to be.
Yeah the crank sprocket bolt spun when I tried to pull the harmonic balancer off so it definitely needed to be tightened. The old trigger plate has some scrape lines from self clearancing so I replaced it but the new one was touching too. I cleaned all the surfaces and slightly tweaked the blades for them to clear the sensor. I'm going to do some double checking as soon as I get home then I'll button it up and see what happens.
 
Alright guys, the car is fixed! Here's the summary

Crank sensor was busted causing the car not to spark. After replacing the sensor there was a ticking sound. Many people thought it was crank walk so before blaming it on engine failure like it's easy to do I wanted to check as many things as possible.

The ticking was present AFTER replacing my sensor but not before. crank walk will push the trigger plate into the sensor and break it. When inspecting the engine I noticed the trigger plate was making contact with the sensor BUT ON THE BACK. Crank walk will push the FRONT of the trigger plate into the sensor, in addition any previous ticking (prior to breaking down) went away when I pushed the clutch in. Crank walk does the opposite. I am also not running a timing cover at this moment making debris a possible cause. These all made me doubt crank walk as the problem.

I replaced the trigger plate with a new one and found it still ticked. With a 20 dollar piece of stamped metal warping/not straightness is a possibility especially with non oem from the local part store. I used a flat head screwdriver to gently adjust the trigger plate until it cleared the sensor. I reassembled all the timing components and after double/triple checking EVERYTHING, I put it all back together and tested it.

She's purring like a kitten and operating normally.

Thank you all for your tips and any advice you gave!
 
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