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Car stumbles/misfires in heavy rain... BUT...

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    #1

    Car stumbles/misfires in heavy rain... BUT...

    I did some searching on here and as I expected, I'm not the first to have this problem.

    Background: Car runs fine in the dry and in MOST rain situations. However, if it is really raining hard and I'm on the highway, the motor loses all response and often dies. The strange thing is, if I start the car again (still rolling), it always comes right back to life 100% for at least 10 secs before stumbling again.

    The obvious suspect is water/moisture in the distributor. Now the cap and rotor are both new and so are the plugs, less than 10k miles. Others mentioned it could be the plug wires, but my car has done this with two different sets of plug wires.

    Anytime I check underhood when this happens, the entire underhood area is very dry, it's not like water is being splashed up on the highway. Especially all the way up to the distributor area.

    If anyone has any thoughts or ideas, please share! If it's relevant, the car is running BavAuto wires and Miller GenIII MAF on a 2.8

    Thanks.
    '89 BMW 325is Zinnoberrot / '88 VW Jetta GLI 16v Tornado Red / '89 VW Jetta GLI 16v Tornado Red / '89 VW GTI 16v Bright Blue Metallic / '91 BMW 325i Black / '91 BMW 325i Sport Black / '92 VW GTI 16v Black / '92 VW GTI 16v Montana Green / '01 Audi A4 Avant TQM Silver Metallic / '01 VW Jetta GLX VR6 Black
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    #2
    Crank sensor?

    Comment

      #3
      Originally posted by RoadWarrior View Post
      Crank sensor?
      Crank sensor is also new (6 months) and adjust to spec. I don't believe water would affect its function unless its housing was cracked or something.
      '89 BMW 325is Zinnoberrot / '88 VW Jetta GLI 16v Tornado Red / '89 VW Jetta GLI 16v Tornado Red / '89 VW GTI 16v Bright Blue Metallic / '91 BMW 325i Black / '91 BMW 325i Sport Black / '92 VW GTI 16v Black / '92 VW GTI 16v Montana Green / '01 Audi A4 Avant TQM Silver Metallic / '01 VW Jetta GLX VR6 Black

      Comment

        #4
        tried replicating the issue with a spray bottle and some water?
        '84 318i M10B18 147- Safari Beige
        NA: 93whp/90ftlbs, MS2E w/ LC, 2-Step
        Turbo: 221whp/214ftlbs, MS3x flex @ 17psi

        Comment

          #5
          Originally posted by Cinnabar325is View Post
          Crank sensor is also new (6 months) and adjust to spec. I don't believe water would affect its function unless its housing was cracked or something.
          Yeah. I had a similar problem (none e30) where water would get in the connector. Good luck brudda! Hope you get it figured out.


          -RW

          Comment

            #6
            Spray Bottle =/= Heavy rain

            Comment

              #7
              hose is

              Comment

                #8
                Does your car still have the plastic guard piece? If not, water sometimes can get to the alternator and causes similar problems like yours. My friend had this happened to his Windstar whenever he went over a pothole filled with water. It took us forever to figure it out.

                Comment

                  #9
                  Originally posted by mbonanni View Post
                  Spray Bottle =/= Heavy rain
                  Did you read the first post? Under the hood is dry. He doesn't need a lot of water to replicate the issue. I'd be hesitant to spray a lot of water under the hood anyway.
                  '84 318i M10B18 147- Safari Beige
                  NA: 93whp/90ftlbs, MS2E w/ LC, 2-Step
                  Turbo: 221whp/214ftlbs, MS3x flex @ 17psi

                  Comment

                    #10
                    Inspect your coil for cracks. A cracked coil doesn't need to be splashed, the heavy humidity from combining heavy rain and a hot engine is plenty to kill it.

                    If it is cracked, throw it in the oven at the lowest temp for a while, then seal it up with some black RTV.
                    No E30 Club
                    Originally posted by MrBurgundy
                    Anyways, mustangs are gay and mini vans are faster than your car, you just have to deal with that.

                    Comment

                      #11
                      Originally posted by Jaxx_ View Post
                      tried replicating the issue with a spray bottle and some water?
                      No, but I will give that a shot asap.

                      Originally posted by dnguyen1963 View Post
                      Does your car still have the plastic guard piece? If not, water sometimes can get to the alternator and causes similar problems like yours. My friend had this happened to his Windstar whenever he went over a pothole filled with water. It took us forever to figure it out.
                      Do you mean the undertray piece? My car does not have that, probably couldn't hurt, but I bet they're tough to get in decent condition.

                      Originally posted by Exodus_2pt0 View Post
                      Inspect your coil for cracks. A cracked coil doesn't need to be splashed, the heavy humidity from combining heavy rain and a hot engine is plenty to kill it.

                      If it is cracked, throw it in the oven at the lowest temp for a while, then seal it up with some black RTV.
                      I will check this too, thanks.



                      Anyone else have input?
                      '89 BMW 325is Zinnoberrot / '88 VW Jetta GLI 16v Tornado Red / '89 VW Jetta GLI 16v Tornado Red / '89 VW GTI 16v Bright Blue Metallic / '91 BMW 325i Black / '91 BMW 325i Sport Black / '92 VW GTI 16v Black / '92 VW GTI 16v Montana Green / '01 Audi A4 Avant TQM Silver Metallic / '01 VW Jetta GLX VR6 Black

                      Comment

                        #12
                        Does your hood still have the hood seals?

                        My guess is the water/moisture is coming from the bottom of the car then. I, too, would guess alternator, C101 plug (underneath the intake manifold) or even your ground wire (driver side)
                        1997 Artic Silver M3
                        CES GT4094r 651hp/615tq @ 24 psi

                        Comment

                          #13
                          Originally posted by Jaxx_ View Post
                          Did you read the first post? Under the hood is dry. He doesn't need a lot of water to replicate the issue. I'd be hesitant to spray a lot of water under the hood anyway.
                          Yes of course I did, did you??

                          Originally posted by Cinnabar325is View Post
                          Background: Car runs fine in the dry and in MOST rain situations. However, if it is really raining hard and I'm on the highway, the motor loses all response and often dies. The strange thing is, if I start the car again (still rolling), it always comes right back to life 100% for at least 10 secs before stumbling again.
                          Says if it is raining it most likely would not happen. I would replicate heavy rain with a hose, with hood closed.

                          I get what you are saying though. spray bottle with hood open to replicate situation makes sense. I did not think of that.

                          Comment

                            #14
                            Originally posted by Alexis Jung View Post
                            Does your hood still have the hood seals?

                            My guess is the water/moisture is coming from the bottom of the car then. I, too, would guess alternator, C101 plug (underneath the intake manifold) or even your ground wire (driver side)
                            Yes, still has all hood seals.

                            More than anything, it seems like the car loose spark when it stumbles. Could the alternator not working temporarily really affect spark? Long term, sure, but how about short term?
                            '89 BMW 325is Zinnoberrot / '88 VW Jetta GLI 16v Tornado Red / '89 VW Jetta GLI 16v Tornado Red / '89 VW GTI 16v Bright Blue Metallic / '91 BMW 325i Black / '91 BMW 325i Sport Black / '92 VW GTI 16v Black / '92 VW GTI 16v Montana Green / '01 Audi A4 Avant TQM Silver Metallic / '01 VW Jetta GLX VR6 Black

                            Comment

                              #15
                              Not really in the short term. Not to mention, I have been in a car when the alternator died... Lights went out before the engine stalled.
                              No E30 Club
                              Originally posted by MrBurgundy
                              Anyways, mustangs are gay and mini vans are faster than your car, you just have to deal with that.

                              Comment

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