So we had our first little blast of winter here today - got around an inch and a half of heavy wet snow in the city this evening. I couldn't wait to get out and see how the suzi handled it. I have 145/80/12 goodyear nordic tries on the truck - good basic snow tires, nothing fancy. I was really impressed with the tracking and tracking - I did manuevers that would have put my old toyota into wacko tailspins without even breaking traction in the suzi. very impressive - although it was only a little bit of snow really. Still, it was a good experience. Anyway, things were going great, I was bombing along as usual at around 60km/h, hitting every rut of snow that I could on the road, when she started to run like crap. coughing, missing... no power. if I kept the revs high then she sounded fine, but if they dropped back at all things weren't good. had to ride the clutch and keep the revs really high to get home at all. So I took the seats out to have a peak - the engine was idling - roughly, but idling. It was dark, and I expected to see arcing around the coil and wires figuring I'd gotten everything a little too wet in there. But no, not arcing. In fact the coil, plug wires and distributor were all basically dry it looked to me. Everything else was completely covered in heavy cold slush and snow - the bottoms of the seats, on top of the struts, the jack and tools (which are under the pass seat), etc. I was a little surprised at how far the snow and slush had gotten. So after that long winded intro - 2 questions: 1 - Whadya think the problem could be with running rough? almost certainly damp/electrical it sounds to me, but where to start? I have new plug wires and dist and button, so that's a start, but as I said, they looked to be dry... 2 - is it really normal to have this much slush, water, snow etc coming up all over everything in there? I suppose I shouldn't be surprised - what the heck was I expecting? it to magically deflect water away from the underside of the truck? But seriously - do you guys get the same thing? I can't imagine mudders being happy with that; and if so what do you do about it - if anything? ...I'm a little worried that in the winter climate here - where we use TONS of salt on the roads - that if I let stuff pack up under there I won't have much of a truck left come springtime. This is my daily driver now... I kinda like it, would like it to last a bit longer than just the spring... thanks for the help- bg
when i run through puddles it goes everywhere, and when i wash my truck i lift the seats and rinse everything down. you might check that the inside of your distributor is dry. you might have gotten some water in there and it's messing with your points or maybe crossfiring inside your dizzy cap.
I took one to the car wash he other day. Washed the engine and under bed. Went to pull it out and it wouldnt start. Pushed outside of the bay and looked at everything. Seemed to be ok. Walked a couple of blocks home, got my truck and trailer, picked it up. Got it back to the house and went to drying it out. Still not starting. Pulled the dist. cap and found just a tiny bit of water droplets, dried it out, started right up. It really looked like it had a good seal, not good enough. Good to go.
Thanks for the guidance guys - I'll check out inside the dist cap. I have to replace it and the wires anyway. Meesho - not sure what you're getting at. I have talked to the dealer I bought it from and he is very helpful. Is there something you're not saying that you'd like to?
Boatman, do me a favor and keep your winter blasts up there. It got down to 24*f here in NW Florida yesterday morning - don't be liking that this early in the season. As for your moisture prob: When I was in Okinawa (70's), everyone carried a can of WD-40 in their vehicles. Lots of tropical moisture. Had to spray the inside of the distributor - sometimes to get going - sometimes after running through water and it splashing up underneath. The slush that gets splashed up into the engine compartment and getting on hot parts of the engine/exhaust melts/steams up the engine compartment and could be getting into the dist cap. You said you have to replace your cap and wires. After you do, spray all with a silicone spray. If you have to pull your cap later to WD-40 it, respray it with the silicone to help seal the moisture out. Hope that's all it is and have fun and Slush on.........later, slim
thanks Slim. this morning it wouldn't fire at all... Yikes I hope I don't have to carry a can of wd 40 around and get in there every time I need to start. ...I'm going out there now to replace the dist cap and wires and see what's up. Sure would be nice to have a heated garage right about now...
And if the distributor cap has a hairline crack, even a tiny bit of moisture will cause spark problems. With all of that moisture and salt, be careful your clutch disc doesn't rust to the flywheel. On my 'zuki there are some small holes in the bellhousing that can admit water. If you drive your truckette every day, I doubt if you would have a clutch rust problem, but if you drive in lots of slush and park for a couple of weeks, then lookout!
You guys are right on. I just checked inside the dist and sure enough, it's wet. Funny tho - the water clearly came in thru the vent hole int he cap, not around the seal to the body of the distributor. Wiped it out, little shot of wd40 and she's running. So - what can I do about that damn vent hole? I presume it's bad to plug it, so I'm thinking I'll stick a little piece of rubber tubing on it (instead of the silly black plug they have on it) and run the hose up to a *ahem* drier place. I'm concerned about the amount of stuff that splashes around in this space. I know it comes wiht a mid-engine truck; but I have now decided that the skid plates I was casually designing in my head are going to be essential equipment - mostly to reduce splashing on the engine and components!! Thanks again for the guidance. and I'm gonna look for those holes in the tranny too Jon - thanks bg
for little vents like that i used to run a hose somewhere higher and then poiont it back down like a hair pin and stuff a cheap see thru fuel filter on the end to keep dust and stuff out. the hairpin design will keep anything from dripping or setting in the hose and down into your dizzy
i know the dis. cap is not easy to get off but if you think you got it wet spray WD40 into the dis. cap and body. this stuff displaces water and it will start right back up
You guys have talked about washing the motor.... I have distributor-less ignition, so I don't worry about that, but isn't drenching the alternator also bad? If not, is everything on the motor happy with being sprayed down? -Andy
i have never had problems getting a dynamo of any sort wet (whether it be alternator or generator) i have shorted out regulators on the old generators though. i have rinsed, scrubbed and pressure washed many, many, many engines and never had a failure on the dynamo at all... maybe you shouldn't and i've just always been real lucky
In Canada the WD40 is not as good, some of the petroleum products are taken out, so it will not work as good for drying electrical or using as starter fluid as WD40 from other countries will.
So regarding this clutch plate sticking thing that happens when you don't use the truck for a while - Would it make sense to just jam the clutch pedal down to disengage the mating faces when you left the truck for a while? would that wreck the return springs?
Even if it does accelerate wear on the spring or pressure plate fingers, that's a lot better than having the clutch disc rust to the flywheel! My tractor has a little hook under the clutch pedal for that very purpose - disengage the clutch while not in use.
Hi Boatman. Let us know how your fix worked out. It sounds like something for my "to do" list. I had a Toyota that came with a rubber boot that snapped over the distributor. You might be able to pick something like that up too. Unfortunately on that car after I washed the engine at the car wash I would always have to take the boot and the distributor off when I got home to dry it out anyways. It may have worked the rest of the time though?
