Strange behavior after engine degrease

[keymonkey]

Hey all,
I have a strange issue. Yesterday during some fabulous weather I decided to degrease my engine after the previous owner seemed to run the truck for years with leaking valve covers. I wrapped the air cleaner in plastic wrap. Covered the distributer cap , coil, and starter selenoid with zip lock bags. I sprayed the block, head and oil pan with a degreaser and used one of those garden hose "pressure washers" to spray the whole thing down in 2-3 rounds.

It fired right up after and I moved it to clean the driveway. I then went to give it a good ride around to dry off and it barely started. Rough idle, backfires, and eventually stall. After a couple tries with the same result, I just left it in the sun for the rest of the day. This morning I tried again. It fired right up, seemed to idle ok. I then took it around the block, but as soon as it warmed a bit, giving it gas bogged it down and it was back to rough run. Managed to limp it into the garage.

Im worried despite coving sensitive parts and using low pressure water, I managed to penitrate something vital. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[brewchief]

Pull the distributor cap off and check for moisture.

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[mrdrnac]

Pull the distributor cap off and check for moisture.

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I agree distributor needs to "air" out for a while, after it starts the moisture in it causes trouble after the engine warms up.

 

[keymonkey]

I agree distributor needs to "air" out for a while, after it starts the moisture in it causes trouble after the engine warms up.

Looks dry on the inside, but left cap off.

 

[mrdrnac]

You might want to pull the distributor wire out of the coil and let the coil female end dry also.

 

[75MIKE]

Didn't say what year, but unplug your ignition module and let those plugs dry, as well.

 

[SHX669]

WD - 40 works great for wet distributor caps and etc - the WD is abbreviation for Water Displacement.

 

[keymonkey]

Didn't say what year, but unplug your ignition module and let those plugs dry, as well.

74 Ranger.
Currently have the dist cap and ignition coil plug out and drying. No visible moisture yet hut suppose it only take a little to make spark go off.

 

[Rustytruck]

if there is moisture in the distributor after start up the heat causes it to rise inside the cap and wreak havoc.

 

[DirtDonk]

If you have compressed air, then WD40 and some air blasts will speed up the drying process for those times when you don't have time to wait for nature to take it's course.
Even just the air alone will do the trick 90% of the time.

Definitely not an issue with the starter relay, and most likely not an issue with water in the carb, unless you got a LOT of water in the carb, which it does not sound like.
Still, a little air into the float bowl vents and some new gas or even carb cleaner would not hurt. But it's still likely 99% your ignition.
Spark plug wires to a lesser extent, but still possible. Distributor and coil wires to a greater extent. And inside the distributor most likely of all.

Electronic ignition triggers don't usually have this issue. But points type distributors are notorious for this even when you go to great lengths to keep things dry.
Unless you have stuff under the hood that we don't know about? Non-stock stuff perhaps? Non-sealed electrical connections?

Good luck.

Paul

 

[SHX669]

We used to Mud Run the sloppy muddy stuff on the Oregon Coast Range in the Winter. We all carried a can of WD 40 because invariably some rig would get moisture in the dist cap and start crossfiring . We'd pull the cap and spray some WD in there and off we'd go. When we got back and went to the 25 cent car wash ( now $2.50+) to clean off the mud that was covering everything it was standard procedure to pull the dist cap and spray before even trying to start up

 

[B RON CO]

Hi, as mentioned, moisture in the distributor is the first thing to check out, just let it dry out. If the tuneup is old, I might suspect bad plug wires and do the complete ignition tune up. You can start the truck at night and see if the wires are arcing. Good luck

 

[jckkys]

To avoid future problems with water inside the distributor cap you may want to get an '80s Mustang rubber boot to cover the the distributor here https://www.ebay.com/itm/85-90-Must...634464?hash=item343a9c80a0:g:C0IAAOSwq-BgBvx2. EBs flood the engine compartment when going through deep puddles at speed.

 

[keymonkey]

Thanks!

Let the distcap and coil air out for a couple days and it runs like a champ again......added a can of WD40 to my tool roll per all the great recommendations! Thanks again all!

 

[mrdrnac]

Great news! And you won't get stuck somewhere in the future.