Washed Engine Now Wont Start

[suzuki91]

i am posting here rather than the fiesta forum as that seems sooo quiet there. i degreased my kids fiesta engine and hosed it down, after a while i tried to start it and got clicking sounds. left it to dry out now its all dead. what have i done? charged the batterie up just in case, no good? where do i start to find the fault?

[mumof4]

did you cover up all the electrics before you washed the engine?

[mikej]

Clicking sound in my experience if the engine is NOT turning over will be coming from the starter motor not engageing possible solenoid failure /sticking bendix etc try tapping the starter motor with the handle of a hammer or if its easier put it in gear and rock the car back and forth a few feet , put back in neutral and try turning over !

best of luck

mike....

Edited May 29, 2007 by mikej

[Justice]

Agree with post above or you could just push start it to get it going, as long as you never got water into the engines fuel system you shouldn't have a problem,

I new a guy who jet washed his cars engine and used the jet wash to clean his chrome pancake air filter.

[suzuki91]

trying again today no electrics at all? clock flashes 00.00 then goes out when i turn the key. no lights come on on dash, whole electics seem dead.

checked fuses all ok. must be water in something?

[Neils TDi again]

It would appear that either the starter motor is jammed in or the solenoid is shorting out i would remove the starter motor and clean all the contacts and ensure the cable is not broken, the fiesta engine being transverse has a habit of breaking the conductors inside the cable insulator so its not always obvious when the cable is broken and it then becomes veryhig h resistance and gives similar symptoms as you describe.

[Guest wolfie]

must be water in something?

 

now theres a suprise! what did you use to wash the engine with? a jet washer or just a hose? try pulling all the electrical connectors apart and blowing them through with a good water repellant, WD40 etc, then try again, remove the dizzy cap? if it has one pull the plugs and dry out the head around them dry out every electrical connector you can find pulling back the protective covers and ensuring that all moisture is removed? if you can apply some heat to the engine bay to aid the drying process, nothing major! just some gentle heat so not to increase the damage you have alreadsy done!

check the battery again? try jump starting it, if you have drown the electrics something could be shorting out and draining the battery? have you tried bump starting it yet?

[Scorpiorefugee]

Clicking usually means low battery. Battery has enough to operate solenoid but when it pulls in the starter pulls the voltage down and the solenoid releases. The whole thing repeats - a bit like a primitive electric bell.

 

There's been lots of good advice already but you should make sure the battery is fully charged. Probably best to take it off and put it back when you've dried everything out. Wait 'till the sun shines and leave the bonnet up. If youve used a pressure washer you could have got water into anyof the 'sealed ' electrics so youmay have to be patient with the drying process. Leaving the battery on while the electrics are wet could amd may have already wrecked something expensive.

 

I hope things settle down but do strongly recommend taking the battery off and charging it immediately. If it has been fully discharged for more than a few hours it may already be next to useless. If you want to try another battery, best do it by replacement and if it doesn't start turning over, start worrying.

 

It all depends on how much water and where you sprayed it.

[Ivor_E_Tower]

Sounds like flat battery to me. Whether or not it is due to shorting something out with water is hard to say

[suzuki91]

i will hope for a warm weekend and try to start it then. only used a hose pipe low pressure to wash off the degreaser. i am inclined to think its the battery but with my luck the immobeliser will be involved somewhere!!! may take starter off to check as well.

[iainkirk]

Like other posters have said, have you tried push starting it yet???

 

I always wash engines with the engine running and warmed up. Never killed anything yet that way, even with a pressure washer!

[Vince]

The resistance of water is fairly high, so it is only likely to impact sensitive electronics or high voltage. The starter motor circuit is neither of these, so if it's a basic circuit of ignition switch/starter solenoid/starter, then you are not going to stop this with water.

 

Water might stop it firing, but not stop it cranking, so in my opinion look at battery and wiring.

 

Vince.

[seatkid]

You have to work your way through the electrics a step at a time.

 

I have no idea about Fiesta electrics - nor am I interested enough to look it up on the TIS. But this procedure should apply to any modern car....

 

No.1 Put a voltmeter on your battery - and check the voltage doesnt dive when you try to start. This is a battery check.

 

No.2 Put the negative lead of the meter on a ground remote from the battery - maybe the engine block - and repeat the test - this will tell you if the earth strapping is the culprit. (Repeat to test the positive straps to the battery)

 

No.3 Put the meter "further away" from the battery - check the circuit diagram (TIS) - e.g. after one of the "Main" fuses and repeat.

 

If everything seems all right at this point then I'm inclined to seek out the ECU and check you didnt "flood" this. A small amount of water inside this can render it U/S (while wet) and because of the case it may take many days to dry out. So open it up and inspect/dry it out.

 

It will be something silly - don't get up tight.

[suzuki91]

connected up my gal to jump start the fiesta and she tried to turn over... batery terminals were a bit loose so looks like the battery then..phew...

thanks for all the sugestions.

[Dave-G]

Kinnel - I'm sure we all thought of that - but were too polite to insult you with that sort of basic advice :)

[justme]

Anyway.... Is the engine clean? :rolleyes:

[suzuki91]

yep engine clean and now dry as well.

car is up for sale now as they can't afford to re-insure it and dad's bank is closed.