i have a 91 honda civic dx i just rencently brought. the car was stored for awhile and soo the enginebay was filthy so i decided to clean it wit some engine degreaser and a pressured water hose. now before i started to spray the car down i made sure to cover the dizzy, alternator, fusebox and after i went with a rag to try to dry everything on the bay it started up with no problem. now the next morning i turned the car on with no problem but out of nowhere the car just shut off on me and so i didnt think much of it until later that night i was driving and it shut off again and again this morning when i went to start it did the same and again when i was driving to work..

 

Does the check engine light come on? If it does what code is it showing?

 

yeah no matter what anyone says never wash down the engine bay... you're just leaving yourself open to electrical problems.

 

X2, give every1 a place to start figuring it out

 

no CEL but today i check the the sparkplugs to see if they had any kind of water or degreaser on it and it seems that the were somewhat damp with a kind of oil or grease so i dried them up and also tried to dry the spark plug cylenders* and it seemed to kind of work. while driving i can see the rmp gague moving up and down by itself and later on in the day i tried to start it and it started i heard something schreech and the rmp go up and then die i tried it again and it did the same thing so the 3rd time i gave it gas and it schreech but it stayed on..and also to it seems to be missfiring but im not sure seeing that i dont have a complete muffler and it also bogs at time the rmp goes a lilttle crazy...

 

also could it be that the degreaser/ wd40 might have messed with the timing belt? and its not on time

 

i have washed my engine bay many times with different cleaners and never had any problems.... BUT i always covered my distributor & air filter with a bag and tape it really tight...

 

can anyone please give me any suggestions

 

Basic troubleshooting; break it down to it's most basic parts. What do you need for your engine to run? Air, Fuel & Spark. Check those then go into more detail when you find a problem with one of them.

The usual suspects
Air: Not usually a problem blocked intake
Fuel: Main relay, Clogged line/filter, Bad pump
Spark: Igniter, Plugs, Dist