I sprayed my engine with degreaser and washed it at the car wash. I covered the dizzy and fuses and such. The next day the car started stalling. It only happens after car has sat for about 10 minutes. I put it in first, hit accelerator and it starts to bog out, let off accelerator and apply again and it is fine until I shut it off and let it cool down for a few minutes.

b18b1 engine eg civic dx.

 

take off your connectors and make sure they arent wet on the inside (all connectors connected to engine, or potentially victims to the wash

 

Update.. The stall is getting worse. Car would not start, in the dead battery fashion. After about 10 mins it started without a jump. Autozone tested my alt. The test was good except when I first started the car it was only at 12volts and not charging the battery. After a minute it jumped up to 14 and was fine. Second test ran fine with no problems.

Any suggestions? I am currently running through the harness checking grounds and connections.

 

bump for help, still not fixed.

 

Pull off the distributor cap. I bet it is wet and milky inside, possibly corroded. If there is ANY water in there it will affect the spark and cause the car to run very poorly or even cause it to not start.

 

if its wet inside the dizzy spray it with wd40

 

its the dizzy, if you get it wet. she wont start but shell crank

 

its not the dizzy, the car is only running off the battery when it starts. The stumble is when the voltage gets low.

While checking connections I found a place that has been spliced. Its the four wires connecting to the alt, not the bolt but the plug.

Any good suggestions on fixing this until I get a new harness. It has the crimp tunnel splices now.

 

This happened tome once with an old carolla, i got water into the spark plug area where the wires connect on 1 of the cylinders. Buddy that worked at a shop just sprayed it with some compressed air to get the water out.

 

If the wires are already soldered and shrink wrapped, then blow the alternator connector dry with compressed air.

 

It has been 2 weeks since the wash, I have gotten all water out of the engine bay. I believe the wiring is the problem. Found a new driver side engine harness, but it is obd1 and the alternator is obd2. So I guess the splices have to stay until I can get a new alt.

 

Just re-wire the splices. Solder AND heat shrink the wires, this will likely solve your problem. If the problem persists, start checking your vacuum lines. What kind of degreaser did you use? Some are abrasive enough to eat through rubber.

 

Just replace the alternator, battery cables and clamps and it'll be fine.

 

This

 

Re wired alternator, replaced ground wires, had alternator tested again came up fine.
Going to start checking fuel system now. Its cutting out like it is running out of gas, maybe a filter or pressure regulator could fix.

Just a thought, but could the injector seals be bad, in theory when I washed the manifold off could I have cleaned up something that might have been sealing a leak?

Just to restate after sitting for a few mins I start the car, it runs fine, then I pull out to a stop light, it cuts out and starts trying to die, I accelerate when I am about to shift from 1rst the 2nd or 2nd to 3rd it starts cutting out bad, let off the accelerator shift and then it is fine. No more problems until I turn it off and let it sit for a few minutes.

 

this happened to me. it was the spark plug wires. test it out with someone you know and see.

 

thinking plugs also, pulled mine apart and cleaned them, no problem so far, guess i'll go get some tomorrow.

 

the wires, not plugs. i think because i didnt leave it running long enough and some how it absorbed water i guess, but swapped them out and motor was good and cel turned off.

 

That's what I meant, I pulled the wires and cleaned them, the boots had a bit of oil inside from a previous valve cover leak.

 

Fixed sort of. Was the o2 sensor, unplugged it no problem in 2 days except the cel. New one on the way.

 

this happened to me before. as far as, acted like it ran on 2 cylinders or something. would start up fine, pull out onto road and stumble as you accelerate up and up til you get to a higher speed, then you can can ease off the pedal and just baby it to keep it going fast.

was distributorfor me
changed rotor cap and bug but it ended up being the coil. so whole distributor needed changed.

if it turns out not being the o2 sensor try that.

 

Definately o2 sensor, it is running completely fine with it unplugged now except the cel and running rich.