civic-chick

Figures....im on my way home my last night of work before driving my baby up north tomorrow and I get caught on the side of the 401 in a **** storm...my car broke down...i cant explain what happened its really wierd...I was driving in dry, sunny weather leaving work and all of sudden my speedo started going wonky, down to 0 then back to 80 then up to 150 then down to 80 and so on...so i keep driving, the car is still running normal... i get ont he 401 and it starts pissing after a few minutes of driving into the storm theres puddles of water covering the road, probably up to my wheel well...im driving about 10km through this huge puddle and my car stalls out...i try to start it and it turns over but it wont start i pull off to the side of the road and now it wont even turn over....so i call my dad and tell him so he goes to canadian tire and buys me a battery(I've been having trouble with my battery anyways so we were thinking it may have just finally died)...he shows up in the rain and we change the battery, still no diferent, only now i have headlights and accessories...where before i didnt but the car still wont start... so if it WAS the battery the charge should have started it....if its NOT the battery then it shouldnt even have given me the accessories or the headlights....SO after the battery doesnt work and I have no CAA I call Marty, to see hwat his input would be... he isnt sure what to say...so I hang up...an hour later still standing in the pissing rain trying to figure things out marty shows up behind me on the side off the road...remember what i was saying about the TCC boys?? ya prime example.... ANYWAYS marty uses his CAA my car goes on a flatbed and is now going to sit in my driveway for a week until i get home from the cottage.... Im getting suggestions like, alternator, timing belt, ecu connections, and water in my spark plugs...ANYONE have any ideas....If this is something big...like a timing belt, which i havent checked yet...Im going to have to pull my insurance because i cant afford the repairs...
HELP my car is sad :-(

Buff 'n Stuff

does it have CAI? ...maybe just maybe hydrolock????

sorry bout your troubles Jessie

imported_SedanBoy

i'm thinking it's an electrical problem.
i've know ppl who've had their main harness short and the symptoms are like what you said... the speedo and gauges all go crazy and then the car won't start....
good luck and hope you find the problem and hope it's a small problem.
sorry to hear about this..... i love your car, it was like something i was going to pick up before i got mine... hope you find a solution to this prob!.

Buff 'n Stuff

true, that's probably what it is. ya need to practically submerge a CAI filter in water to get hydrolock.

imported_JookSingKid

JSK says Alternator

punkindrublic

like bbarbulo said its probably hydroloc... hopefully the intake didn't suck any water into the engine.... although if the speedo was going all weird maybe the little connector going into the tranny came loose or broke from the water...

The G2 Racer

So does G2 Racer.

When mine went in my hatch the speedo started doing the same thing. I was up some where in deep Milton and was lucky to get home with out my hatch dieing.
I was lucky and got a rebuilt alt for $100. My car wouldn't start either, my battery was fairly new.

Also Marty is a great guy, he's help me a few times.

Hope you get everything sorted out.

imported_Joker

bbarbulo didnt say ne thing in this thread...................yet

T-train

I can tell you from experience that it's not your alt, unless there is a compound problem. The new battery would have started the car. I drove my car 18Kms just on the battery, as my alt seized and broke the belt. I just turned everything off and had a friend follow me home.
Check all your wiring from the ignition. That happened to a friend of mine. She had problems very similar to yours. It seemed to come and go because it was just a loose connection. Even if your car starts, check the wiring, because the last thing you need is to go through your last experience for no reason.
Good luck.

imported_dented dx

check your distributer, i know in my old civic, if the distributer wot wet it would stall out the car and stay like that till it was dry, try spraying it with WD-40 and see how taht works

civic-chick

thanks for all the input. Last night we left it with the charger on and put a heat lamp under the hood to try and dry things out a bit. This morning it would actually turn over but not start, and there are sparks arcing from the Posts on my valve cover (where the spark plug cover bolts onto the vavlve cover) and the actual valve cover. This indicates it would be electrical right? Because thebattery charged enough to keep it turnig over but there wasnt enough power to actually start it.
Anyways Im leaving for the cottage in like 30 mins but i hope to solve the problem when i get home...(Maybe it will magically fix itself having a weeks rest...lol)
Bye guys

1niceSi

sounds like an alternator to me....this would explain the speedo.

but the puddle sounds like it could have caused hydro lock.

if you need a really good mechanic let me know jess.....he is honda/acura certified. he's the ony person that touches my car.

he might be a bit more expensive that othe shops, but he only uses OEM parts.

sorry about your troubles.

you could have called any TCC member, we're always there for eachother.

2k2SilvSiGuRL

marty to the rescue...duh duh da duh...

it is never fun having car problems when you are planning to go away and such and most likely want ur car there with u...

hope everythng goes well..

punkindrublic

my bad on that one... i dont know if i was drunk or what when i posted that... its was buff n stuff who first suggested hydrolock... hopefully you figure out whats wrong jess

imported_EG4door

Hope everything works out for you soon.

imported_JookSingKid

hydroloc?
what kind of intake do you have?

i still say alternator, not saying its a bad alt, maybe connectors are bad.

HAPPY

Alt'nator...

That would be my guess. I think the rain is just a coincidence. Take a look and make sure you still have a belt on your alt pulley. I've had the same thing happen to me and it turned out I slipped a belt doing an 8500 shift...hehe...oops.

BOND007

Glad to here you got home okay Jess....
Marty to the rescue.......Way to go Old Man




Tcc Mmebership has it's privileges

bbarbulo

iTrader: (2)

I never said anything... and NO, I don't think it's hydrolock...

bbarbulo

iTrader: (2)

It could be any number of unrelated problems...

speedo jumping - that's your VSS prolly getting a crusty signal... check it for dirt/loose wires

not starting, ignition related I'm guessing, prolly the dizzy getting moist like Dave said. Time for new wires, cap, rotor.