SnickterP

I cant seem to figure this out, but my Max wont startup when its raining outside. When its nice out, scorching hot or freezing cold, it'll start up just fine with a flick of the key. But if i wake up in the morning and its raining outside, it's a different story altogether. It'll crank and crank and crank, but won't fire up. You can do it till the battery dies down, it wont start. It'll cease to start even long after the rains stopped, but its all wet outside. If however it started to rain while ive been driving the car all day, it'll still startup, but not that easily. but if driven through a fairly large puddle, it would stutter and hesitate, like its misfiring.
Anyone have any clue what might be wrong here? It didnt have that problem when got her over 2 and a half years ago. it kinda slowly formed.

LvR

CAI sucking water somewhere?

Greeny

iTrader: (43)

Try changing your distributor cap.

Wiking

Glycol in high voltage wirings, system. Needs thorough wash, new wires maybe. =Y've had a good splash of cooling liquid around engine bay...

clic:
http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/748507/12

N34JZ

iTrader: (1)

tune-up.......

DaWifey's90

iTrader: (3)

on the dizzy and wires

tripleGmax

iTrader: (8)

had that with my jeep. it was clogged cat.

Wiking

One may weld the exhaust closed and still start it with cats mouse and dogs inside the pipe... eventually the engine might fartsy die, so dont test. Fuel consumption will drastically drop, but might get 'some' revving problems.

tripleGmax

iTrader: (8)

well i know that was the problem after putting new cat on never had trouble starting in rain ever again

internetautomar

iTrader: (30)

I'd go with the tune up.
you can try some wire drier first if it will make you feel better.
but a tuneup is routine mainteanace type thing, which people rarely do routinely

I sell the tuneup stuff

Wiking

...new tires would do tha same trick.

Pls do some empirical testing: plug u pipe end and start. And u will find that waxing the car will have exact the same effect as cat on starTing...

tripleGmax

iTrader: (8)

well, my jeep at the time would try to turn over and it was like it was being choked and you had to have your foot on the gas for it to start, but only when it had rained!. changed the cat..........NEVER had the problem again, not once. im not saying that this will be his problem, and im not trying to argue that you might know what youre talking about, but i witnessed first hand my problem go away with a new cat. converter ......anyway.

Wiking

And if you install that plugged cat back, "NEVER will have the problem again, not once..."

The experience =end result is as u say, reasons for startup problems sit somewhere else. Somethin else must have happened ...now WHAT that smtg was in your case? Exhaust pipe and/or its parts has absolute NO effect on startup, none. (After startup, eventually pressure will build up and gradual shutdown is the result...)

DIY the pipe plugging test to check your own theory.

DO, no talk will hlp.

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

In the morning, pull the dist cap and see if have condensation inside. If yes, then you have found your problem.

Wiking

True. But even cracked cap is enough to kill cold engine ign on humid morning. The cracks may be seen with magn lense in the sunlight... And those Bosch caps are doomed to crack.

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

If it's cracked, it should run bad all the time? But it's cheaper just to look under the cap.

Wiking

Not in all cases. My experience with my max cap: Barely starting after long sputter on humid morning. Weather: 50F, condensed water on the car... as the engine warms, (the conducting moisture evaporates from cracks?) all ok.

Later, warm startup, no problems.

Suppose later in life as soot travels in, the prbl ? is all the time.

It might be that no condensation seen inside. And cracks definiteny NOT seen until sun comes out... I dried the thing, sprayed lacquer over, problems gone. Now have new...

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

I'm just giving my suggestion. He can use my advice or not. Up to him

tripleGmax

iTrader: (8)

whatever dude. i dont want to argue with someone on the internet, thats

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

Actually I think he's right. A clogged cat would show a hard start pretty much all the time. Not just cold. And it would show a significant performance loss when when started also. He doesn't mention it.

But come to think about it, if the car is warm and he drives though a puddle makes it studder, it could be the plug wires arcing when it gets wet

tripleGmax

iTrader: (8)

well sometimes the jeep would have hard starts no matter what, but when it rained, it would have even harder starts......replaced cat, fixed it, end of story. anyway, you guys have way more options for him to try and hopefully he fixes it. i was just saying that i had similar story and how i fixed it......thats all.

Wiking

Its ok, and I am only after facts. Only fact finding via empirical tests.

Your claim ---> its your responsibility to test.

I already know that tst results many times over = plug exhaust pipe, engine starts and dies. ALWAYS.

Tony

It's the distributor cap. I had the EXACT same problem on my max about this time last year (you can search back through the messages at that time if you're ambitious). At first I inspected the cap - couldn't see any cracks or anything that looked bad. But when I replaced the cap and seal (about $35 at the dealer) the problem disappeared and it hasn't happened since.

Tony

usmanasif

Yes, again, it IS definitely your starter coil inside the dist. cap. Condensation forms on it and gradually corrodes. A pretty easy DIY, btw.

SnickterP

Oh i have no problem doin stuff my self for my cars :-)
Didn't mean to start an argument or whatever over it all though ...sorry.
But anyways, i figured out the problem after taking all of your suggestions, and thanks for them. it seems my own stupidity was to blame. I dont know how it messed with the car exactly, but the wires i ran for my fog lgihts were too close to where the hood meets the fender, and were a bit wet i noticed when i opened the hood from rain. well, the fused portion of the wire was also there, and wet as well. i pulled the fuse, drived it all out, and put it back...starting problem gone. after i covered up the wire, it doesnt even stutter through puddles anymore. its just odd such a little thing made the whole car act up.

internetautomar

iTrader: (30)

quoted for truth and posterity

SnickterP

oh how nice...i've forever been immortalized.

hadman

iTrader: (21)

I plugged my cat in, but he screeched somthing awful. Then I realized he don't have no 9 lives either. Poor poor kitty. Meow. Scratch.

Hey now, it's all good. At least you found the culprit and you fessed up to it. Bonus points for that. And what better a time to preach the merits of using heat shrink tubing when working with any wiring. It's cheap, easy to apply, and looks purtier than tape.

Phatsta

I had the exact same problem and I couldn't seem to find why the hell moist would make it not start. Well after lifting the plastic cover to the dist cap when the car was running nighttime, I saw some fireworks it there... a large crack in it

So check your dist cap!


Edit: Sorry, didn't read the end of the thread... saw the resolution now

Wiking

...and check again, again, again... for fireworks: http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=399861

But maybe this biltema engine lacquer is a real solution for this problem?

915spd

moisture does some weird stuff. check your plug wires and distributor cap/rotor. even try looking at the spark plugs.

usmanasif

Hastiness does some weird stuff. Check the thread again from top to bottom. Even try looking at the thread-starter's post about 3/4 of the way down....

Maximum Depth

iTrader: (1)

The starting problem I had in the rain was corrected by replacing my spark plug wires. Minute cracks in the casing aren't noticable to the eye, but allows the spark to travel outside the wire when water, a conductor, is present. My problem was also accompanied by the car dying at a stop sign and never restarting. B!tch of a problem until it was diagnosed.

Filthy_Rich

I'm having the same problem with my 92 Brougham. Usually when it's humid or raining outside it has problems starting. A few times it has died while I've been driving. The other day it wouldn't start properly, but when it did fire, there was a cloud of white smoke that came out from under the hood on the left side. Is this typical of a corroded distributor cap?

Phatsta

I had the exact same symptoms as you're describing. Really embarrasing when it died on me when I was trying to cut traffic through the bus lane

Anyways, when I changed my distributor cap all of these problems disappeared sp I guess the answer to your question is; Yes! Could very well be. (well actually my dist cap wasn't just corroded, it was cracked as well)

usmanasif

Yes. Textbook case. Look at the ignition coil under the cap as well.