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Why does rain makes my car lose power? MAF?

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Old 02-01-2010, 10:19 AM
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Why does rain makes my car lose power? MAF?

Whenever I drive for more than 20mins while its raining the car's power will fluxuate and start studdering. I have K & N CAI but its been doing that before I changed stock filter. Any suggestions what I should check?

When its not raining no starting or stalling problems at all, which makes me question replacing MAF sensor. I'd hate to pony up the money for new MAF if I don't have too

Last edited by Saunter; 03-05-2010 at 12:12 PM.
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Old 02-01-2010, 10:26 AM
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when its dry and somewhat dark out ... warm the car up open the hood and spray a mist of water over different parts of the engine... im guessing youll see some arc-ing , where ever you see arcing the wires need to be replaced

this is the test i used to do to check spark plug wires i would think this should work in this case
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Old 02-01-2010, 10:36 AM
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Ok thx I'll try that
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Old 02-01-2010, 03:58 PM
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Originally Posted by smai555
when its dry and somewhat dark out ... warm the car up open the hood and spray a mist of water over different parts of the engine... im guessing youll see some arc-ing , where ever you see arcing the wires need to be replaced

this is the test i used to do to check spark plug wires i would think this should work in this case
Thats a very good idea, lol.
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Old 02-01-2010, 04:16 PM
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Originally Posted by Saunter
Whenever I drive for more than 20mins while its raining the car's power will fluxtuate and start studdering. I have K & N CAI but its been doing that before I changed stock filter. Any suggestions what I should check?

When its not raining no starting or stalling problems at all, which makes me question replacing MAF sensor. I'd hate to pony up the money for new MAF if I don't have too
Sunter, you should have ignition coils, no wires on the spark plugs. It sounds electrical,check the coils to see if one of the boots may have broken or become too pliable. You should also check underneath to see if the starter ground wire could be a naked or corrosion being it only happens when it rains. That's my advice, it happened to me. I replaced the coils and my baby rides strong.

Good luck!
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Old 02-01-2010, 11:03 PM
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I agree with MaxiBronx. I don't think that spraying water in your engine compartment will produce anything. There are no rotors or spark plug wires in our cars. (Or any Japanese car since the 80's).
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Old 02-01-2010, 11:13 PM
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Originally Posted by iflossdaily
I agree with MaxiBronx. I don't think that spraying water in your engine compartment will produce anything. There are no rotors or spark plug wires in our cars. (Or any Japanese car since the 80's).
so my friends 94 integra is...? Chinese?
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Old 02-02-2010, 04:54 AM
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My money is on water messing with your coilpacks, either by getting in your spark plug tubes somehow, or shorting out the connectors.

On my old beater max, I had no screws holding my coilpacks down (and the cover that covers them was long gone). Because of this, the coilpacks would gradually wiggle their way a little loose on the spark plugs (over the course of a few weeks or a month or whatever). In moderate to heavy rain, I'd start to get a little bit of hesitation and surging. Pop the hood, press coilpacks down firmly into the spark plug tubes, problem gone for another month.

BTW, tons of Japanese cars have had spark plug wires and distributors since the 80s. Whoever made that claim is flat out wrong.
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Old 02-02-2010, 05:11 AM
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Ok im kinda fuzzy here....how is it possible to get rain water on the coils if the hood is down??? Is the OP ridin with no hood?? thats gangsta lol

We need more info here....where exactly did the OP place the CAI filter?
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Old 02-02-2010, 08:25 AM
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Originally Posted by Nealoc187

BTW, tons of Japanese cars have had spark plug wires and distributors since the 80s. Whoever made that claim is flat out wrong.
E - ownage on maxima.org happens yet again.
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Old 02-02-2010, 08:27 AM
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MaxiBronx and Nealoc187 called it right, when checking coilpacks on the rear firewall side 1 of the boots was broken so bad the tube was exposed.

Thank you for your help
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Old 02-02-2010, 08:02 PM
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Originally Posted by Nealoc187
BTW, tons of Japanese cars have had spark plug wires and distributors since the 80s. Whoever made that claim is flat out wrong.
You're right. I stand corrected.
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Old 02-28-2010, 06:40 PM
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Other cars it woudl be wires. Im guessing you have one or more bad coilpacks.
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Old 02-28-2010, 11:46 PM
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Originally Posted by cashoit
Ok im kinda fuzzy here....how is it possible to get rain water on the coils if the hood is down??? Is the OP ridin with no hood?? thats gangsta lol

We need more info here....where exactly did the OP place the CAI filter?

lol..that made me giggle..

maybe it is your maf sensor bro... does your idle stay steady at a stop?? my friends 95 toyota had a similar problem in cold weather, it got even worse when he put a cold air.. After he changed his MAF, his car ran good even when it would rain or on really cold days.. i dont know, hopefully this helps
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Old 03-01-2010, 10:16 AM
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he already figured it out, it was a split coil boot like some of us suggested.

i won't even bother to answer the question about how water can get on the coils. if the guy who asked that question can't understand that the engine compartment is not hermetically sealed, then there's no amount of explanation that can make him understand that water gets in to places when you're flying down the road and it's getting splashed and sprayed everywhere by wheels, hitting the radiator and dribbling through it, etc.
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Old 03-04-2010, 08:49 AM
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maximas hate water...gotta love it
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Old 03-04-2010, 12:38 PM
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Driving with no hood that's funny, yep only the days I'm feeling getto lol

I changed the coil but haven't drove in rain yet so not sure if that's da fix but it needed to be changed anyway.

It stays steady when idle at 500 with slight movement sometimes to 550 600 then stays at 500 so it could be MAF but not sure if that little movement warrants it being bad, I'll look for used MAF here just in case, if anyone has one PM me.

I took out my cluster and tightened all the screws to make sure that's not effecting the needle and all the screws were not that loose but none were tight either

Thanks for help and suggestions

Last edited by Saunter; 03-05-2010 at 12:15 PM.
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Old 03-05-2010, 09:26 AM
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Originally Posted by iflossdaily
I agree with MaxiBronx. I don't think that spraying water in your engine compartment will produce anything. There are no rotors or spark plug wires in our cars. (Or any Japanese car since the 80's).
yeah my 93 Mazda 626 had a distributor lol
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Old 03-05-2010, 10:55 AM
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Originally Posted by Saunter
Lol Driving with no hood that's funny, yep only the days I'm feeling getto lol

I changed the coil but haven't drove in rain yet so not sure if that's da fix but it needed to be changed anyway.

It stays steady when idle at 500 with slight moment sometimes to 550 600 then stays at 500 so it could be MAF but not sure if that little movement warrants it being bad, I'll look for used MAF here just in case, if anyone has one PM me.

I took out my cluster and tightened all the screws to make sure that's not effecting the needle and all the screws were not that loose but none were tight either

Thanks for help and suggestions
Both my cars had that slight flutter on RPMs. YO man, as long as it idles between 500-600 then u good. I think she running good man. might jus need the big 3 clean..TB, MAF, and IACV. ( EGR tube if u really feeling industrious )

Im feelin frisky and bored and moro supposed to be in the low 50s, so ima do the big myself
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