And the "knuckle-head of the year" award goes to....

[antera309 3]

ME, for f*cking up my car's ignition system by jet-washing the engine bay...

I can't find the distraught, sobbing and suicidal smiley, so these will have to do:

:-( :-( :-(

With the amount of coolant leaks I suffered last year, my engine bay was in a bit of a state. I mean, it was really bad.

So I sat there looking at my pink & white speckled engine, then I noticed my nice new pressure washer sitting in the corner of the garage. A knuckle-head plan was born.

And it gets better! Figuring that HT ignition components + water was something of a bad idea, I decided to remove the coil pack and ignition leads before the blasting began. This was a BAD move - more of that later... I also removed the battery for good measure..

I then set about violating the hosepipe ban in spectacular fashion by dousing my engine bay with enough water to end African drought forever.

Coolant speckles gone!! I was chuffed to bits! Left the engine to dry out in the hot June sunshine for a day, refitted the coil and ignition leads, checked everything was dry, turned the key and....

...well it ran, but like a dog. And not a pedigree dog either. We're talking mongrel. We're talking an Alsation/Collie/Pit Bull/Jack Russell cross that won't stop shagging the sofa. It stunk.

Off came all the leads again. Eventually I found the most likely culprit - the female plug on the camshaft position sensor now had its own en-suite swimming pool - it was totally waterlogged. When removing the coil pack, I had to disconnect the wiring connector for the CPS, which left its internals exposed to the torrent. If I had left the coil pack in and everything connected up, I probably would have been fine, as all the wiring connectors have seals on them that keep them watertight when connected.

Oh, well - Hair dryer time. Half an hour later, the CPS connector was all dry.

Started it up.. Slightly better, but still misfiring badly.

Well, to cut a long story short, I managed to get it driveable after replacing the plugs and leads (Magnecors, no less) but I am left with a stutter at low revs and stalling when I dip the clutch and come to a stop. Above 1500RPM it's fine.

It's been several weeks now, so there is definitely no water left in the engine bay, but I'm worried that running the engine with the Cam Position Sensor waterlogged may have permanently damaged something and I'm praying that the "something" isn't my coil pack.

If anyone can save me from my own folly and give me some idea of what I should do now, then that would be greatly appreciated.

If anyone is considering cleaning their engine bay with a pressure washer, then STOP what you're doing immediately and get someone to slap you round the face (hard) for even THINKING such a thing.

The rest of you, just laugh it up. 8-|

[riggs 0]

Erm me too for pushing her past 165mph (on a private road for all you legal eagles) at 32oc and blowing a piston

[antera309 3]

Erm me too for pushing her past 165mph (on a private road for all you legal eagles) at 32oc and blowing a piston

Blasting my engine with enough water to fill an olympic-sized swimming pool was not as thrilling as doing 165MPH, but it was still fun. It was almost like a revenge attack for all the pain and grief that engine has caused me over the last 12 months.

Sorry to hear about your engine popping though, riggsvr6. Hope you manage to get it sorted (if you haven't already!).

And forget the Police. I'm just crossing my fingers that no-one from the water board reads this thread!!! :-d

[Russ_vr6 12]

well what i would do mate is start by taking every plug off that u can c in the engine bay,get some emery cloth and shine em up,by now you will prob have a greeny mold on the connectors,(passats are notorious for water leaking in through pollon filter housing,running under the passenger carpet,through the heating vents and into the n/s/r footwell soaking everything in its way includig the wiring)

i would imagine it is this mould type stuff thats causing a slight break in a contact,and that is what would be causing ur stuttering,only an idea matey but worth trying!

especially the wiring around ur aux water pump,we had a corrado few months bk that had this,and the water got into the multiplug,made the car run like a bag of nails and we had to replace the whole multiplug and most of the engine bay wiring,so check that too matey

hope that might help

[mk3anni 0]

VAG COM might be able to tell you which sensors are playing up

[riggs 0]

And forget the Police. I'm just crossing my fingers that no-one from the water board reads this thread!!! :-d

PMSL :-d

[antera309 3]

Russ_VR6, VAG-COM comes up clear. No sign of any green mold or residue on the engine connectors.

[VR6Pete 1,455]

I always thought that it was advised to jet wash your engine bay with the engine running?

[Maz 0]

Hope you get it sorted Nick, but promise me you'll write further entertaining pieces of any subsequent mishaps

[gav_113 0]

that is the funniest thing i have read for ages!!

im so sorry i shouldnt laugh, its just the way u put it!!

i hope u get it sorted soon... good luck my friend :-p :-p

[antera309 3]

Hope you get it sorted Nick' date=' but promise me you'll write further entertaining pieces of any subsequent mishaps

[/quote']

Oh, you can count on it.

I'm planning to fit a supercharger next year.

I'll probably end up putting the thing on backwards then sit and watch the next door neighbours' cat get blown 30 feet across the road with a cone filter up its ass as my engine block implodes...

[antera309 3]

I always thought that it was advised to jet wash your engine bay with the engine running?

Perhaps you're right, Pete. But by that time, I had entered the "Knucklehead zone" - a place where time, space and good advice have no meaning.

I blame it on the heat. :^)

[VR6Lee 1]

I then set about violating the hosepipe ban in spectacular fashion by dousing my engine bay with enough water to end African drought forever.

...well it ran' date=' but like a dog. And not a pedigree dog either. We're talking mongrel. We're talking an Alsation/Collie/Pit Bull/Jack Russell cross that won't stop shagging the sofa. It stunk.

The rest of you, just laugh it up. 8-|

[/quote']

PMSL :-d

How is she running now *-)

[Maz 0]

Hope you get it sorted Nick' date=' but promise me you'll write further entertaining pieces of any subsequent mishaps

[/quote']

Oh, you can count on it.

I'm planning to fit a supercharger next year.

I'll probably end up putting the thing on backwards then sit and watch the next door neighbours' cat get blown 30 feet across the road with a cone filter up its ass as my engine block implodes...

Yep, blow by blow account please mate just like that lol

[antera309 3]

How is she running now *-)

Still misfiring. I just need a place to start really...

[thegoth 5]

OK. Here's my 2p worth, as everyone else is just laughing.

If the battery is disconnected for a while, the ECU can need to 'relearn the engine'. Yours could have relearned with the wet CPS connectors, afterbeing disconnected for a day or so. Did you disconnect the battery for long the second time when drying out the CPS? Could it still using the same ECU settings although the CPS signals are better?

TG

P.s. LOL!

[antera309 3]

OK. Here's my 2p worth' date=' as everyone else is just laughing.

If the battery is disconnected for a while, the ECU can need to 'relearn the engine'. Yours could have relearned with the wet CPS connectors, afterbeing disconnected for a day or so. Did you disconnect the battery for long the second time when drying out the CPS? Could it still using the same ECU settings although the CPS signals are better?

TG

[/quote']

You may be correct about the ECU "relearning". Once I reconnected the battery after the engine dried out, I didn't disconnect it again.

Is there any way to re-set the ECU using VAG-COM?

[antera309 3]

Found out today what was causing the problem. The Magnecor ignition leads I bought are defective. The rubber boots on two of them have split and the HT charge was arc-ing through the splits onto the cylinder head.

I put my old ignition leads back on (which are fine now that they have dried out) and the misifre was no more.

In a spectacular knucklehead follow-up, I threw away the original packaging for the Magnecors, so I can't send them back to the shop. I'll have to see how I get on with Magnecor themselves. Wish me luck!!

[shail 0]

Had the same problem with one of my Magnecore leads. Stealth orginally supplied and fitted them, so they arranged for a replacement HT lead (free of charge). Vince @ stealth told me that they had updated the boot design on the leads now. He also said that he'd only seen this before on S/C engines and not N/A like mine.

[golf on 20s 1]

mate i know shouldnt laugh but thats honestly the funniest thing ive read in ages!hope you get it sorted tho

[antera309 3]

mate i know shouldnt laugh but thats honestly the funniest thing ive read in ages!hope you get it sorted tho

Yep, all sorted now, although I wasted £60 by buying a set of faulty Magnecor leads and throwing away the packaging & receipt. All together now... KNUCKLE HEAD!!!!!!