SharkyUK
ClioSport Club Member
Apologies for posting this excerpt both here and in my project thread but I'm after some help and this is a good place to ask...
It never rains, it pours. Quite literally.
What happened? I f**ked up.
This weekend gone I decided to open up the bonnet and carry out a bit of routine maintenance and to give the engine a wipe down with a cloth / degreaser. It was a lovely day, blue sky and the good lady had gone off to work (hence a hassle-free afternoon! LOL!) So, yes, I opened up the bonnet and went about my business in terms of getting the degreaser, the cloths, fresh oil (to top-up), screen wash - the usual stuff.
I was faffing around getting the bits sorted, making a cuppa and answering the call of nature when I heard the heavens open and - sure enough - it was absolutely p**sing down. I got back outside and found the engine bay soaked and water pooled across the top of the block (right where the HT leads and spark wells are located). I quickly mopped up and shut the bonnet but obviously was fearing the worst.
After the rain had passed I went back out and opened her up again and found the engine bay pretty much soaked. A quick look at the trumpets suggested that - thankfully/hopefully - water had not got through the filter and into the trumpets. On removing the HT leads... *sigh* ...water was found in the wells. I immediately got the water out using a spray from an old cleaning product bottle and dried up the well as best I could (I didn't fancy removing the spark plugs at this point as I was pretty miffed and hoping that water might have somehow not leaked further down).
There followed some hefty drying and eventually I decided to try and turn her over.
The engine turned over and she kicked into life without a problem. She was idling fine (no different from normal as far as I could tell) and there were no obvious signs of problems. But after a short while she started to become a little bit lumpy. Not so far as to the point of cutting out, but definitely lumpy. I turned off and left the engine to dry further whilst it was warm. Upon starting it again it started without problem and - again - I noticed no obvious problems. After several minutes of running it was still fine, no judder, no smoke, no misfire, no signs of excess water or moisture. At this point I decided to take it for a short drive.
After a brief judder as I pulled from my driveway (which may have been my map as it is a bit lumpy around 2k) it was driving steady and without issue. I didn't want to stress the engine hence took it extremely cautiously. I drove a good 20 miles without a single problem and it was only on the return home when it started juddering. You could hear the pops and bangs as it misfired and the obvious judder shook the car, and the power dropped massively. It would run for a few seconds down on cylinders before catching another spark and - oomph - the power came back and it was like having NOS!
To cut a long and boring story short, I'm after some guidance / advice as to what to do next and things to check/try. Obviously I'm hoping no serious damage has been done as I've only just really got my car back as I want it after a long line of troubles. I'm gutted this has happened but not half as p**sed off as I am at myself for leaving the f**cking bonnet open. (Rant over, help/advice welcomed).
Cheers.
It never rains, it pours. Quite literally.
What happened? I f**ked up.
This weekend gone I decided to open up the bonnet and carry out a bit of routine maintenance and to give the engine a wipe down with a cloth / degreaser. It was a lovely day, blue sky and the good lady had gone off to work (hence a hassle-free afternoon! LOL!) So, yes, I opened up the bonnet and went about my business in terms of getting the degreaser, the cloths, fresh oil (to top-up), screen wash - the usual stuff.
I was faffing around getting the bits sorted, making a cuppa and answering the call of nature when I heard the heavens open and - sure enough - it was absolutely p**sing down. I got back outside and found the engine bay soaked and water pooled across the top of the block (right where the HT leads and spark wells are located). I quickly mopped up and shut the bonnet but obviously was fearing the worst.
After the rain had passed I went back out and opened her up again and found the engine bay pretty much soaked. A quick look at the trumpets suggested that - thankfully/hopefully - water had not got through the filter and into the trumpets. On removing the HT leads... *sigh* ...water was found in the wells. I immediately got the water out using a spray from an old cleaning product bottle and dried up the well as best I could (I didn't fancy removing the spark plugs at this point as I was pretty miffed and hoping that water might have somehow not leaked further down).
There followed some hefty drying and eventually I decided to try and turn her over.
The engine turned over and she kicked into life without a problem. She was idling fine (no different from normal as far as I could tell) and there were no obvious signs of problems. But after a short while she started to become a little bit lumpy. Not so far as to the point of cutting out, but definitely lumpy. I turned off and left the engine to dry further whilst it was warm. Upon starting it again it started without problem and - again - I noticed no obvious problems. After several minutes of running it was still fine, no judder, no smoke, no misfire, no signs of excess water or moisture. At this point I decided to take it for a short drive.
After a brief judder as I pulled from my driveway (which may have been my map as it is a bit lumpy around 2k) it was driving steady and without issue. I didn't want to stress the engine hence took it extremely cautiously. I drove a good 20 miles without a single problem and it was only on the return home when it started juddering. You could hear the pops and bangs as it misfired and the obvious judder shook the car, and the power dropped massively. It would run for a few seconds down on cylinders before catching another spark and - oomph - the power came back and it was like having NOS!
To cut a long and boring story short, I'm after some guidance / advice as to what to do next and things to check/try. Obviously I'm hoping no serious damage has been done as I've only just really got my car back as I want it after a long line of troubles. I'm gutted this has happened but not half as p**sed off as I am at myself for leaving the f**cking bonnet open. (Rant over, help/advice welcomed).
Cheers.
