so here it is...plain and simple here, my engine/whole car was in about 1.5-2 feet of water a few weeks ago, (i just got it back from the shop) now it idles real low and when its not warm, it turns off. i changed the delteq ignition coils(which are on the top drivers side of my engine) and insurance was supposed to fix it, but all they did was change the oil...they blamed it on the coils. they wont pay to get my engine looked at/taken apart. i have to sign something saying i will pay if its not related to the water.

so my car...i hear knocking like wood, coming from my exhaust like its hitting the bottom of my car when i step on it, and it will barely move when i step on it.

i hear its probably because of the optispark is fuked cuz it got wet, but i seriously have no clue. its not running the way it used to, and i really want it to.


help me please!

oh, i'm sorry about the title...

 

Is the cat collapsed?

 

sorry, forgot to put mods.

engine mods that i know of, - headers, (no exhaust, just a 2 foot pipe that ends about at the feet of the back seat from each header), ignition coils instead of opti spark, electric water pump, and a knn air filter.

 

Assuming you still have the optispark in your car (one of your posts suggests you do, the other suggests you don't) I would change that. Are you sure your intake didn't suck in water and hydrolock the motor? Water in a motor = lots of damage. Insurance should cover that, it's water related after all. Collapsed catalytic converter is possible, but it sounds like you don't have one. Are you sure it is not more of a marbles in a glass jar sound? It is definitely a block of wood sound?

 

i cant really remember now that i havent drove it since last night, but it could have been marbles in a jar kinda sound, it was loud and embarassing.. nope, no cat, just straight pipes that end under the drivers seat. long headers and such..

how much water does there need to be in there before it hurts the engine bad? just a few drops...1liter? 1 gallon?

i have delteq ignition coils, but they still use the opti for a sensor signal (for the cam) to fire the coils.

no, i didnt come up with that - fixxer99TA told me that.

 

I would suspect your distributor since its so low and any water can damage it. What year is your car?

 

'97 firebird formula...

no distributor, just ignition coils..a little bit different. it isnt low, its on the top of the engine. its the highest part on the car, other than the master cylinder for the brakes.

 

i am not one to blame the opti, but i will in this case, it is still at the bottom front of the motor (even in your case), and still uses an optical sensor for timing perposes.

It would'ave had to have been running to get water in the motor... (in most cases, no hatin)

 

thats what i'm saying...i've researched it and the opti is the most likely case.

 

its the optical unit itself. every delteq owner's worst nightmare

 

why is the optical unit every delteq's worst nightmare?

 

its the last thing we wanna replace. Thats why they were put on our cars, so we could avoid having to change the opti.

 

optispark does have water in it, insurance is going to pay for it.
thank god i had them look at the opti first.

he could only check 3 chambers for psi, each one had 175 psi...good thing.
so far what i got is...3 rods arent bent, and the opti is causing misfires.

 

Good stuff, change that opti and drive that sucker. Post back when you get that opti changed too, if thats the only thing wrong then thats definitely +1 on the LT1 toughness factor

 

SO FAR THE INSURANCE ISNT ANSWERING MY CALLS...MAKING ME MAD, BUT YEAH, I HOPE IT GETS CHANGED BY THE END OF TODAY SO I CAN DRIVE IT THIS WEEKEND..Sry about caps! dont wanna re-type.

 

Yeah, they do that...

 

mkay, so the insurance went there, paid for it and its getting goin'...they wrote me a check for 1100 or something...thats how much it cost@lol. that shop ripped em off so bad, but i dont give a crap, they deserve it. my car should have been fixxed 3 weeks ago.

but w/e, hopefully and thanks to you all, my car will be running like normal when its all back together.

 

my car...still runs like a piece of ****, the idle is normal again, but for some reason the MAF code is pulling, and its brand ******* new...i dont get it.

when i first start it up, it will run at a high idle...1500, than if i get on it, it will go like normal..but if i stop at a stop light after driving it for a few seconds, it will start to run like **** and wont want to go over 2k-2500 rpm's, and this isnt good...i drove it lesss than 100 miles and it used about 15.2 gallons. so..any suggestions? i might give it a tune-up tomorrow and get a new MAF sensor(even tho its brand new from the dealership) i dont want to deal with those ******* anymore. no arcs n the wires or anything...absolutely nothing. but im getting 5 codes, and 3 i believe are o2 sensors, 1 MAF and w/e the other one is..

help? would the maf make my car run like this? i think the other sensors are pulling codes cuz of the car running so rich.

 

my computer was soaking wet, i cleaned it out and dried it out and it ran slightly different with different codes. going to update when i get the new computer monday.

 

http://i398.photobucket.com/albums/p...z/IMG_2851.jpg

http://i398.photobucket.com/albums/p...z/IMG_2858.jpg

http://i398.photobucket.com/albums/p...z/IMG_2868.jpg

http://i398.photobucket.com/albums/p...z/IMG_2869.jpg

http://i398.photobucket.com/albums/p...z/IMG_2871.jpg

http://i398.photobucket.com/albums/p...z/IMG_2839.jpg

thats what was in my cpu, a **** load of corrosion and water, when i turned the whole computer upside down, it dumped a bunch of corrosion filled water out.

when i cleaned my cpu out and dried it, it ran a little bit differently, and with different codes being pulled. i'm figuring this is my problem.