Engine problems after cleaning

[Lauraetco]

Hello everyone,

I just cleaned my engine following the directions on this site. I wiped off the debris with a brush, covered the battery with a bag, sprayed it with degreaser, scrubbed it, and rinsed it with a hose. I didn`t think I needed to cover my distributor cap, etc. because my engine has a big plastic cover over it. It`s a 2001 Kia, Rio. Anyways, I misread the directions and started my engine before it was dry. It`s idling terribly! My whole car is shaking and the engine almost stopped completely. Is this normal when the engine is still wet or did I get water somewhere I wasn`t supposed to and cause permanent damage?

Thanks so much,

Laura

[joshtpa]

Not normally, but I have no experience with Kias...Lift the hood and let it dry out for a while and then try again.

[ptim]

You might want to check your plugs, if water got down on them, it will cause them to misfire and the engine will run like crap.

[Lauraetco]

Thank you. I will wait until it dried and then check my plugs to see if t hey are wet.

[mikebai1990]

Let it dry off before starting again. That should solve your problem.

[xtremekustomz]

Yeah, it should be fine once it is dry. Depending on the vehicle you might have gotten some water in the distrubutor cap. I did my truck one time and got some in the alternator. I started driving down the road and my volt meter pegged out into the red zone. I quickly pulled over and the water was bubbling out of the top of the battery. I disconnected the charging wire and let the truck run for a few minutes to dry it out and it worked fine after that.

[RTexasF]

Take off the distributor cap and spray WD-40 liberally on the inside, it will displace the water. Wipe out the excess, put it back on, and crank it up. This happens to me sometimes when I clean the engine on cars with distributors in spite of plastic bags and being careful. Quick fix!

[xtremekustomz]

Also I always tend to take an old shirt and wrap around the part before putting the bag over it just in case something gets through.