Rough idle, help please

[rusty1 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close rusty1]

Hi all,

I have just washed my 98 GXL, 3.4 V6 dual fuel prado. I did not wash anything in the engine bay, however I did use a pressure washer underneath the whole car.

Since the wash the car runs really poorly, expecially at idle on either gas or petrol. The only thing I can think of is that I have got water into a sensor somewhere. My question is.....

Are there any sensors that may be exposed beneath the car that may have got water into them? Has anybody else had this problem?

The last thing I want is to have a car that plays up evertime it gets wet since the best tracks in Victoria have bagfulls of river crossings.

Thanks in advance
Rusty.

[rusty1 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close rusty1]

Problem solved...

I have no idea how, but two hoses had come off, creating a vacum leak, one that goes from the intake manifold to the drivers side rocker cover and another hose which slipped onto an eletronic thingy (excuse the tech jargon) near the charcoal cannister, passenger side near the firewall.

I can only assume that at some stage there was a backfire that I didn't notice, gas does that (it has a similar effect on the driver). I hate it when a fault coincides with another activity (ie car wash).

I have since put on a couple of hose clamps on the offending hoses but I think I will take them off again. The way I figure it is that if I stop the hoses popping off something harder to fix may take the force of the backfire next time.

[rob31.00 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close rob31.00]

Re: Rough idle, help please

Hey Rusty / All,
I was doing a couple of river crossings up near Litchfield NP (NT) and on my second or third crossing my 3.4L started running really rough in the middle of the river!!! The water level wasn't very high (water came level with bottom of number plate on bullbar) and with an Airtec snorkel I thought I had plenty of height left too me...

The fault cleared itself within 5 minutes of leaving the river.

It has repeated itself several times since then and really peeves me.

I can only assume that water gets in somewhere down low, I've searched the forums and found yours to be similar in symptoms.

Rusty - Can you please tell me a bit more detail on the hoses in question such that I can have a looksy at my car to see if they are the culprits?

Cheers
Rob

[fishfinder Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close fishfinder]

Re: Rough idle, help please

Rob , you said it was noticeable after river crossing - Have you checked to see if moisture got down the spark plug tubes ? Its common on alot of Toyota twin cam engines especially Camry's where a bit of moisture gets in and causes rough idle back fire etc ... all you need to do is remove plugs and give a good squirt of air from an air gun to dry moisture properly . Hope this helps

[rob31.00 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close rob31.00]

Re: Rough idle, help please

bit skeptical as the spark plugs are still 20 to 30 cms above the water level, it could be possible for the water to get into the plug area if the radiator fan spins water around the engine bay.

however after saying that I will try and replicate the fault on the weekend by squirting some water around the spark plugs.

thanks for that fishfinder...