peanut
Active member
if the car ran fine before you washed it and following the wash it wouldn't start i think its reasonable to assume that the liklihood is the problem was caused by water ingress into something vital rather than a component failure.
I would not recommend changing any components before you have tested everything first or you can introduce further problems .
My first step would be to check that water hasn't entered the ECU . As it is a conversion I have no idea where that might be placed but assume it will be behind a wooden board in passenger footwell as per S2 cars.This is a very common cause of starting and running issues following a car /engine bay wash. A hair dryer is an excellent way to dry our connectors and components.
If your tacho bounces when cranking the engine then it would be reasonable to assume that your crank sensor is functioning ok. There is a test procedure in the workshop manual . Water is not going to damage a CPS and it would be a big coincidence that it suddenly failed after washing your car.
Use a 3 wire bypass in place of the DME relay at all times when testing ,that way you have a guaranteed supply to the ECU fuel pump injectors and various sensors and you eliminate the DME relay being intermittant or faulty whilst testing
Using a 3 wire bypass you should hear the fuel pump continuously pumping even with the ignition switched off. Check that you have a strong spark at the plugs when cranking. If you have then there is unlikely to be anything wrong with your ignition components.
Remove the nut and ball bearing from the fuel pressure test point on the fuel rail and place a short length of garden hose on the thread into a plastic bottle. Replace the 3 wire bypass and check that you have good fuel delivery.if you energise the pump for 10 seconds and multiply the quantity flowed by x6 you can confirm fuel flow in litres per minute .
I would not recommend changing any components before you have tested everything first or you can introduce further problems .
My first step would be to check that water hasn't entered the ECU . As it is a conversion I have no idea where that might be placed but assume it will be behind a wooden board in passenger footwell as per S2 cars.This is a very common cause of starting and running issues following a car /engine bay wash. A hair dryer is an excellent way to dry our connectors and components.
If your tacho bounces when cranking the engine then it would be reasonable to assume that your crank sensor is functioning ok. There is a test procedure in the workshop manual . Water is not going to damage a CPS and it would be a big coincidence that it suddenly failed after washing your car.
Use a 3 wire bypass in place of the DME relay at all times when testing ,that way you have a guaranteed supply to the ECU fuel pump injectors and various sensors and you eliminate the DME relay being intermittant or faulty whilst testing
Using a 3 wire bypass you should hear the fuel pump continuously pumping even with the ignition switched off. Check that you have a strong spark at the plugs when cranking. If you have then there is unlikely to be anything wrong with your ignition components.
Remove the nut and ball bearing from the fuel pressure test point on the fuel rail and place a short length of garden hose on the thread into a plastic bottle. Replace the 3 wire bypass and check that you have good fuel delivery.if you energise the pump for 10 seconds and multiply the quantity flowed by x6 you can confirm fuel flow in litres per minute .
