ColinW

I washed my Scoob on Sunday (fisrt time for months), and used a hose pipe to rinse it, so got water through all the 'gaps' in the bonnet. I didn't think this would be a problem.
I didn't drive the car until the following morning, when I had real problems starting the car. The noise was like a whining noise but I could (very) faintly hear the sound of the engine catching, which gave me hope, so I perservered and eventually it started.
Has anyone else experienced this ?
Should I have driven the car after washing ?
Should I be more careful where the water goes ?

Diablo

I'd suggest a run after washing to ensure enough heat in engine bay to evaporate off excess water.

D.

(Who probably sprays gallons of water into scoop and vent drain holes when washing with no ill effects )

Otis

Diablo has the right idea. I have read postings of brakes locking on overnight after washing so I take her for a quick blast for 5 mins. Never had the brake problem or the start problem but do it as a precaution.

Otis.
MY00

jjones

Just a thought...

I have had a similar experience with both a Primera GT and a scoob.

When washing the car the tendancy is to drive the car out of the garage and park on the drive. This (even in the datsun) takes only seconds. When you try to restart the car it floods ( with petrol not water ).

Maybe something to do with unburnt fuel from the first movement. This was confirmed by a nissan dealer and friends have had similar experiences with other marques when starting/stopping them quickly. The solution is to let the car idle for 20 seconds after moving.

Hope this helps.

(apologies if this doesn't make sense to the 'techies')


p.s. it's good to be back!

[This message has been edited by jjones (edited 11-04-2000).]

firefox

Howdy...

Chances are its an electrical fault.

There are two connectors by the battery (next to the washer bottle) that connect the engine loom to the car loom (simply put). Chances are you got water in these. They are packed with grease to stop it.. but water still penetrates. There is also another connector on the drivers side too.

J.

DanTheMan

On a similair note....I took off the drivers side air vent blanking plate from the underside of the bonnet to aid cooling/induction, but as you can imagine it let loads of rain in overnight (onto the alarm), it all works OK but I have put it back as I'm worried the damp will bugger it up (and help the rot set in)......am I right to worry ??? :-(

ColinW

jjones
I think I can rule out flooding the engine as the cause. The car is always garaged. 3 days of the week I back the car out of the garage, stop and switch the engine off. I go into the house, collect my little boy, put him in the car and then drive off and have never had a starting problem in this case.
I was just a bit surprised that washing the car would be any worse than leaving the car out in the rain all day, when I've had no problems either.

Mark Underwood

Hi Guys

Whatever the car we valet, we always but always leave the engine running when preparing the underbonnet areas and also when rinsing off. After washing etc we leave the motor to tick over for about 20 mins...never had a problem even when we have power washed a scooby engine bay.

Take a peak at our new website

Al Harcombe

Never had this with both scoobies owned. Had it with previous car, a clio 16v. Took it out of garage washed and dried it then put it back in garage. Went to take it out of the garage 5hrs later and would not start. Tried a few times, engine spins but would not catch. Gave up and called in RAC. Rac arrived and started car with a lot of smoke out of exhaust and finally got on to four cylinders. His comment was they have had a lot of cars do this. Problem put down cat being cold which causes fuel/exhaust vapours to block up the cat. Recommended never starting/stopping car. Always let the car idle for a short time to let cat warm up. Have done this every time since and never had problem repeat with clio or scoobies