edcutah

94 Prev parked outside. Never had a starting problem previously. This morning, heavy heavy rains on west coast, very high humidity. Went to start the Prev - no go. Tried cranking three times. Starter works. 1 misfire. Then not a hint. For moment letting it sit. There is not going to be sun until tomorrow, with intermittent heavy showers and high humidity. There is water on the battery, around the MAF. Hard to tell how much water and where it may have trickled. I'm hopeful the high humidity or a little water egress is messing with the ignition. So igniter? distributor? and what about fuel pump electrical connections. On a cold engine, can the ambient humidity suppress spark?

FYI, The motor is a super-charged long block with normally aspirated intake. Ignition advanced about 12, Runs slightly rich, the best the computer can do Just 20 mpg hwy, 15mpg in the city. Less power than normal at high altitude and on steep climbs. Supercharged motors have slightly less compression and the camshaft is different than non-supercharged motors.

Like I said, my plan of action at moment is to let it sit, but... What component(s) is/are most likely shot, shorted, ie permanently damaged? and could someone outline a diagnostic course of action. Thank you kind Previa tribe.

millball

You could try to dry out some of the wet connectors/distributor with WD-40.

WD stands for water displacement ya know. One of the products' first advertised uses.

Co_94_PU

iTrader: (-1)

Should have weather proof connectors on all the important stuff in that era.

I would start by getting eyes on the inside of the distributor, check for a soaked ignition box and puddles at and near the coil. Blast it with the wd40 like mentioned and wipe it clean and dry.

Then run your battery voltage, and spark tests.

Replace the distributor o ring, seal around the pickup boot with fipg, and relocate the dizzy cap breather with a bit of vacuum line and make sure it has a drip loop in it and filter on the end.

Take the ignitor inside and the house and put it into a brand new bag of rice, or in a zip lock with a big bag of siica absorbent, to absorb any moisture (like you do a water logged cell phone). The maybe slather it with dielectric for future prevention.


That's all I've got. I don't do water logged electrical. It's why I have the bad seller rating

edcutah

Started no problem about 30 hours later. All I did was put a container of dry gas in a 1/2 tank of gas just in case and crossed my fingers. Visual inspection of distributor and coil showed no sign of water. Water had evaporated off the battery in that time. It did rain some over the period, heavy at times, but the humidity had gone down a reasonable amount.