applesAdam

So I bought a 1994 p/u 2 weeks ago. 217,00 miles, original engine but runs strong and seems to have no issues, until now.. Last night we had some heavy rain which resulted in me driving through standing water on my way home. I've never driven the truck in the rain before until last night so I didn’t know the water would tidal-wave up in front of me and completely block my view. Now I seem to have an issue accelerating. The engine will rev up fine in neutral or with the clutch in but when I’m running through the gears like normal, it feels like the brakes are dragging and it becomes very sluggish and will even loose speed traveling at highway speeds. If I floor it completely, the issue is not apparent and the truck accelerates as it would normally when floored.

This issue only started last night when the water splashed up over the hood several times, so I can’t help but think that the problem is somehow related to having a lot of water pass through the grille? I was hoping the issue would be gone this morning after everything in the engine bay had a chance to dry out but on the way to work I had the issue still. I am supposed to take the truck on a camping trip tonight and I’m hoping for a quick fix. Does anyone have an idea what might be causing this problem?

Thanks!
Adam

kcaudill

Check to see if your air filter is soaked with water

applesAdam

Thanks for the advice. The filter is definitely damp - previous owner had put in a K&N filter. I took the filter out completely and the issue seemed to be alleviated for the first mile or so and then it became a little worse than with the filter in - engine was sputtering slightly along with feeling sluggish and the idle was a bit rough. Put the filter back in and sputtering went away and idle got better.

When I put the filter back in, I left the engine running and when I got back in the sluggish feeling was not apparent for about 1 minute and then it returned.