the other day i was offroading with a friend in his suzuki sidekick.

the trail was mostly mud/water, some rocks (not big ones though) nearing the end of the trial, we had some problems. he'd floor it, and there would be a delay before the RPM's went up. there was also some popping sounds coming from the exhaust or engine. eventually, it got worse... it was really hard for him to get the RPM's up. going through one deep puddle, we slowed down and eventually stopped because he couldnt accelerate. we managed to start it up and get out though. in the next puddle, we stopped near the end. this time, we couldnt get it started. we tried on and off for about 10-15 minutes, and then decided to call a friend. it took us a while to get a hold of him. we didn't try to start the engine for about 10-15 minutes, in hopes that that would fix it.. we got ahold of our friend, and he was on his way up to get us. we kept trying for another 10-15 minutes while waiting.. still nothing. it would turn over, but not run. so we just said forget it, and waited. we decided to try about another 10 minutes later, and it did start. we managed to make our way out of the trail, and our friend was just getting there. now his sidekick runs fine, no problem.

i think it was probably just some water somehow sucked in through the exhaust. or maybe air filter. sucked in somewhere. what do you guys think, and how can you prevent this?

thanks, rowan

 

Sounds like he got water in the distributors cap .

 

what's that? :rolleyes: not what goes over the plugs, is it?

i dont know ANYTHING. im learning though... thats part of the purpose of the forum, right?

thanks.

 

R,
The distributor is what gives each plug the electricity to spark. I guess it might be a good idea to check the seals on the distributor... It wouldn't be just one plug wire because then it would just would not be running on all cyls and be running like absolute crap.

Hey, did you get a cool bumper, or did you have to go with the stock?

 

yeah okay, tahts what i thought it was. i checked those while we were on the trail, but didnt see any water.

yes, i did get a really nice bumper from ARB.... its the same that's on Corey's rig.. here are some pics.. it comes black, which is good - matches my truck
6 pics of it here

Corey's rig... a little ways down on this page

can't wait to get my truck back, should be this week or early next week... maybe a little longer, but i doubt it.

 

I have to agree, if not in the cap, in the park plug wells. Come to think of it, it was probably in the wells and evaporated off (due to the engines heat), thats why the problem disappeared after letting it sit for a while.
I used to use WD-40 to get rid of water in the dist. cap of my 510's, short term fix only though, the WD would burn and leave deposits on the points, leading to other problems.

 

Hey Fred, you had 510's? Man, those are great cars. I had a '72 wagon (passed down from my pops) and I kept my '68 wagon almost 20 years. Water/moisture in the cap was common. At one point, I sealed it with silicone. My last Datsun was a '72 truck. My wagon is rotting in a friends yard, may restore it for my son when he drives.
butnut

 

okay. well to be honest, i only checked one of them.
its not my car, and i dont really like the kid, so ... haha jk.

 

Maybe the problem was just the simple fact that you all were riding in a Suzuki Sidekick. :pat:

 

cybrenergy - definatly had something to do with it

what a P.O.S.:pat: