Team-BHP (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/)

-   Technical Stuff (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/technical-stuff/)

-   -   Help! Engine shut off & vibration issues after high pressure water wash (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/technical-stuff/258240-help-engine-shut-off-vibration-issues-after-high-pressure-water-wash.html)

Dear Members, Yesterday, I washed the engine of my Polo 1.2 TDI with a high pressure pump for the first time because the engine was getting very dirty, but after washing the engine, the car has started stalling on the road:Frustrati, and the engine of the car began vibrating a lot, it appears that the car is running on two cylinders rather than three, I checked the power plugs of the injectors, checked the spark plugs, everything appears to be fine, I need the assistance of Team BHP members on this because I live in a village and the service centre is 200 kilometres away. A local mechanic examines the engine and reports that everything is normal. However, I'm having a lot of issues with pickup and vibration. Members' valuable opinions will be important to me

You really need your car hooked up to a proper OBD scanner. It will most likely tell you the exact problem. Everything else is just trial and error. Expensive and frustrating unless you get lucky.

Good luck
Jeroen

Was this done when the engine was hot? If yes, that might be a bad idea.

Have you got a CEL yet? Like @Jeroen mentions an OBD scan for errors would help.

How long since this wash was done? Sometimes after the moisture dries out, the various electronic sensors behave and issue might be resolved.

Can you please confirm if yours is a petrol or diesel?

Also is there any check engine light on the dash?

1. Never pressure wash the engine bay as it can ruin the sensors, electronics etc. At the most use a garden hose and just spray water and immediately clean all areas.
2. If there is no check engine light, that means no water has gone in the engine, but there could be moisture on one or more sensors.
3. Double check all caps to see if no water has entered the engine oil. brake fluid, coolant, air intake areas etc.
4. Keep the bonnet open under the sun to dry off all the moisture.
5. Disconnect the positive terminal of the battery for about 10 minutes, reconnect and check.

Dear members, as I have mentioned that the car is Polo TDI, means diesel, when I washed the car, the engine was neither cold nor hot, because after driving the car for 20 km, I parked it at home for 30 minutes. after that engine was washed, the meter console was showing temperature about 60 degrees when it was washed. No warning light came in the meter console at the moment, obd tool is not available where I live. I kept pouring water on the engine for about 10 minutes, washing was done yesterday afternoon ,at that time the engine was off. I want if I can get any help here then that would be great otherwise I'll have to waste an entire day travelling to the service centre, which is 200 kilometres away.

I regret pressure washing the engine this time, and I won't do it again, sir.
Yes sir there is no warning light in the car, I will definitely try the point number 4 and 5 mentioned by you, tomorrow.
Thank you very much for helping sir. Hope the problem will be solved, as soon as the problem is solved I will share my experience in this form

I am guessing the worst case scenario here. But please see if water had entered into the air intake. If yes, chances are you may have hydrolocked the engine. Water may have entered into the air intake/air filter box and upon starting may have ingested it resulting in a bent connecting rod or two. I hope that isn't the case here but couldn't help thinking about it.

Check the condition of the air filter. Change or dry if it has gotten wet due to water ingress. Let the engine bay dry well in sun and take the car for a long spin and see if things improve.

This is all given that you can’t travel to the service centre; else OBD scan is the best bet.

The car engine bay should never be washed, whether with a garden hose or pressure hose is immaterial. There are lots of wires, electronic parts, sensors etc in cars and any or some or all of these can get damaged. Yes of course in our conditions, the engine will get dusty and dirty at times. In such cases it is best to use an air hose and blow away any dust and leaves and so on. Use of the air hose will also help in cleaning and de-clogging the vents and the rain water channels etc. After using the air hose and after washing the car externals, one can wipe the engine bay clean, patiently with a damp cloth and then apply polish/ dressing and detail the engine bay if needed. And then as needed one can apply the anti rat spray etc as well. But the bottomline is never clean the engine bay by spraying water on it.

Thank you sir, you have told me a very good way to clean the engine, this mistake will not be repeated from now on, I will clean the engine with a clean cloth and air only. The thing is, the engine was neither cleaned nor washed for the last 3 years, so I thought it necessary to wash the engine instead of cleaning it.



Sir, after reading your suggestion, I just opened the body of the air filter and checked, there is water in the air filter, the amount of water is not much, but still there is water in the filter since yesterday, I have placed the filter in the sun to dry and cleaned the filter housing with an air dry cloth, after that hopefully the problem will go away.

Sir there is water in the filter I have just opened the filter and seen it but it is not much around 50 to 80 ml only. I have kept the filter and filter housing in the sunlight to dry, hope no water has gone inside the engine. I had no idea that water entering the engine could cause such a serious issue. Thank you very much for your adviceclap:; I have learned a lot and will never make the mistake of washing the engine again.

I would suggest that if the filter has soaked water, you should consider replacing it. Though you may check your car's behavior after drying and fitting the filter but better to change it as soon as you get the opportunity.

Regards,
Saket

I want to thank the members of Team-BHP here because they helped me a lot. Also, I advise the Guest visitors and other members to never wash the car engine with high pressure water or with too much water. After washing the engine of my car i faced lots of problems like the car lost pickup, it seemed like the car was running on 2 cylinders instead of 3. The engine of the car started to vibrate a lot and also the car started to stop on the road while moving. I also took the car to a local mechanic, but he was unable to diagnose the issue. Then I shared this problem with Team-BHP members and after the valuable support of the members, my car problem was solved. There were two problems in the car, one was that the engine was not getting enough air due to water in the air filter. As soon as I dried the air filter in the sun , the car's engine came back to normal condition. Another problem was maybe there was water in some plug or sensor of the engine, when I left the engine in the sun for 3 hours maybe that sensor or plug got dry. After that I drove the car for 20 km and now everything is fine. I am very thankful to the members of Team BHP who have given their valuable time to help me. I am lucky to be a member of Team BHP. May God bless all the members.
Thank you all :cool:

Good to see your problem has vanished! :)
The community is a wonderful place, isn’t it?!

Yes, yes, no doubt about it dear Saket77, Team BHP is a very good platform:Cheering:, where there is quality content, there are strict and same rules for everyone.this is a Community of Legend members. now I prefer to spend more time on team-bhp than spending time on Facebook or social media. Because there is a lot to learn here.

Absolutely :loveit unconditional love whether you are petrol, diesel, electric, four or two wheels. It's just love.