Questions and Answers
Washed Engine To Death
Q. I just finished washing the engine compartment of my 1996 Toyota Tacoma with 150,000 miles on it. As I started it up and drove it about a mile the check engine light started flashing. I thought to check for water in the distributer but it was dry. I noticed that the catalytic converter was glowing red.
I have replaced the converter but the engine still has a severe hesitation to it. I am going to try to run a compression check on it in the morning. I have tried cleaning the EGR valve, and checking all visible wire connectors. I am going to do a compression check in the morning. Is there anything you can suggest?
Thank you,
DKellyA. Yes, don't drive the truck. A check engine light that's on steady is one thing but a check engine light that blinks indicates impending converter damage. You've already ruined one converter and you may ruin the second if you're not careful. Being that the converter was glowing red indicates that excess gas is being injected and is burning in the converter.
It's possible water may be causing a short almost anywhere, throttle position sensor, engine temp sensor, O2 sensor connectors? My best advice would be to take it to your local dealer and invest in the hour or two diagnostic time they'll want to charge you. They will at least retrieve the trouble code that's been set in the computer and possibly repair the problem while they're troubleshooting it.
To keep costs down,you don't have to let them repair it, just diagnose it and you can do parts replacement if needed. Trust me when I say, your dealer has seen this problem many times and a Toyota Master Tech would chew this problem up and spit it out! Whatever you do, don't start throwing parts at the truck in a vain attempt to fix it. Go to your local dealer and explain what happened and if possible talk to one of their master techs.
Additional Information provided courtesy of ALLDATA
