Hesitation then transmission issues

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haggarSHO

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I was leaving from visiting a friend at work, I had just gotten my car washed.

The exit to this business is a pretty steep incline onto a busy street. When I turned onto the street, my tires spun a bit, from the combination of over compensating for the incline and they were still a bit wet.

When I was accelerating I noticed a bit of a hesitation. I was worried maybe a sensor got wet. It drove fine but kept "hesitating" while I was on the interstate.

A few miles down the interstate and everything seems to be smooth, I don't feel the hesitation, I can accelerate smoothly, then I exit.

After I exit the interstate I notice something doesnt sound and feel right with the transmission, I'm shifting fine, but something all of the sudden feels a bit disconnected, at idle, in neutral the engine feels like it's running rough, and there's a loud rattle below the shifter, in sync with the rpms and the vehicle is vibrating a bit.

Goes into gear fine, then I let off the clutch and accelerated slowly, clutch works fine, car moves, still a rattle in sync with the rpms I can FEEL whatever's going on down there when I put my foot on the gas, shift into second, shifts fine, still accelerating very slowly.

Once I got to about 40mph it sort of feels like something slips a bit, for a split second, I immediately let off, and was able to from there coast into my parking spot at my apartment.



So did I do something to the diff when I accidentally spun the tires? If so why did the transaxle feel weird almost 10 minutes later?

I saw no liquid beneath the car when I parked at my apartment, I didn't have time to jack it up when I got home, I can jack it up tomorrow though and get underneath it.

Ideas on what to look for?
 

haggarSHO

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Is the crank pulley spinning straight? Check for water in spark plug holes?

Hmm, ill have to check tomorrow. I was just thinking since the issue was still occuring when i was in neutral at idle, that would rule out anything transmission/differential related would it not?

EDIT: Yeah the more I think about it the more the crank pulley makes sense. In the morning I'll check it out and report back.
 
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haggarSHO

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Hmm, ill have to check tomorrow. I was just thinking since the issue was still occuring when i was in neutral at idle, that would rule out anything transmission/differential related would it not?

EDIT: Yeah the more I think about it the more the crank pulley makes sense. In the morning I'll check it out and report back.

All pulleys are spinning straight, but the motor has a lot of vibration at idle, which is making me think motor mounts? But it is causing sort of a "POPOPOPOPOPOPOP" out of the exhaust, instead of the normal rumble. I'm praying it's not something internal.

I'm trying to get a video for you guys but my phone is just not cooperating and my HD Flip camera is apparently broken.
 

haggarSHO

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Here's a video of the vibration, taken on my cellphone and it's tough to tell but the motor is vibrating pretty good. (you can see the vibration best @ 17 seconds or so)

[YOUTUBE]zynz6SRSoTA[/YOUTUBE]



Any ideas guys?
 

trainguy1989

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Check for water in the spark plug holes front and back(you have a cowl hood). A cylinder balance test may narrow things down. You are missing on one of the cylinders. The motor mounts on that car are in great shape when I let it go. So I doubt it is anything like that.
 

haggarSHO

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Check for water in the spark plug holes front and back(you have a cowl hood). A cylinder balance test may narrow things down. You are missing on one of the cylinders. The motor mounts on that car are in great shape when I let it go. So I doubt it is anything like that.

Yeah I knew the motor mounts were reinforced so I was reluctant to consider that, but you never know.

Just pulled the codes and did a cylinder test.

Problem with cylinder #3

I also got:
519 (O) PSP switch/circuit open - PSP
116 (O,R) Engine Coolant (ECT) sensor out of range - ECT


So water in my plug well causing a miss on cylinder 3? Does that sound like the culprit?
 
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boat

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You said you washed the car before it was doing this? I bet the water is the culprit. Jayro on here has a cowl hood and got water down in some of his plug wells when he washed his car.

....

Just pulled the codes and did a cylinder test.

Problem with cylinder #3

I also got:
519 (O) PSP switch/circuit open - PSP
116 (O,R) Engine Coolant (ECT) sensor out of range - ECT


So water in my plug well causing a miss on cylinder 3? Does that sound like the culprit?
 

haggarSHO

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You said you washed the car before it was doing this? I bet the water is the culprit. Jayro on here has a cowl hood and got water down in some of his plug wells when he washed his car.

Yeah it's sounding more like it. It was RIGHT after I washed it, just gotta be more careful with that hose I suppose.

Shouldn't be anything more than just a plug and maybe a wire if that's the case no?
 

boat

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I wouldn't pull the plug until you get the water sucked out of there. I think if you unplug it and find a way to suck the water out, then try to soak up the rest of the water out with a paper towel. I'd check the rest of those plug wells too for water. After doing that, I wouldn't think you need to pull the plugs out, in fact I wouldn't unless they are damaged or it still doesn't run right after doing all of that.

Yeah it's sounding more like it. It was RIGHT after I washed it, just gotta be more careful with that hose I suppose.

Shouldn't be anything more than just a plug and maybe a wire if that's the case no?
 

haggarSHO

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I wouldn't pull the plug until you get the water sucked out of there. I think if you unplug it and find a way to suck the water out, then try to soak up the rest of the water out with a paper towel. I'd check the rest of those plug wells too for water. After doing that, I wouldn't think you need to pull the plugs out, in fact I wouldn't unless they are damaged or it still doesn't run right after doing all of that.

Thanks man, I will try this and report back tomorrow.
 

SHOdded

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It has been suggested on this forum to use the sprayer part of a spray bottle to suck out the water into a cup as the fastest way to get rid of water in the spark plug wells. HTH.
 

kevinspann

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If it's water...drive it. It'll boil out. Mine did at least, but that was on a two hour ride.
 

jayro

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I just used my air compressor with the blow gun on it. Of course water went everywhere including all over me.
 

sperold

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Did you happen to gas up around the same time.
Sometimes bad gas gives you very bad results.
 

haggarSHO

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Pulled the wire, was actually pretty dry in there, but shoved a paper towel in the well, and wiped the wire down, put it back in and the miss was gone, driving fine now.


So hurray for the easiest fix I've done on an SHO.
 

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