Water in spark plugs.

[bal]

my car (92 civic EG gen2 JDM b16a) hasnt been driven for about 3 months due to loss of licence (only starting it every couple of days without any problems)

When i went to drive it last night the idle was terrible and it had no power at all i took the spark plug leads out to check the plugs and the two middle plugs and they were drowned in water. i got all the water out and drove it then it was a bit better but still not anywhere near fixed. was just wondering how the water could got in there and if anyone has had this problem b4 ??

Im going to replace the plugs today and see how that goes

any help would be appreciated.

cheers Lindsay.

[JasonGilholme]

Could water be coming in through your head gasket or rocker cover gasket?? I'm not too knowledgable about where the cooling system runs through the engine but that could be one of the things. Either that or the seals on those spark plug leads have shit their pants and water was coming in through the front grill??

Hope this helps. Good luck

[EuroDude]

Did you wash the engine at any stage? Maybe condensation caused the water buildup.

It happened to me once, I simply cleaned out the sparkplug holes and bought new spark plugs - good as new.

[Spicey]

I second Eurodude, Prolly from when it has been washed or condensation from sitting around. Changing the plugs should fix it but sometimes the leads may track through their insulation and will require replacing.

Hope this helps!

[bal]

yeah i havent washed under the hood for a while not to sure about the gaskets the engine was rebuilt about 20000kms ago so i hope its not that and see how that goes

ill change the plugs and see how that goes

thanks all

[spetz]

If the gasket was leaking I think there would be froth in the engine where you open the oil cap
And I have just checked it, all seems fine and clean

[spetz]

PS. The head gasket is a copper one

[bal]

ok new plugs in and power wisr the car i fine but now i have huge vibrations at high rpm in my engine bay that have never been there before

What the f**k is going on 3 months ago this was a perfectly running car it does nothing but get started every now and then for that time and now its no where near perfect i put a new muffler on and to mine and my friends suprise the vibratios are now not as bad but still they are bad

anyone??

[EuroDude]

Any power loss? Maybe one of the spark plug leeds have failed or the distributor has a problem (worn dizzy cap), and the car is running on only three cylinders.


When I had water in my sparky holes, the car ran ok at low revs, but it was vibrating like crazy at mid-high revs.

If you have a multimeter, you can check the resistance of the leeds. If they are in bad shape, change all four of them.

The dizzy cap is not very expensive so replace that if the leeds are ok.


ps. Give the car an oil change while you are at it :thumbsup:

[bal]

no power loss but the engine hesitates when taking off but then runs fine untill vtec when the whole front end starts to shake.

iam going to replace the leads i live in caberra and nobody other than the honda dealership has leads for a b16a and honda want $240 for them
i waiting for a guy to pm me about some NGK leads so when i get them ill see how it goes

[nugget666]

I would be going for cracked headgasket.

[bal]

but how does a rebuilt engine get a cracked head gasket by just sitting there??

[EuroDude]

Are there any oil or water leaks anywhere? Or is the engine completely dry?
The oil level is between min and max yeah?

[bal]

oil and water levels are all fine the engine is dry no leaks no nothing

[EuroDude]

Well in the meantime whilst waiting for the new leeds, you could take off the Distributor cap and check the condition of the metal contacts. Scrub the white powdery stuff off the contacts and clean/tighten the leed connectors, and see how that goes.

[cuongn]

thats the same probplem with me, there was water in mine too, i just bought a new NGK leads for $68. and i'm still using my ngk ilridum spark plugs witch onli done 3000kms would it be best if i buy newe ones or is it ok to use da ones i have now...help me out???

[cuongn]

would it be ok if i spray degreaser on my spark plugs to clean it up.?

[EuroDude]

thats the same probplem with me, there was water in mine too, i just bought a new NGK leads for $68. and i'm still using my ngk ilridum spark plugs witch onli done 3000kms would it be best if i buy newe ones or is it ok to use da ones i have now...help me out???


They should still be ok. Take them out and give them a clean, and check the colour of the spark plug tips - they should be a brounish/greyish tan colour. If they are not that colour, I would change them, or at least give them a clean.

I would use an old toothbrush and warm water to clean them. Dont use any harsh chemicals or oils on them.

[bal]

where did u buy your leads from i got quoted 95 that includes shipping ot the ACT

[bal]

i just did a ECU test and got error code 20 which is Eletrical Load Detector could this have anything to do with my problem??

[JasonGilholme]

Could do. Maybe you're engine isn't grounded properly?? Anyone agree??

[BananaBoat]

Stupid Question,

but have you replaced your petrol since the car has been sitting doing nothing for months on end.

Fuel tends to go off and attract condensation from its surroundings, ie, cold block etc etc.

My suggestions:
1. Fill up with a known good fuel and maybe add an octane boost for the first tank.
2. ELD will not cause performance issues.

[bal]

yeah have filled tank but can fuel cause an engine to vibrate so violently like the whole dash moves

[EuroDude]

Could do. Maybe you're engine isn't grounded properly?? Anyone agree??

Yeah I was thinking that too.

Although the engine could simply be 'dirty' after so long in storage.
I cleaned out the throttle body to recover my engine after two months storage.

[aaronng]

Have you checked the dizzy yet?

I think that at high RPM, one of your plugs is not sparking and thus giving you the vibrations. Since fuel still enters, it then wets your spark plug.

[spetz]

As far as head gasket cracking, this is a copper one and the engine was rebuilt about 25ish thousand km ago

The vibrations are like a resonant vibration, very harsh but fairly slow (not crazy fast as you would expect from 8000rpm), almost like an engine mount is gone but I doubt it is? In neutral giving it throttle the engine does not move much

[bennjamin]

did you mention if the "Water" is on the head of the spark plug , or the "thread" ? When you take your sparkplug out with a tool etc , oil or water etc fromt he upper head can simply leak down onto the electrode and give the impression that it "Came" from the combustion chamber area.

A good example , is when the spark plug O rings are worn , oil leaks down ~ user takes out spark plug and alittle oil leaks onto the electrode , user freaks out !

[bal]

the water was on the head of the plugs i dired it all up before we took the plugs out.

[bal]

replaced the leads and all is good no vibrations and steady idle

thanks to everyone for your help

[Rivic]

If its the head go to ur local repco store or any auto store n grab some chemi-weld...seals the craked head gasket all up...i own a 91 ED n have done well over 8000kms on a blown headgasket n sealed it up just by putting this in i swear by the stuff..try it!..its not going to fix it for good but certainly does the job for the time being.. (There are plenty of other brands but this is wot i use..)

[Rivic]

^^^ Shit!..haha my bad din realise there were more pages only read dwn to where u were talkin about the blown head..scrap my reply...:thumbdwn: :zip: :o

[vtec_king]

r u sure u got ur leads in deir right holes ?
it could b dat !!!

[bal]

yeah its actually all fixed now so no it wasnt that

the leads were f**ked