Help Help Help

Hey guys this is a lil off topic, but I trust your answers better than the Pontiac Forum's. So here goes:

I have a '97 Grand Am 2.7L and I went to clean the engine bay out with some degreaser today. I sprayed the compartment down with the degreaser, let it set, then rinsed it off with a water hose. I went back out a few minutes later to start it up and it would turn over and start to run for a second then it would die. It stayed running approx. 5 seconds if that. I have tried it multiple times and still no go. I tried blowing the excess water off of the engine with an air hose, but that didnt work either. I checked the fuse block next to the engine and found no burnt fuses or standing water inside, but blew it out just in case. I checked the fuse block next to the gauge cluster and found no burnt fuses. I also checked the air box and saw no water and the filter wasn't wet. My dad suggested it might be the Mass Air Flow Sensor. Does anybody know what this could be? I have tried about 30 times to crank but can't get it to run more than 5 seconds.

Any and all help will be greatly appreciated,

When you say "runs for 5 seconds"-

runs normal/rough/sputtering/???

Did you check your distributor housing and plug wires??

It runs normally. It dies just as soon as the RPMs level off immediately after start-up.

Just a shot in the dark, someone here should know more about it. Could it be the oil pressure sensor. If the computer is not reading any oil pressure, it may shut down the motor.

James

Oddly enough, last week I had to replace the oil pressure sensor switch. It was letting oil pass through it and spurting it out into the engine bay, thus the need to clean it in the first place. I also was thinking that water had gotten on some wire and shorted something out, but I have no clue. For the sake of saying I did, I just disconnected the battery and am going to let it sit over night then reconnect it in morning and see if that has any affect on it.

I figured out what it was! I called the dealership and told what was going on and they said to turn the key on and let it sit for about 10 min to see if the Theft warning light turned off after 10 min. It went off then the radio anti-theft light stayed lit instead of flashing. They said this meant that something with the ignition cylinder went out. So I had to get a new one and take my old tumblers for my key set out of the old one and put into the new one (that saved about $70!). So total to repair this was about $190 and an hour or so. Thanks guys for all your help. Now I just need to find out how to unlock my radio, changing the ignition cylinder made the radio lock out.