96 cav. cranks but will not start... PLEASE HELP!

[JimofWare]

Hi, I am stuck 70 miles from home with my crappy cav. We have been getting tons of rain the past few days so i figure it is water related. I had to drive through a puddle on the way here about 5 minutes before I parked the car...

here is what is going on I hit the puddle it was running fine after that. I parked the car for abut 10 hours and went bck to start it and it just turns over. it does not catch and try to start (it is likeit is not getting spark or gas maybe). all the gauge lights stay on when it is crankingincludingthe theft light. I think maybe some water got into the poorly placed computer. I have no clue how to dry this thing out or what else I can try... if I have to get it towed it is going to cost a fortune... please help me!!!

[GTP Dad]

Go to a parts store and get a can of starting fluid and a can of wd-40. Remove the air cleaner intake and spray starting fluid into the throttle body while someone cranks the car. If it starts then you have a fuel problem. If not you have an ignition issue. Remove the ignition module and dry it underneath and spray the mounting plate with the WD40. Then remove the wires from the coils and make sure there is not water in the coil posts. Spray the wires, if they are external with the WD-40 if not then don't bother. If the computer is externally mounted remove the connections and dry them by spraying with the WD40. It will displace any water on the connections and allow good contact. If you don't want to use the WD-40 purchase a can of ignition drying spray and try that.

If the theft light is on then do the reset and see what happens. Turn Key on for 10 min. off for 30 secs. do it three times and on the third time the car should start if that is the problem.

[JimofWare]

what lights should come on when I turn the key to acc. the theft light comes on and stays on when it is cranking... I had theft light problem before when i forgot to hook up the wire that goes to the lock when I had the dash appart and it is not acting the same now... I need it to stop raining so I can get out and work on it... also how dead on do you need to be time wise for the 10 min on 30 sec off?

thanks

[Lances133]

Fellow New Englander, I know what you mean about this rain, it f*cking sucks.

[JimofWare]

so it sat for a few days and the sun came out today... I have been trying it when I get home from work to see if it would start. today it did. So this is great...


NOW FOR MY QUESTION:

how can I track down where I am having water problems. should I unplug everything from the computer and spray it with drier/cleaner. what else should I do. coil packs? anything else I should look at?

thanks
Jim

[Cap0ni]

are all your splash guards on and in proper placment? i had a similar problem on my monte carlo but i had the spash guards off for some work and just hadnt put them back on yet. Of course my alternator was on the bottom and got drenched, with a 96 Cav your alternator is on the top left... just a thought not everything under there responds well to a heavy dosing of water and if your splash shields arent there there is nothing preventative to do other than fix them.

ps driving thorugh a huge puddle and then turning the car off is generally not a good idea anyway, preventative measure part 2, avoid puddles in the future in any car.