Help, went through a puddle, now no spark.

[bruce]

Yup, start with the basics and work from there. You are currently all over the place like a mad woman's diahhroea (I can't spell that).

[93_Clubman]

Didn't realise the Eunos Roadster had a cat warning light, but as you say it certainly does:
"Catalytic converter overheat warning light in dash (instead of foglight symbol) this also means the cat has an extra hole in it for the probe; remove it if required"
http://www.quithel.co.uk/zz_Eunos_v_MX5.htm

Just thinking out loud, but may be for testing purposes you could remove it & short the sensor wires, given the cat & sensor would possibly have been submerged drving through the water?

[StanTheMan]

thats a geat read

[93_Clubman]

From the little available, it seems the warning light can be on with the vehicle still able to run:
http://forum.miata.net/vb/archive/index ... 04491.html

http://realbig.com/miata/1999-05/2427.html

http://cgi.ebay.ph/Cat-heat-sensor-prob ... ILF:PH:102

Btw, if you've not already tried it, it might be worth disconnecting the battery & depressing the brake pedal a few times over a period of about 10 seconds or so to clear ECU codes & reset the ECU.

Yeah, some great stuff overall on the Quithel site!

[mattah]

From the little available, it seems the warning light can be on with the vehicle still able to run:
http://forum.miata.net/vb/archive/index ... 04491.html

http://realbig.com/miata/1999-05/2427.html

http://cgi.ebay.ph/Cat-heat-sensor-prob ... ILF:PH:102

Btw, if you've not already tried it, it might be worth disconnecting the battery & depressing the brake pedal a few times over a period of about 10 seconds or so to clear ECU codes & reset the ECU.

Yeah, some great stuff overall on the Quithel site!

Yeah I actually disconnected the cat probe and tried it, the car still didn't start.

I've done the battery/brake trick with no discernable effect. I guess I could try it again.

I've done both a spark plug and a timing light test, so I'm positive I at least have no spark. Will the ECU stop the spark if it detects no fuel?

The other thing I thought of was the immobilizer, although it seems to get past the buzzer/ignition lock fine.

Thanks for the help so far everyone.

[mattah]

Btw, how deep was it, & did you drive through it very slowly if fairly deep?

I estimate it was probably about a foot deep. I drove through it at about 40-50km/hr. It splashed the driver's side of the car up to the level of the top of the door, but the passenger side was completely dry. When I pulled over I couldn't see much water in the engine bay.

[93_Clubman]

Yeah I actually disconnected the cat probe and tried it, the car still didn't start.

I've done the battery/brake trick with no discernable effect. I guess I could try it again.

I've done both a spark plug and a timing light test, so I'm positive I at least have no spark. Will the ECU stop the spark if it detects no fuel?

The other thing I thought of was the immobilizer, although it seems to get past the buzzer/ignition lock fine.

I estimate it was probably about a foot deep. I drove through it at about 40-50km/hr. It splashed the driver's side of the car up to the level of the top of the door, but the passenger side was completely dry. When I pulled over I couldn't see much water in the engine bay.

Don't know for certain, but don't think the ECU will stop spark if no fuel.

Immobilizer - there's another consideration - can you disable it to discount it?

My old Aust delivered NA6 ended up parked in water briefly up to sill level, but below the bottom of the door after a torrential down pour. But it started immediately & I just reversed out of the carpark bay & drove away, so no forward motion or real speed involved.

But in your situation it sounds like a lot of water could have been thrown up on the driver's side of the engine bay in particular.

At the moment my only other thoughts are: could the ECU have got wet - doubt it if mounted on passenger side firewall near floor unless there's a hole there; & in terms of fuel cut there's a safety switch in the AFM if no air's detected after a couple of seconds. Btw, is your AFM & intake location standard, i.e. passenger side with air snorkel up near the wiper motor, or could water have been ingested?

Oh, I'm guessing by now you've checked to see there's no water sitting in the spark plug wells?

[mattah]

Don't know for certain, but don't think the ECU will stop spark if no fuel.

Immobilizer - there's another consideration - can you disable it to discount it?

But in your situation it sounds like a lot of water could have been thrown up on the driver's side of the engine bay in particular.

I did pop the bonnet straight away when the car stopped. At that point I couldn't really see anything in the way of water in the engine bay. I have the plastic splash undertray still in place also.

At the moment my only other thoughts are: could the ECU have got wet - doubt it if mounted on passenger side firewall near floor unless there's a hole there; & in terms of fuel cut there's a safety switch in the AFM if no air's detected after a couple of seconds. Btw, is your AFM & intake location standard, i.e. passenger side with air snorkel up near the wiper motor, or could water have been ingested?

Checked the ECU, it looked fine. The air intake is standard, so the snorkel is up on the guard of the passenger side. Almost no way I can imagine water got in.

Oh, I'm guessing by now you've checked to see there's no water sitting in the spark plug wells?

Definitely no water in there.

When I crank the car, should the tacho jump at all? Mine does nothing. I've been reading that a dead tacho is ignitor module or maybe CAS. I'm going to source a CAS now to see if that helps.

[93_Clubman]

When I crank the car, should the tacho jump at all? Mine does nothing. I've been reading that a dead tacho is ignitor module or maybe CAS. I'm going to source a CAS now to see if that helps.

Just checked my NA8 - tacho jumps once as you turn ignition on, but then when you further turn ignition to crank there's no movement from the tacho.

[93_Clubman]

Also had a look around the car to refresh my memory - outside of fuel filter might have got wet, but wouldn't normally expect that to be a problem. But the starter motor is down fairly low on driver's side with no splash tray directly beneath it on the NA8 at least - may be if it got really wet or submerged briefly it's shorted something somewhere given there's fairly high amps of power available at that point?

[mattah]

Found the problem. Cams aren't moving, opened the cam cover and looked down the front of the engine to see little bits of belt sitting around. So ... it looks like I'll be replacing the timing belt on Monday. What else is worth doing at the same time? Water pump?

I figure the jolt of the engine spluttering through the puddle must have just snapped the belt.

[Bauer]

Found the problem. Cams aren't moving, opened the cam cover and looked down the front of the engine to see little bits of belt sitting around. So ... it looks like I'll be replacing the timing belt on Monday. What else is worth doing at the same time? Water pump?

I figure the jolt of the engine spluttering through the puddle must have just snapped the belt.

water pump for sure. you might as well once your in there

and you might as well do the cam seals and crank seal too (if you buy a kit then you should get the seals as well as the tensioner and idler pulleys)

[de Bounce]

Found the problem. Cams aren't moving, opened the cam cover and looked down the front of the engine to see little bits of belt sitting around. So ... it looks like I'll be replacing the timing belt on Monday. What else is worth doing at the same time? Water pump?

I figure the jolt of the engine spluttering through the puddle must have just snapped the belt.

Man that has to be damn unlucky to break a belt as you drive through a puddle

Reading various threads, it is generally advised to replace:
Timing belt
2 x Idler Bearings
Camshaft Seals (x2)
Crankshaft Seal.
Rocker Cover Gasket
Spark plug tube seals.
Water pump and gasket
Also a couple of coolant hoses

[StanTheMan]

I would suggest you get the genuine Mazda Kit.
some of the cheaper aftermarket kits have had issues with the cam seals.
some of the cam seals dont have the metal springs in it which causes them to leak.

But if you do get a cheaper kit, I guess you can just make sure it has the proper seal. & if not just get them seperately.

[93_Clubman]

Found the problem. Cams aren't moving, opened the cam cover and looked down the front of the engine to see little bits of belt sitting around. I figure the jolt of the engine spluttering through the puddle must have just snapped the belt.

That'd do it! Unfortunate it turned out to be the timing belt, but glad you found the problem at least. Don't hear of belts going too often - last one was kazjim - how kms has the car done?