Help, went through a puddle, now no spark.

[mattah]

So I drove through a pretty big puddle last night (burst water main), and shortly after the car died and would not start. At the time it happened the first thing I noticed were that my lights seemed to have gone out, then they came back. The car kind of spluttered a bit then came good, then a further 50m down the road it just lost power completely and I had to pull over.

Had a look this morning and it seems I don't have a spark. All the fuses look fine. I don't think it would be water through the intake as the engine bay seemed pretty dry at the time, and the puddle was deepest on the driver's side. The whole driver's side of the car got wet, but the passenger's side was dry.

The car is an NA6, pretty much completely stock. Any ideas or common faults I should look for first?

Thanks in advance.

[mattah]

More info:

The heat symbol is on on the dash (cat?), but no check engine light. I've tried shorting across GND-TEN in the diagnostic box, but I get no check engine light at all on the dash when I do this. It sounds like I should get at least the CEL on for 4s or so?

Edit: Apparently Eunos Roadsters don't have a CEL. I have to make up something to read the signal, according to here.

[Steampunk]

Does it crank when you turn the key?
Maybe its a simple matter of drowned spark plugs.

[mattah]

Does it crank when you turn the key?
Maybe its a simple matter of drowned spark plugs.

It cranks over fine. I haven't taken the plugs out but based on what I've been looking at so far, there isn't any spark anyway.

Just got the CEL light working as per the earlier link I posted. I get the 4 second light, but then no error codes whatsoever.

[Fatty]

i had a similar problem... when bleeding the clutch we spilt some brake fluid onto the paint in the engine bay near the firewall so we washed it off with some water. some of the water found it's way into the fuel injector wiring harness, resulting in a dead fuse. it took ages to properly diagnose the problem... the car would crank but obviously the injectors weren't firing so there was no fuel, hence it would not start.

we eventually figured it out and replaced the fuse but it died again very quickly, a couple of times. so i left the car out in the sun for a day to dry out the wiring harness, replaced the fuse again and it's been fine ever since.

here is a picture of the fuse box in the engine bay



the fuse in question is on the bottom left of the box

here is a picture of what the fuse looks like



i know you said the fuses "look" fine but the only way to know for sure is to check them with a multimetre.

i have a couple of these fuses spare (as you can see from the photo i just took) , so if you're anywhere near coburg in melbourne you're welcome to grab them. or i could post them to you if you're interstate but it'll take a few days to get to you. or you could just buy one, but iirc they are stupidly expensive. but obviously the first step is to test the fuse.

[mattah]

Cheers, I think I'll go check all the fuses again.

Edit: All fuses fine, checked with multimeter.

What has me a bit puzzled is the heat light, which is a catalytic converter warning. Not exactly sure why this came on, but does anyone know if this would stop the engine from firing? I'm tempted to unplug it and see what happens. The plug is under the car and would have almost certainly been submerged in water.

Edit: Did this, light goes off but car still doesn't start.

[mattah]

At this point it looks like either the ignitor module or the coils themselves. I'm borrowing an ignitor tomorrow and hopefully it's just that. Anyone know where we can pick them up for a reasonable amount? Mazda want $749 for it!

[Juffa]

At this point it looks like either the ignitor module or the coils themselves. I'm borrowing an ignitor tomorrow and hopefully it's just that. Anyone know where we can pick them up for a reasonable amount? Mazda want $749 for it!

If you are unable to find one on the forum, or the forum sponsors then try Super Cheap auto, or other auto part shops. Tridon Industries makes an aftermarket ignitor that is way cheaper than an original Mazda one, and Super Cheap can get them in for you.



Tridon part number TIM068


J

[93_Clubman]

At this point it looks like either the ignitor module or the coils themselves. I'm borrowing an ignitor tomorrow and hopefully it's just that. Anyone know where we can pick them up for a reasonable amount? Mazda want $749 for it!

If it's the coilpack then these new ones might be worth a closer look as they're a lot cheaper than your quote. I got a good 2nd hand one when my NA6 coil needed replacing, but there's some risk unless you get a waranty, as it's not uncommon to have to replace them.
http://stores.shop.ebay.com.au/SPEEDYPU ... mit=Search

[bruce]

How the fraggle rock did you get water up that high, and then enough of it to short them out?
You could possibly dry them out with heaps of WD (?) and a lot of sunshine?

[mattah]

Well it's not the ignitor or coil packs. Borrowed some off a friend and the car still won't start. I'm at a loss now.

[bruce]

Tow truck to the nearest sparky or Mazda dealer.

[StanTheMan]

so back to basics....
do you have petrol?
spark?


edit. oops....just re-read your original post

[mattah]

Tow truck to the nearest sparky or Mazda dealer.

Not giving up yet! I'm just really thrown off as to why my catalytic converter warning light is on. I'm just trying to find out what can cause the ECU not to send the ignition signal at this point, although I would have expected to get a warning signal if it was something that the computer picked up.

[93_Clubman]

Agree with you STM - back to basics as OP did say:

...it seems I don't have a spark.

May be you need to ID exactly what you have & don't have now, & start from there.

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