well i have had my civic for like 8 months and it has major problems in the rain and have tryed many things to try to fix it but maby some of you have some help im lost now. when it rains and after driving in it for a little bit the car seems like it drops off atleast one cylinder maby 2 and runs like crap and smokes lots out the tail pipe and sometimes dies completly and cannot restart sometimes untill it dryes up some. but i have replaced the first o2 sencor and wires and plugs. the cap looks clean and now wet also with no carbon tracks. i have checked some of the wire connectors and made sure there is no water on them and then also put dyelectric grease on them. it has a aem cold air with k&n filter but i cannot believe that it is sucking that much water up the pipe to make that much difference but let me know what you all think. and i will check back on here fairly often to give any other info if needed.

ps> it seems like if im running down the interstate with cruse on it will be just fine threw rain aslong as its not to heavy. aslo holding a consistant speed helps but when you push the petal it gets pissed.
please help

it just started to snow and i cannot drive my other car now.

 

no one hear as any answeres

 

it takes a while to get questions answered on here.

 

well unless you are completely submerging the intake i dont think it would be sucking water up. i guess maybe check your plug wires and spark plugs?

 

I would think that the water is shorting the plug wires.

 

swap out the distributor. moisture finishes off a weak one.

 

i have replaced the wires and plugs but it hasnt really rained sence i did it so i couldent really test it yet but ya i highly doughted that it was water in the intake that shouldent really make any difference because im not dippint the intake tube and filter into the water. but i guess ihope that its just the wires. also i have looked the distributor over well and there is no sign of water problems there but what is the approximant cost of a new one mabe i will just buy a new one and switch it anyway. thanks for your input if anyone has anymore please feel free to fill me in some more.

 

before you change the cap and the distributer ...open your hood, put your car on, let it run for like 5 min, then like a glass of water and pour it over the distributer and cap and wires, if it starts sounding like its going to give up or sparking...then thats your problem, a macanic just told me that the other day, apparintly not alot of people no about it..

 

youre not serious are you? DOesnt seem like a bright idea.

 

Not a bright idea at all, that mechanic muct be trying to make a buck. There is usually a seal between the distributer and the cap. Over time that seal gets rigid and can crack. If this happens and it is raining, the ambient moisture (that is the moisture that is in the air, not actually like pouring a glass of water on anything) can seep into the disty and cause a bit of trouble. Any moisture in there will cause a lag in power. The reason that it starts out ok is because if your car is sitting, even in the rain, the parts in the disty are not moving and moisture stays out. Replace your disty and I would bet that the problem will be solved. Peace.

Nick