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ugh another car question, dealer "cleaned" my engine and now it idles poorly and accelerates really poorly

Originally posted by: Iron Woode
Originally posted by: Heisenberg
What exactly did they do?
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seems they shampooed his engine compartment improperly.
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Oh, I thought he meant they ran some kind of carbon/injector cleaner through the motor. Yeah, it's probably wet in there and needs to dry for a while.
 
Disconnect battery for (10-20 minutes).
Turn off all accesories (ac, stereo, etc..)
Start car (don't touch gas pedal) and let it run for 10-20 minutes.
Post if it works or not.
 
yeah felt the plugs might not be firing correctly. Anything to speed up the drying process because at the present moment driving it isn't safe. Eventhough another car was 150 yards I turned on to the road only to feel my car not accelerate going about 20 miles an hour and a car bearing on me LOL
 
Originally posted by: casimec
Disconnect battery for (10-20 minutes).
Turn off all accesories (ac, stereo, etc..)
Start car (don't touch gas pedal) and let it run for 10-20 minutes.
Post if it works or not.
Click to expand...

will try though how important is the disconnect battery? It's late and anytime I do that the alarm will go off when disconnected then on when reconnected

 
Impropper cleaning will kill a TPS sensor quickly. TPS sensors hate water. If your TPS got wet, it is likely toast. No amount of "dryin time" will repair a TPS.

BTW, TPS = Throttle Position Sensor.

Bonus points for not following Roger's rules. In all auto threads, please post AT MINIMUM:

Make
Model
Year
Trim Level
Engine Size
Drive Type (2x4/4x4/FWD/RWD/AWD)
Miles
Trans Type (Auto/Manual)
 
I can't speak for all cars, but the TPS on my Mustang can get wet with no ill effects. I'm talking about the back side of it mounted in the throttle body off course, not the part the reads the throttle position. I hose off my engine with some orange clear often and the TPS get's wet with no ill effects. I suppose this may not be the case on some cars...
 
Originally posted by: holden j caufield
Originally posted by: casimec
Disconnect battery for (10-20 minutes).
Turn off all accesories (ac, stereo, etc..)
Start car (don't touch gas pedal) and let it run for 10-20 minutes.
Post if it works or not.
Click to expand...

will try though how important is the disconnect battery? It's late and anytime I do that the alarm will go off when disconnected then on when reconnected
Click to expand...

Disconnecting the battery and then reconnecting will "retrain" the ECU (fuel+air mix +?). What make is the car?
 
it's actually my sisters car I'm using as I'm tired of driving my manual Prelude in rush hour. It's a 93 Toyota Corolla DX, Auto. LOL I didn't think this car could accelerate any slower but I guess it's possible. Like 0-60 in about 1 minute (no joke either) 😉
 
Originally posted by: casimec
Originally posted by: holden j caufield
Originally posted by: casimec
Disconnect battery for (10-20 minutes).
Turn off all accesories (ac, stereo, etc..)
Start car (don't touch gas pedal) and let it run for 10-20 minutes.
Post if it works or not.
Click to expand...

will try though how important is the disconnect battery? It's late and anytime I do that the alarm will go off when disconnected then on when reconnected
Click to expand...

Disconnecting the battery and then reconnecting will "retrain" the ECU (fuel+air mix +?). What make is the car?
Click to expand...

Whoa, really? Ok...lemme run something by you guys. I bought my car (1995 Geo Prizm, 120k miles) in Omaha. I assume it had been in Omaha all its life. When I bought it it got 30-32MPG. Last summer I went to Albuquerque for the summer. Before I left I changed the plugs, distributor cap, and wires. Mileage improved to a consistent 34-37MPG.

About a month before I came home, my gas mileage suddenly dropped to 28-30MPG. It's been that way ever since. I couldn't figure out what would have caused a drop like that...except...

When I was in Albuquerque my alternator failed and the battery drained completely. We're talking tach/speedo not working, everything electrical was gone. Now that I think about it, it was soon after that that my gas mileage dropped. Now Albuquerque is about 5000 feet above sea level. Is it possible that my ECU tried to retrain itself to the higher-altitude conditions and something got screwed up?
 
It's possible. The best way is to leave the battery diconnected for at least 20 minutes. Reconnect the battery and start the car. Let it idle on it's own for about 10 minutes, then shut it down. Wait a minute or two, then start it again, and turn on all the accesories, and let it run for another 10 minutes. After that it should have "re-learned" the idle and fuel tables...
 
BTW, to the OP: Your car will most likely be fine. Last time I powerwashed my engine the same thing you reported happened. It only lasted for about 30 minutes though...
 
Originally posted by: SuperTool
why did you get your engine "cleaned"?
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As part of proper maintenance, car engines should be powerwashed at least once a year. Makes it easier to spot any possible leaks, and removes grime that could interfere with external moving parts and inhibit proper cooling.

To the OP: let it dry out. They properly got some moisture under cap or in the plug wires.
 
Originally posted by: Insane3D
It's possible. The best way is to leave the battery diconnected for at least 20 minutes. Reconnect the battery and start the car. Let it idle on it's own for about 10 minutes, then shut it down. Wait a minute or two, then start it again, and turn on all the accesories, and let it run for another 10 minutes. After that it should have "re-learned" the idle and fuel tables...
Click to expand...

it's not going to learn anything if you don't drive it. that's why it's a fuel map and not a fuel column.
 
Originally posted by: Pepsi90919
Originally posted by: Insane3D
It's possible. The best way is to leave the battery diconnected for at least 20 minutes. Reconnect the battery and start the car. Let it idle on it's own for about 10 minutes, then shut it down. Wait a minute or two, then start it again, and turn on all the accesories, and let it run for another 10 minutes. After that it should have "re-learned" the idle and fuel tables...
Click to expand...
it's not going to learn anything if you don't drive it. that's why it's a fuel map and not a fuel column.
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A '93 Corolla isn't an OBDII car anyway, so this "reset the ECU" discussion is pointless.
 
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