Temporary loss of power after wash

[KD5NRH]

Had a bunch of bugs in the grill, and bug season is letting up, so I hit the manual car wash and hosed them out, along with my usual wheelwell (driveway crosses a cow pasture) and window cleaning.

Started up fine and sounded normal at idle, got out of the lot without an issue, but then when I went to get it up to 40 it had no power. Got to about 25 and as soon as it shifted it just wasn't accelerating at all. It's maybe a 2% grade there, so normally getting up to 40 isn't an issue. I ended up having to pull it back to 2nd and punch it just to avoid getting run over.

Topped out the hill by that point and it was about a half mile downhill to the nearest good place to pull off and pop the hood, so I decided to keep going. After maybe 30 seconds, it just cleared up, I pushed it back to D and it drove completely normally. No CEL and nothing visibly wrong. Cranked back up normally and drove home with no further issues.

I'm guessing either I got just enough water in the intake during the wheelwell washing to make the MAF go stupid, (reminded me a lot of test driving my Escape with the MAF disconnected) or just enough into some electrical connector to screw with a signal until it shook out. Any thoughts on which? I'd really like to not have that happen in a hard rain or fording one of the low water crossings around here. I don't really get into water that would justify a full snorkel, but I might consider it if the fender design is prone to scooping water to the intake.

 

[GhostRing]

What did the air filter & box look/feel like?

 

[KD5NRH]

What did the air filter & box look/feel like?

One drop on the bottom of the box, filter felt maybe just a tiny bit damp, but certainly not as wet as I'd expect it to need to be to cut airflow by that much. Of course, that was after the symptoms had quit, so maybe it dried itself more, but I would have expected immediate rough idle at least if had gotten soaked.

I could get the RPM up just fine in lower gears, just not enough power to do it in 3rd. ISTR that being the most obvious effect of disconnecting the MAF in the Escape: it would act fine gunning it in park, and drive fine at low speeds, but then not have the power to get over 35-40.

Is there anything electrical I could easily have hit via the grill or wheelwells that would cause it to be lacking in power?

 

[phattyduck]

One drop on the bottom of the box

So, that means water in the intake is NOT the issue.

Time to look at any other location that got wet during the washing.

-Charlie

 

[TheDurk]

The only other thing I can think of is a slightly loose induction boot or a hidden crack in those folds. Then even a drop or two that got up there will have exactly that effect. I had a BMW that did that after every car wash. I had to take a spray bottle to a running engine to find the issue.

 

[brillo_76]

How old are the plug wires? As maybe they are breaking down and got damp thus leaking the spark out. I am suspecting electrical here as a power wash would really mist and throw the water into the engine bay. Does it act up when it rains too?

 

[KD5NRH]

Does it act up when it rains too?

Not so far, but I've only driven it maybe a mile in hard rain, and the low water crossings have been less than three inches deep when I went through.

 

[brillo_76]

I would check the wires and coils. On my signature has a thread that has what do to check those components. The injectors are kinda buried in there so I am doubting their wires got wet. However, the spark plug wires goto to the other half of the engine are right in front when they cross over. This is just a thought though may or may not be the issue.