Driving through a puddle stops engine

cameo wrote in news:k9lir6$5gs$ snipped-for-privacy@dont-email.me:

Your plugs, wires, distributor cap, and rotor are probably ancient. Replace them.

Never experienced it, not in a Honda nor in any other car I can recall.

My guess would be Tegger is right.

OTOH - does a 94 still have a distributor? I don't think so. I thought my '87 was about the last one that did. For that matter how about a carburetor?

Or maybe it was pure chance, wouldn't panic about it until it happened at least twice so you at least get some more clues.

J.

JRStern wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

It assuredly does. It wasn't until the 2000s that Honda went to coil-over- plug.

'89 was the last year for carburetors in North America. Other parts of the world with less-strangling emissions controls retained carbs for many more years, and some may have them still.

I've had those replaced since then as part of regular maintenance but I still find it hard to imagine how water could get that far up from the wheel wells. Could something like this be also caused by cold water induced thermal shock to the cat oxigen sensor? Or maybe water in the air filter?

With rotor? Which I assume means points?

I'd be mildly surprised at anything north of a lawnmower that still used a carb over throttle-body injection.

J.

That's more likely but it would take more than two inches of water.

J.

A while back as I was driving through a 2" deep puddle on a rainy night at about 25 mph, the engine of my '94 Accord suddenly stopped as if I removed the ignition key. Before I got out of the car I tried to start up the engine again and after some labored cranking it came alive and I was able to slowly clear the puddle. Then I was able to drive home and never had a similar incident again. True, I never hit a similar puddle, either, but I still wonder what could have caused it when the car's electrical parts are pretty well insulated from street water splashes under the car. So I wonder how common such incidents with Hondas are and what could the most common cause be. Any of you experienced it, too?

Only car I had where I experienced a "drown-out" was a 1964 Jaguar XKE. The distributor was located at the lower right front part of the engine - behind the radiator. The solution was to wrap it in a "baggy" or avoid driving it in a downpour. Never had a problem in any Honda.

JRStern wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Even distributors with breaker points had a rotor. No North American automobile engine has been equipped with breaker points since about 1976.

Not me. Injection is a LOT more complex, expensive, and troublesome than a mechanical carburetor. I understand that many aircraft piston-engines still come with carbs. Even the EPA seems to realize that saving the Snail Darter fish takes a back seat to human beings falling out of the sky to their deaths, and has not saddled airplanes with the same sorts of nonsense that they have visited upon automobiles.

cameo wrote in news:k9m7ps$st6$ snipped-for-privacy@dont-email.me:

How long ago, exactly?

And boat engines can still come with--ta daaaaa--breaker points.

"Elmo P. Shagnasty" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@news.eternal-september.org:

Smog laws are a bit more relaxed for them, too, I guess.

Would you use a dwell meter with them, or just eyeball the .018" gap?

Well I hope two inches of water doesn't douse them.

J.

I don't have my records handy, but about 2-3 years ago. The puddle accident was probably 2 years before that. The distributor head was replaced because it was leaking oil.