I was washing the engine bay on my Cooper today. Thought I was being careful and all. When I finished, the car would not start. Figured I got something wet and let it sit a couple of hours. Now I got it to turn over, but a terrible sound. Shut it off immediately.

Ideas? Tell me not terminal!

Rad

 

Give us a little more info.

Did it turn over?
When did it make the sound?
Did it ever crank up?
Did it make a different sound then?
What did it sound like?

Rawhyde

 

Washed the engine area. I have a K&N cold air intake. Otherwise nothing different. This morning, I tried again and it started, but no power. Basically an idle with a popping noise.

I probably got too much water through the air filter?

Question is, now what?

Thanks, Rad

 

Try pulling off a plug wire and look down in the hole where the spark plug is. See if it's wet. If it is, blow out the water with an airhose and let it dry out. If there is any water, it'll run badly if at all. Also, DO NOT REMOVE THE SPARKPLUG. Water on top of the spark plug is bad, water down in the cylinder is INFINATELY WORSE

Rawhyde

 

I already pulled the wire. No water at all. At this point I'm convinced too much water went through the air filter. As a result I probably do have water in the head and in the cylinder. Unfortunate for me, the car just passed 50,000 miles and is now out of warranty. I think I will let it sit for a couple of days and see if it dries out before I send it off to the repair shop.

Rad

 

Pull all the spark plugs out and spin the motor (using the key). If water comes out of the cylinders (any of them) then you're in trouble. If you still hear bad noises then you're in trouble. You can use WD-40 to displace any water that's in the cylinders. If you pull the plugs and you don't get any bad noises then you can do a compression test if you have a compression tester....otherwise put in new spark plugs (or clean and dry the ones you have) and see if you can start the car. Waiting a couple days for the engine to dry out is not going to matter....and may make things worse since engines tend to rust pretty quickly. The other thing to do is make sure your K&N is dry.

 

If I were you. I would just go to the dealer. Put your stock intake back on, and call 'em.