Accord sputtering

[accord90cb]

Hey everyone,
I didn't know exactly where to put this so here it is. I recently bought another accord. A 97 LX. I pressure washed the engine/bay and about 5 minutes after that it started sputtering in lower rpms. It was driveable but when the gas was pressed rather heavily it would sputter badly and then clear up in the higher rpm range. If i pressed the gas very slowly it would run smooth through the whole rpm range. It ran perfect after about 45 minutes. I did some touching up on the engine with the hose the next day and the sputtering started yet again. It ran fine a while after that. Then then a few days after that i changed the oil pan gasket. After i finished that ( later at night) it started sputtering and stalled out a few times. Then it wouldn't start. It would just just crank and crank and backfire once or twice. I let it sit and the next morning it fired up and ran perfect. Drove it around for about 30 minutes and it was fine.
Does anyone have any ideas on what the problem could be?
I appreciate any help.

Caleb

[visualpoet]

Sounds like water in the distributor cap. Pop it off, dry it out, check for cracks. You might need to replace it.

[GunRunner]

first my guess after pressure washing was you got water in the dizzy,

as for the oil pan gasket thats a new one on me.

[visualpoet]

Coincidence?

[accord90cb]

Yeah I just guessed it was water at first but then after I changed the oil pan gasket and it did it it had me stumped. I started thinking then that it could be a sensor or a relay of some sort. I really have no idea though.

[Bcozzi71]

new dizzy and plug wires

[Gemini]

did the same thing to my cb several years ago....I just kept driving till it dried out then pll the backup fuse from the fuse box to reset the computer and I was good.

[Phempa]

well duh! washing your engine with water isn't really the smartest idea.

water in the distributor.

[deevergote]

Washing your engine isn't a bad idea, but ALWAYS cover the electrical components first!


Moved to the Other Automotive Technical section... where it belongs. I know that's pretty well hidden...

[Losiracer2]

it's prob. related to you watering your engine like its a plant. If you want to clean your car that much and not worry about future issues like this, take the proper precautions and protect all the electrical components w/ a ziplock baggie or grocery bag w/ a rubber band around it.

Cars aren't normally meant for water to be sprayed inside the engine compartment, as you know, so just be a little bit careful next time.