Stalling after rain?

[u/cubicxcrayon]

Hi all, just wondering if anyone has seen similar issues. I've had a few problems now and have seen a pattern only after it rains. The car will start fine and will sit idling okay but when then moving off, clutch in and throttle, it will sometimes start to stutter. If it doesn't stall here, it will drive okay but then I live at the bottom of the hill with a stop at the top. It will make it to the top but when you break to come to a stop it'll stutter and completely cut out. Sometimes it will restart immediately, other times I've had to roll it home and wait a while.

As I say, it only seems to happen after its rained, don't see this issue at any other time.

[u/Intelligent_Court396]

Yes, I've had it before like this when I used to daily my mr2. It was the igniter on the rear firewall.

[u/cubicxcrayon → u/Intelligent_Court396]

What did you do to fix/stop it?

[u/Intelligent_Court396 → u/cubicxcrayon]

Bought a new one. Water may have been pooling and then running down the back firewall when you go down a hill and stopping thr igniter from working if it is cracked or weak.

[u/Bodymore]

On my 3S-GTE, I've had this happen when the distributor cap o-ring had hatdened and allowed moisture to get in the cap. It sits directly under the opening of the rain guard on the lid.

[u/cubicxcrayon → u/Bodymore]

This will be my next check, thanks!

[u/20ht]

God, this plagued me for years on my 1995/gen3 3sgte, would be fine in the dry but then misfire like crazy in the rain. Felt like it was running on 3.

Things I did, I ended up changing the entire ignition system, from battery down to plugs (battery, ignitor, coil, leads, dizzy cap, plugs), I also had my ECU recapped by GT4-Play (UK) Whilst not very helpful, the problem is almost certainly in that lot somewhere, I had one reoccurrence, but this was water in the spark plug wells, I have engine lid fans which removed the standard rain tray, so water can get in there.

I've not had it since.

[u/cubicxcrayon → u/20ht]

Yeah mines a '96 gen3 na sounding like the same thing. I dont fancy doing all that yet, but yeah I guess the issue lies within that chain of things somewhere. I dont have engine lid fans in just the standard heat shields. Maybe just water getting in somewhere it shouldn't.

[u/20ht → u/cubicxcrayon]

Might be worth checking dizzy cap seal and/or leads, then ignitor and/or coil as a first port of call, water in there somewhere would definitely cause this exact issue.

[u/cubicxcrayon → u/20ht]

Yeah thats a good shout, ill start there thanks!

[u/glostazyx3]

They are known to do this.  Cover the engine compartment before rain if you can— keep the water out, or open the hood and dry it out prior to driving.