My '04 v6 wagon 100K will misfire in really damp conditions. Last fall after going through a massive puddle and today after sitting for a couple of days of warm damp foggy & rainy New England spring weather.

OBDII scanner is reporting cylinder 3 as the one misfiring in the fall, today there were a ton of codes (that I didn't note).

So I made it about 2 miles from the house and had to turn back. No power, check light flashing. I had to put it in manual and keep the revs highish (3-4K). When I got home the exhaust manifold was glowing yellow, assuming one or more cylinders were passing fuel out to the exhaust and it was being burnt off in the manifold.

My question: could I have damaged any gaskets back there? This could be my imagination but I think I'm hearing a new noise that I'd normally attribute to an exhaust leak downstream of the muffler, very subtle - like a gentle light but rapid thud. I only hear this noise with my ear to in the front driver's wheel well. There's no ticking noise I normally attribute to leaks near the manifold.

My imagination or is it easy to damage something in the circumstances I describe?

Anyone got thoughts/ideas or experience of this? Thanks! /pauric

 

with 100+ miles on it,id say the wires and plugs are ready to be changed.The #3 probably is the worst (plug,wire)

 

If you've never changed the plugs, do that for sure, but you might have a bad coil as well. Common on our cars.
For the record, your car is doing exactly what mine was doing when the engine blew.

 

Take the plugs out one at a time and check the colour, see if any are wet with oil or what the gap is. Look at the engine when its really dark and look for flashes (arcing). Check none of your belts has snapped.

What were the codes? once youve taken a print of them rest them and see what ones reappear.

Do all the fluid checks if you havent already - if the level are fine and theres no cross contamination then i doubt its a head gasket.

Sorry if this is "sucking eggs"

 

thanks folks. Unfortunately I think I did more damage than I thought. Oil is clear but level is very high, o2 sensor codes are zero (no reading) and exhaust smell in cabin when stopped.

Taking it to a shop. Should have addressed this when it happened first. )o;

thanks all /pauric

 

Drain some oil out before you drive it - overfilling is as much of a problem as lack of oil as it creates pressure within the engine and can stop the pump working properly Assuming it is only oil in your oil and there is no water (look for emulsification in the oil cap (light brown froth))

Could it be a partially blocked exhaust or cat?

Good luck mate - hope she's OK.

 

I'm thinking there's an odds on bet that the oil level is high because there is lots of gasoline mixed with the oil.

 

you could be right there mate - you should be able to smell that in the oil filler or the dipstick

 

Although well-meaning, this is just plain bad advice. DO NOT drive the car, have it towed. You've probably already blown the engine, and your pre-cats are probably toast too. NEVER drive when the check engine light is FLASHING.

 

the ticking noise is normal engine noise but the check engine light flashing and setting a misfire code due to moisture would be weird. i have a CAI and once and a while when its super wet out i throw a light but its for the mass air flow sensor because its in the cold air intake tube and sometimes gets slight moisture that makes it go crazy but when i did throw a misfire code once its because i needed to change the plugs. if your throwing a cylinder 3 misfire try switching the coil pack and see if it sets that cylinder misfire, if so its the coil pack if its still on cylinder 3 its your plugs.