Help! I thougth I'd do some maintenance on Thanksgiving Day so I cleaned battery terminals, etc... While under the hood, I thought I'd clean some of the engine compartment and then rinsed it down. I assumed I got water in something I shouldn't have, because I took it out for a drive, and it started this intermittent surging. Mainly when going up hill. For the first week there were no indicators on the dash. Yesterday, the Service engine Soon lamp came on. From reading this forum, I thought I'd check the DFPE and EVR Voltages per the Haynes manual. Everything checked out ok on there. What could be wrong? I'm going to bower a scanner to see what codes might show up. Could really use some help though. Also, my PCV valve is noisy as hell, but it has suction. Is that normal? Should I just change the DFPE?

Thanks!

 

You shouldn't get water north of the valve covers. Run the codes, and go from there.

 

You know where the spark plugs are?
Guess what's in there with them!
Look at the tops of the coils; do any have cracks in there tops?
Merry Christmas.

 

I checked the codes, and I had P1401, P0308 set. Also, two pending codes P0113 and P0443. I reset everything, so I guess I'll see what pops up if they come back on. From the codes, does it seem like it could be plugs? Also, since it's over a week, it's not likely there's still water in something is there?

 

Sorry , laughing at the Christmas comment. No offense.

 

308 code is cylinder 8 missfire.
Sometimes when water intrusion takes place the boot can break down and cause an ongoing problem.
The plug wells are deep and hold a lot of water besides not being vented very well for the amount that can collect.
Get a new boot and dielectric grease, blow out the well and fix the problem for the low cost and time.
As you see, these motors are not very tolerent of cleaning, off roading, rain, hose leaks etc. but there are ways to greatly improve the situation for those who have an ongoing problem and a need to improve the sealing situation.

 

Thanks! I'll give that a go.

 

That seemed to do the trick! She's running pretty sweet again, thanks! I drove it around for 30 minutes or so an ddidn't have the problem anymore. I reset the codes again. Quick question, would the code have cleared by itself after I changed the boot, etc...?

 

Some do some do not. It usually takes enough driving cycles with the fault cleared, to clear the code and lamp.
There are several ways the computer handles codes.
Almost instant response.
Delayed response.
Lamp out but code still stored.
The computer has a hirearchy that it uses to work these combinations.
It is based on the number of times the fault was detected and what importance the fault has in relation to emmissions and engine saftey.
Happy it worked out so easy for you.