No Start After Sitting Out in Wet Weather

Maintenance/Repairs
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1

Wondering whether anyone has any educated ideas for my 2000 Chrysler Cirrus 2.5 V6, 84,300 miles. Twice, after sitting out a day or 2 in wet weather, it was very, very difficult to start. Each time, it didn’t fire at all, but then did finally start after 4 or 5 tries and ran fine.

Tried spraying water everywhere under the hood, while it was running, but got no miss or other symptom. After then sitting a day or 2 in the garage, it started and ran fine the first 2-3 miles, then started stumbling/missing and stalled at a light. It restarted and continued to stumble/miss before running fine after another 1-3 miles. Changed the distributor cap and repeated the same test, getting same result. Also checked fuel pressure–it’s on the money, building specified pressure and holding as expected. No check engine light or other symptom and no relevant codes.

I’m at my wits end. Any input you might have would be appreciated.

2

My first guess would be a bad spark plug wire. You changed the cap and I assume the rotor. Plugs and/or wires seem next logical place to look

3

I agree with @Proacfan. Cannot hurt.

4

+2 for @Proacfan.

5

Agreee; no starts in wet weather are nearly always due to bad wiring. You can verify this by using a hair dryer to dry out the wires and see if the starting improves. If so, you should replace all the ignition wires.

6

As the others say, high tension wires or coil(s) are the likely culprit. Under good light, twist them and bend them, look for any signs of cracking of the insulation. Even a tiny pinhole in the insulation can cause a high voltage wire to short out. Another possibility is the crank sensor is on the fritz, if your car has one.

7

I agree with the others!! BTW, is that a 2.5 V6, for real?

8

My Haynes manual says there was a 2.5L V-6 in a Cirrus of that vintage.