hello all: this is kind of a last resort for me, so thank you in advance to anyone who can offer any good info.
i have a 2000 chevy s10 pick-up with the v6 engine. the truck runs pretty well except for one major problem: the truck won’t start when it’s wet. but it’s not just wehn it’s a little bit wet. if it rains or drizzles a bit, it’s usually fine. but when it rains for an extended period and gets soaked, it won’t start. it turns over, but won’t catch. then when the rain ends, and things dry out, it starts right up again.
a couple of other details that may or may not be related:
even when it’s dry, sometimes i have to crank it for awhile before the engine catches. not too long, but definitely longer than what one might consider “normal”. but this isn’t all the time. sometimes it starts right up. but sometimes i have to crank it. but, when it’s dry, it always eventually starts.
when it’s been wet then dries out, the first time i’m able to start it up, the engine chugs and coughs for quite awhile. in fact, if i attempt to drive it while it’s in this state, it seems as if the engine’s being choked off from gasoline. if i give it too much gas, it chugs along and sometimes stalls out. again, once it warms up everything seems to be fine.
so far, i’ve spent about $1,000 trying to fix this problem, but nothing’s worked. i’ve had the spark plugs changed, the distributor cap and wires changes, even the fuel line assembly and fuel filter changed. nothing’s worked. like i said, i’m pretty much at the end of my rope.
thank you for reading my extended explanation/rant, and thank you very much if you have any thoughts or suggestions.
What can happen during times of high humidity is this. Heat has a tendency to attract moisture. When you shut a warm engine off moisture can accumulate inside the distributor cap, new or not.
The next time rain is in the forecast try spraying the distributor cap, plug wires, etc down WD-40 and see what happens.
Another option is the next time it won’t start try popping the dist. cap loose and checking for moisture inside. If it exists, wipe it out, spray it down with WD, and give it a go.
I’ve owned a Lincoln Mark VIII previously and currently own one. The headlamps on both vehicles are horrible about moisture accumulation; or were. Shut the lamps off on a humid night and the next morning they would be absolutely saturated inside with water.
This was due to lamp heat attracting moisture from the air; much like a sweating window.
(This was cured by running an air line from each headlight assembly to a T-fitting and then to the air cleaner housing. Whenever the engine is running all heat is pulled out of the housings and this fix (weird though it may be) works and works well. Not one speck of moisture ever since this was done as the lamps now run cool to the touch.)
Did you change the pickup coil under the distributor? These coils tend to fail when they age especially in damp conditions.
Please tell me did you fix the problem my pickup is doing the same thing
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