Hello, I live in AZ and we just went like 150 days without rain. It just rained and now my check engine light is on and my 2000 expy is like sputtering! Anyone ever have this problem? I did some checking in the forums and no go.
I dropped it off at the dealer, and we'll see what he has to say, but any suggestions on how I can get the extended warranity to pay for this? Some kinda defect due to moisture or something?

 

The dealer will scan for codes and will make a diagnosis on what's going on since you already took it in.

Check with your warranty company for coverages and limits.

Steve

 

Ok, so they said that the plugs got wet and damaged the coils and they want $485.00 to replace the 2 plugs and 2 coils.
I asked them if I'm going to have to pay this everytime it rains and they said that they're not even sure if these are the only plugs/coils that are wet!!

And of course they are not covered under the extended warranty!

 

If it is cylinder number 4, you could be suffering the dreaded heater hose leak some have suffered from. Serach this forum for details.

Also, what kind of extended warranty do you have? If it's Ford's ESP, they should be replacing them.

 

Just got back from the dealer, and now it's 3 plugs/coils. 1,2 and 4.
$528.00 total!

The warranty is from MPP (mppco.com) and they don't cover plugs or coils, *******s!

 

buy a yota! save your Tylenol....

sorry. still suffering from my recent switch to being a Ford owner.

 

Before you pay for this I would have them determine HOW they got wet in the first place.
Did you drive through high water? Is your hood damaged? If the answer is no, then HOW did they get wet? Problem is going to be proving that you just didn't wash the engine and get them wet yourself, or something else like that. Unless you can prove that they got wet due to a design flaw or another problem with the truck, I'm afraid you may be stuck here.
Either way, if your warranty doesn't cover plugs or COPs, then I guess it's an uphill battle.
There are cheaper alternatives though. I've seen that some people on here have found the COP's for ~$50 each and plugs are relatively cheap.

 

I went round and round with them about how it happened. It rained here pretty hard for like 15 hours or so and I didn't even drive it! It just sat in front of the house and got rained on! The car is in top shape, I bought it used about 5 months ago and we just went like 150 days with no rain, so it's really like the first time it saw rain when I had it! It's a 2000 and it's only got 50000 miles on it so it's not even due for new plugs yet!
Ended uu being $544 total, 302 (92.44 each coil, 8.27 each plug) in parts, 217 labor and 24 in tax. :-( not a good day for me!

 

Man, that suggs!
I know it's a little late now, but you could have saved a little $$$ by doing this job yourself, it's not really a $217 job. And $8.27 for one sparkplug? That just seems like highway robbery!

Well, I would still try to figure out how they got wet so you can prevent another trip to the dealership. Even if it only rains once a year down there, that's still an expensive way to get through the "rainy season"...

 

You could have bought a scanner and just changed the one bad COP for $150. Anyways, live and learn.

Clint

 

The really crappy part about the whole "running bad after it rains thing" is that when you go to the dealership they usually check you in for diagnosos and begin the replacement process without checking for the obvious. When it happened to me last year I did a search on this very forum and got most of the information that I needed to fix the problem.

When I noticed the misfire I called a local dealer close to my house and was informed that it would probably run around $600.00 parts and labor for the replacement of the malfunctioniung parts. It seemed kinda odd that they could decipher exactly what was wrong over the phone, so I decided to call the dealership where I purchased the vehicle and that I normally go to about an hour away. The service manager at this location let me know that since it just rained they have been busy drying out #3 and #4 COP assemblies all day, and I should be able to save some money by doing it myself.

The #4 and #3 COP assemblies got flooded and short circuited simply from the large amount of water dripping throught the hood cowl gap, causing the engine to misfire. Once i pulled the COP's and disassembled the boot and contact spring I let everything dry while I sponged out the plug basin and followed that procedure with a blast of compressed air to get all of the sitting water out of the plug basin. In all the repair took about an hour from start to finish, and just about the time I was done one of my wife's friends called and asked where we take our Expedition to get it serviced. It seems that she was having the same type of problems after hers sat out in the rain all night.

Ahhh Phoenix.....

Anyway, same thing, different car. Talked to her husband and he took over from there.

Too bad about having to spend all that money.

 

Just curious but I thought I read in my Haynes manual that the coil packs have a seal on them. This seal keeps dirt and water from entering the coil and spark plug. I've heard these seals go bad and need replaced every few years. Have I heard right or am I off my rocker? Heard the seals cost $3 for each coil pack. Might keep you out of trouble.

 

Did they fix this problem with the hood/cowling or whatever letting the rain in on the cops with the newer body style? I've got an '03 and have gone through alot of rain here in kentucky and haven't had that happen YET.

 

Nope, they said that they couldn't determine how the water got in there. I think that they think I was lieing and that I went thru some big puddles 'cuz they kept saying that that was the only way it could happen. I double checked everything under the hood and there isn't a whole lot of ways that it could have gotten in there!

Think if I would have just waited a few days it would have dried out by it self?

 

My wife's Trailblazer had the CEL come on this weekend after some pretty heavy rain and also a large puddle. I let it dry out thoroughly in the garage before she drove it again. I cleared the code and so far yesterday and today the CEL has stayed dark. A lot of times you just need to let things dry out. I have to admit, it is pretty rare to have water get inside the coils like that. I hope that was the case.