Expert: Josh Fields - 9/14/2006

Question
My car was unfortantly up to the bumper(front and back) in water.  Bad flooding event.  I've unplugged every plug and plugged back in.  I put fuel cleaner in the gas tank, filled up the tank with 10% enthanol gas.  Unplugged hoses to see if anything was trapped.  Basically when the car is idling the rpm keeps racing up and down.  Then when you step on the gas to speed up is studders three times and then gets going.  What can this be?  

Answer
Brittany,
 When a car studders under load (accelleration) or from revving, its usually a sign that water is in the ignition system, or your ignition system is corroded because of the water.  I would pull the distributor cap off and clean all the points on the cap and rotor (fine sandpaper works great).  Then pull all the plug wires and let them air-dry.  try running the car after everything has had a chance to air-dry.  If it still sputters, you should probably give the engine a tune up (new ignition components).

 Good luck,
 Josh