Honda Car Forum

Hi,

I Have a 1993 legend, was running perfect until today! My brother decided
that he wanted to clean the engine for me, it did not go well! We went to a
car wash and he first applied some engine degreaser for like five minutes
and then power washed the engine compartment.

Once he was done with the wash I started the car and to my demise, it did
not look good. The car was idling very low and the idling was cycling like
crazy from like 200 to 800 RPM. I though, O.K. some water got somewhere and
it'll dry out soon. I was wrong!! When I tried to shift the gear into drive
it would not shift and yes, I was pressing on the breaks. I freaked out and
I was going to kill him. But, I wanted to get home so I finally used the
ignition key to unlock the shifter and I made it home (I left him at the car
wash) . It was less than half a mile drive home. My trouble did not end
there; when I got home white smoke was coming out of the exhaust pipe. This
is my story!

I know it was idiotic and believe me I did not want to do it but he
convinced me that it was a good idea and I reluctantly agreed! I know, I
know, you can curse me; you can swear at me all you want but PLEASE help me
out. I love this car and I am a student on a tight budget and there is no
way I can afford to take it to the dealer.

Thank you soooooo much and hope you can help me out.

Lisa

"Lisa" <00@0000hotmail.com> wrote in
news:kvudnQoqJdND85rbnZ2dnUVZ_qGjnZ2d@buckeye-express.com:

> Hi,
>
> I Have a 1993 legend, was running perfect until today! My brother
> decided that he wanted to clean the engine for me, it did not go well!
> We went to a car wash and he first applied some engine degreaser for
> like five minutes and then power washed the engine compartment.
>
> Once he was done with the wash I started the car and to my demise, it
> did not look good. The car was idling very low and the idling was
> cycling like crazy from like 200 to 800 RPM. I though, O.K. some water
> got somewhere and it'll dry out soon. I was wrong!! When I tried to
> shift the gear into drive it would not shift and yes, I was pressing
> on the breaks. I freaked out and I was going to kill him. But, I
> wanted to get home so I finally used the ignition key to unlock the
> shifter and I made it home (I left him at the car wash) . It was less
> than half a mile drive home. My trouble did not end there; when I got
> home white smoke was coming out of the exhaust pipe. This is my story!
>
> I know it was idiotic and believe me I did not want to do it but he
> convinced me that it was a good idea and I reluctantly agreed! I know,
> I know, you can curse me; you can swear at me all you want but PLEASE
> help me out. I love this car and I am a student on a tight budget and
> there is no way I can afford to take it to the dealer.
>
> Thank you soooooo much and hope you can help me out.
>
> Lisa
>
>
>

First,I'd say that your spark plug wires and maybe your ignition coil need
replacing;the wires may be the originals and overdue for replacement,the
coil may have been damaged from the arcing of the plug wires,or itself
failed due to moisture.Try the wires first.
Then;
The white smoke could be water/degreaser that got forced into the intake
system and not anything harmful.A half-mile drive is not enough to warm up
the car,either.
If it still does it after you replace the plug wires and and go for a long
drive,then you have other problems,perhaps serious ones.

You need to hit up your brother for the repair costs.


(BTW,we don't post binaries in this newsgroup.)

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net

"Lisa" <00@0000hotmail.com> wrote in
news:kvudnQoqJdND85rbnZ2dnUVZ_qGjnZ2d@buckeye-express.com:

> Hi,
>
> I Have a 1993 legend, was running perfect until today! My brother
> decided that he wanted to clean the engine for me, it did not go well!
> We went to a car wash and he first applied some engine degreaser for
> like five minutes and then power washed the engine compartment.




You are supposed to mask off all the electrical stuff with plastic
first, and to aim the spray AWAY from the electrical stuff.



>
> Once he was done with the wash I started the car and to my demise,



Your "demise"? Are you dead now? So sorry.



> it
> did not look good. The car was idling very low and the idling was
> cycling like crazy from like 200 to 800 RPM. I though, O.K. some water
> got somewhere and it'll dry out soon. I was wrong!! When I tried to
> shift the gear into drive it would not shift and yes, I was pressing
> on the breaks. I freaked out and I was going to kill him.



Oh, you wanted HIM to meet his demise, then. Sounds like a logical
next-step in this case...



> But, I
> wanted to get home so I finally used the ignition key to unlock the
> shifter and I made it home (I left him at the car wash) . It was less
> than half a mile drive home. My trouble did not end there; when I got
> home white smoke was coming out of the exhaust pipe. This is my story!



You may have shorted out the shift control solenoids, which are on the
upper front part of the transmission housing.

Is the "D4" or "S" light blinking? Is the Check Engine light on?

Have you managed to drive it for at least a half-hour? You may not have
cooked all the water out of its hiding places.



--
Tegger

The Unofficial Honda/Acura FAQ
www.tegger.com/hondafaq/

Lisa,

I had a similar problem with my 1993 legend and it wound up being JUST
the sprak coil.

I actually replaced all six of mine, even though only ONE was bad.

So I have 5 good coils in my shed. If you wanted one of the coils or
ALL 5 we could work something out?

Darren


On Tue, 27 Mar 2007 02:40:02 +0000 (UTC), Tegger <tegger@tegger.c0m>
wrote:

>"Lisa" <00@0000hotmail.com> wrote in
>news:kvudnQoqJdND85rbnZ2dnUVZ_qGjnZ2d@buckeye-express.com:
>
>> Hi,
>>
>> I Have a 1993 legend, was running perfect until today! My brother
>> decided that he wanted to clean the engine for me, it did not go well!
>> We went to a car wash and he first applied some engine degreaser for
>> like five minutes and then power washed the engine compartment.
>
>
>
>
>You are supposed to mask off all the electrical stuff with plastic
>first, and to aim the spray AWAY from the electrical stuff.
>
>
>
>>
>> Once he was done with the wash I started the car and to my demise,
>
>
>
>Your "demise"? Are you dead now? So sorry.
>
>
>
>> it
>> did not look good. The car was idling very low and the idling was
>> cycling like crazy from like 200 to 800 RPM. I though, O.K. some water
>> got somewhere and it'll dry out soon. I was wrong!! When I tried to
>> shift the gear into drive it would not shift and yes, I was pressing
>> on the breaks. I freaked out and I was going to kill him.
>
>
>
>Oh, you wanted HIM to meet his demise, then. Sounds like a logical
>next-step in this case...
>
>
>
>> But, I
>> wanted to get home so I finally used the ignition key to unlock the
>> shifter and I made it home (I left him at the car wash) . It was less
>> than half a mile drive home. My trouble did not end there; when I got
>> home white smoke was coming out of the exhaust pipe. This is my story!
>
>
>
>You may have shorted out the shift control solenoids, which are on the
>upper front part of the transmission housing.
>
>Is the "D4" or "S" light blinking? Is the Check Engine light on?
>
>Have you managed to drive it for at least a half-hour? You may not have
>cooked all the water out of its hiding places.