Bogging/surging when in gear after degreasing engine bay

[theother1wstolen]

Exactly what the title says, I degreased the engine with purple power, and now it bogs and surges when its in gear, but runs fine in park, unless i take it for a drive then put it in park (ie: if i just crank it up and leave it in park its fine, but if i drive it for a while then it runs like crap even in park) any ideas what i could have screwed up?
Modified by theother1wstolen at 3:22 PM 4/19/2008

[matrix232]

Check your fuses, you got something wet, i had two F^%$ed up after i did mine

[94_240sx]

Not too worry. This problem usually goes away after moisture dries up. Sometime it takes about a week though. Open the hood and leave under the sun for a while or drive hard. That'll get rid of moisture sooner.

[theother1wstolen]

Been about 5 days now, and its still doing it, i have driven it every day since, and it appears to be getting worse and not better. Ideas? it doesn't seem to do it the first minute or so that its running after it has been sitting for a few hours if that helps, and does anyone think it could be my maf? i ask because the hose handle dripped a little into the air filter :-\. and its not just when its in gear anymore.

[Rucca]

Take the cap off your distributor and dry it out really well, there is also a cover on the distributor under the cap that you should remove and dry under that. Under the cover is a disc with holes in it that is read by the crank angle sensor which is an led light. If this is dirty or has water on it it'll cause bogging.

Remove your spark plug wires and make sure there is no water on top of your spark plugs, if there is, remove the plugs and crank the engine for like 30 seconds with the plugs out. It'll blow out anything in there.

I don't know how much you dripped on your filter and I imagine it is a cone filter. Be sure it is dry as well (I don't think this is just a wet filter though because that problem would only get worse if more water was introduced.)

As for ruining components by doing this, I really doubt it. You would have to be really careless and unlucky to ruin anything. Just a lesson that when you clean the engine bay, be careful what you hose down.

[theother1wstolen]

the dizzy was bone dry, going to try pulling the plugs on my lunch break and give you guys a heads up.

[theother1wstolen]

anyone think it could be my PTU? and if so, where the hell do i get a new one?

[Rucca]

It's possible, but unlikely. They rarely fail. You can get new ones from Nissan, junk yards, or new remanufactured units on rockauto.com. Kinda pricey except you could prolly steal one from a pull your part. I have a spare if you are interested but I'll almost guarantee that is not your problem.

[low91240sx]

Had the same exact problem man check and make sure that water didn't get down on you spark plugs and check your air sensor you'll know if you have any water down there when you pull the spark plug wires out you'll see water on them just dry out everything.

[theother1wstolen]

just a heads up the problem actually had nothing to do with my degreasing, my valve cover came loose and i got oil in one of the spark plug holes, but it was your advice that got me to check that area, so thanks!