No start condition, after heavy rain.

[Panici]

Hey guys,

Our festiva won't start.
It doesn't crank over with the starter.
It doesn't catch when we push started it.

I'm thinking the ECU got wet. Are we screwed and will have to buy a new one?

Suggestions on what to check to diagnose the no-start condition?

[TheresGabe]

Center fusible link! Pull it out. Take a file, and clean off the connections at the car. Replace the fusible link with a fuse. Hope this works!

[Aaronbrook37]

Center fusible link! Pull it out. Take a file, and clean off the connections at the car. Replace the fusible link with a fuse. Hope this works!

You can also purchase electrical contact cleaner that works wonders on these sorts of things. Available at Canadian Tire, Panici. But yes, do the junkyard fuse upgrade for sure! I've yet to do it myself, which is slightly hypocritical, but my junkyard access is just terrible for these things.

[WmWatt]

Cheapest is wipe the wires with a clean dry rag to remove built up dirt and mositure. A small brush like a toothbrush also helps
aound connections. If that dosen't do it consider disconecting wires and plugs one at at time and cleaning.

[rbrown]

Mine did this after an engine wash. No mount of drying/spraying worked. It simply had to dry out. 2 days later it started like nothing was ever wrong.

[denguy]

Spray the wires and disty and coil with WD40............WD= water displacement........

[Aaronbrook37]

Spray the wires and disty and coil with WD40............WD= water displacement........

Agreed here. I use a product called Dry-Wire that works ridiculously well. Another good idea is to ensure there's no water in the spark plug holes, as that can cause rough running or even zero start if multiple cylinders are affected. I've had completely filled plug holes before from my hood vents and a monster rainstorm. Another dangerous spot (on a B6T at least) is the distributor's air vent on the lower part of the cap.

[Bert]

Lots of advice coming in here. ECU is likely the very last thing that could go wrong. What happened to you happened to me last year and was solved with a 'new' distributor. I have lots of spares so I can experiment with swaps but that scenario almost cleaned me out of swappables before I found it. Go at this slowly and check the battery connections first. I'm kidding about the million swaps; I asked for online advice here after doing some continuity tests and after swapping the ignition module and a bunch of similarly related stuff and still the car wouldn't go. Good luck.

[Panici]

After checking everything else, looked at the fusable link, and sure enough it was corroded through.

Made a substitute for it, and car runs. Thanks guys!