Short version: I have a 01 accord coupe with the 2.4L I4 with about 140,000 miles. I accidentally drove it through water in a low spot on a street during heavy rain. The car was only water for maybe a second but it cut out. When I had coasted past the water onto a drier part of the street, I tried to restart it and it started fine. Now the engine seems to be acting like its in safe mode or something. When I push too hard on the gas, the engine shudders and the rpms/power drops. For example, in park I can gently push on the gas and get the rpms up to around 4000 or so before the engine starts to studder, rpms drop, and the car shakes. This happens quicker if you are giving gas like you would on the road and push it in 50% or more. Any idea what is wrong and what I need to do to fix this? This happened about 3 weeks ago. I tried to drive it for about a week abut I can't really drive it safely in the condition its in. Thanks for the help!

 

You MUST have a CAI for that to happen to you if u drove through a bit of water for less than 5-10 seconds. With that being said, do you have a CAI?

 

No CAI but I took off the intake(if thats the word) to the airbox. The airbox is still there but the plastic part that fed air to it is gone

 

So you took off the tube that goes from the air box into the throttle body?

That was not a wise choice IMO. At least a CAI would give you some protection. If water got sucked into the engine, it could have damaged the engine internally. Water does not compress like gasoline and air. I would do a compression test on each cylinder.

The spark plugs could have also got messed up. Replace them when you do the compression test.

 

no, i took off the tube that connects the outside environment to the airbox

 

Got a check-engine light? Have AutoZone or someplace like that read the error code. Get the actual number not just the guy's explanation.

You might have gotten water into the wiring harness somewhere. Or maybe thermal shock on some sensor?