I was driving to work today during a freak thunderstorm here in Austin tx that quickly turned into a tornado. I pulled into a gas station because I couldnt see due to mass amounts of rain and hail. My car started to idle errraticly fluctuating between 600-900 rpm and my check engine light came on. My windshield wipers were also affected because I went to turn them off tthey didnt stop wiping... wierd. the plastic insert on my hood has been removed and Im sure rain was pouring into my engine compartment. When I finally pulled out the light went off and my wipers started acting normally again. Could the water be to blame? The rain and hail were blowing sideways at a good 50-60 mph. -88 formula 350

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Drew

 

Code 44 is "Car is levitating on horizontal
axis".

You need not worry, once this code is off.

:-)

-- Joe

 

It's a little-known fact, but when scanning for DTCs after a tornado, the results need to be inverted due to all the optical distortion created by the cyclonic wind/drag coefficient on the relatively non-aerodynamically designed housings of the ECM cover and engine wiring harness connectors.

Due to that inversion, the "44 you got was actually an "hh" code. My limited data indicates that this represents "What the holy hell is going on?", and "hey! hey! - Put my car down!" faults.

Honestly, the excess water probably just wet down the system and degraded the O2 signal enough to set a false "lean" condition. Once the sensor and wiring are dry, you should be O.K. That same water could have screwed up the park switch or intermittent timer in the wiper motor and kept that running as well. I don't think GM intended for trouble free operation in 250 MPH cyclonic winds...

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Later,
Vader
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If you want to beat the World, it might reach up and pull you down...
Adobe Acrobat Reader

 

Haha, Your terrible.

Hey vader, i can't find any tech data as to
how many degrees a stock 350 prom will advance timing. I'm trying to figure out what
my max timing is.

-- Joe

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1989 Formula 350 4-bolt mains, Forged .030 TRW pistons, SLP 51010 Roller Cam, Comp-cams roller lifters, Summit 1.5 roller rockers, World Products Sportsman II
2.02/1.60 heads, Edelbrock TPI Intake, Cloyes Double Roller, timing chain, Mellings oil pump: 13.5 @ 100.23 MPH

Since close of track : Ported SLP runners, Ported Plenum, AFPR, Autometer 100lbs gauge, A/F ratio gauge.

http://www.joesperformance.com

-- Joe

 

I don't have any holes in my hood to allow water into my engine compartment but my 305 always ran like a dog during rain storms. It sucks. But then again, who the hell is going to need perfect performance in a rain storm... I'm sure not gonna race someone in the rain.

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1986 Trans AM
355 TPI
4 Wheel Disc Brakes
9 bolt Borg Warner Rear (2.77's....oh joy) :P
6" rods, approx. 9.7:1 Compression, Stock TPI (soon to be ported), 24#/hr LTI injectors (cleaned and flowmatched by Cruizin Performance), Hedman Shorty Headers, 3" exhaust with 80 series flowmaster, SBC 993 heads completely redone and modified for 1.6 RR, 1.52 RR (for now), Comp Cams XE262-14 TPI Cam, Holley AFPR, TPIS airfoil, MSD wires, MSD 6-AL Ignition, Hypertech 53,000 volt coil.

Track times to come.