Washed my 1982 gtsi and now it runs like crap!!

you may have some water down in the ignition metering units ... under the trunk ... you could have a croded connection and or bad ground. simple check, water typically get in under the antenna and collects down in the well.

 

Happened to me once. Water in the distributors.

I was careless with the high psi water.

 

It just takes a few drops of water in a distributor to cause a problem. The heat vaporizes it, but if it isn't for a long enough time, enough moisture is left that when things cool down again, a film of moisture condenses on the inside of the distributor cap. The next time it runs, if it is still wet, sparks jump everywhere inside the cap, and possibly create a permanent carbon track

 

You can also get water in the cylinders (spark plug holes).

The easiest thing to do is check and see where water has gotten in the engine bay -- look for which spark plug boots are wet. Take out any plugs (chances are on the rear bank only) and dry. you can also put a little grease on the ends.

 

If you really have to wash the car, next time put a large sheet of plastic over the engine before you start. It will help to keep water out of the spark plug wells and the distributors and coils and connectors and control units, etc. And just be careful spraying water around the engine. Don't ever, ever, ever take a hose or worse, a power washer, and try to spray down the engine. With the plastic over the engine, you should be able to wash the car without the residual problems you've experienced.

Personally, I try to avoid washing the car, and rely as much as possible on Maguires Quick Detailer and other similar car cleaners for routine cleaning of dust and grime, with microfiber towels that I get from Costco (cheap -- use them, wash them, throw them away when they won't come clean anymore). Mine is not a show car, but I save the washing for times when the car is just too dirty or the dirt is too likely to mar the surface if I try to remove it with the spray cleaners. I figure the less water I get into places like door liners, etc., the last chance there is for rust to get started/progress.

But that's just me. YMMV.

 

This happened to me about two months ago... Water had collected in the wire caps that plug into the coils. Stupid design as my car has a water runoff tray that looks specifically designed to make sure the coils get soaked when washing the car. Pull off the coil wires... Clean them out and hopefully that should help.

 

Check for water in the distributors.

 

Under the expansion tank and outbound to the oil cooler there are two connectors one large and one small, clean them as they also retain water and could cause a miss. The small connector is (on my 83 QV) the connector for all three crank sensors. Clean them and also while you are there you can test them with an ohm meter. Happy Hunting.