I had to look at your profile to figure out what year you had. It helps when you list your year, miles, and things recently replaced. I smell a CPS, on the early 04's maybe the late ones too, they didn't enjoy a heat shield, it may just had been it's time to go out. It's an easy fix and not expensive. Washing the car shouldn't have caused any problems, as mentioned, you didn't wash the engine nor the dash. Just my two cents.

Dave