It all happened a few days ago when I was starting up my car to go to school. I tried starting it up consecutive times with no success and the tried jump starting it by rolling down the hill still with no success. At first I thought it was my starter because it was either making a clunking noise or a noise that sounded like the gears were grinding and either time the engine never turned over. So unfortunatly I had to get it towed to a garage to have it inspected. The guy just called me today and said it was hydro-locked with gallons of fuel in the crnkcase which sounds really bad. Now my question is how would I be able to get that amount of fuel into the case and cause that to happen. The mechanic said he never seen anything like that before and didnt know what to do. Since he has his own private garage and isnt a dealership I have to get my car towed once again and have them inspect it. This is very frustrating and no one seems to know what the problem is. Is it the starter or it something else?????


Modified by hondaracin24 at 3:28 PM 4/6/2005

 

wtf?...hydrolocked on fuel?

to make sure i'm following you correctly:

The car was running fine, you park it, come back later and its acting weird and grinding gears. How reputable is this place cuz I'm suspicious as all hell?

Not to mention as you said, how in the hell did the fuel get in there. And by crankcase do you mean the cylinders are filled with fuel or the actual engine block is filled with fuel?

 

Thats what the guy said. I first started it up that morning without it being driven for about 12 hours or the night before. I tried starting it up, heard a really bad noise, it had to of been the starter. Kept trying for a few times still no luck. Then tried jump starting it and still no luck so I gave up. What I think he meant by the case was the cylinders. I could be wrong though as he mentioned that he doesnt see cars like this very often. I guess the fuel just got in there by keep trying to start it......I really have nothing else to think of otherwise....

 

try cranking it with the spark plugs out. never heard of fuel hyrdolock.

 

I dont currently have the car right now since its at a garage. Ufortunatley it will haved to be towed to my local dealership because the guy at the other garage isnt quite sure what to do. I talked to him on the phone earlier today and he say he took off the spark plugs and ed it over a few times and said there was lot of fuel coming out. Sure doesnt sound good thats for sure....

 

that sounds soo far fetched & whacked out that it's got to be true. I don't think the guy would be bs'ing you. The only thing i could think of is that his diagnosis is wrong.....

weird!

 

man dude, im so sorry, i know how it feels wen ur car isnt wokring properly, right now my brakelamps dont work right after i took off my reflectos on my 96 tailights....good luck man

 

hydro = water. There is sucha thing as vapor-lock, but it is entirely different. Either way, he doesn't know what he is talking about. Take it somewhere else.

 

lol...a mechanic told you your car was hydro-locked because he found the engine flooded with fuel (when your car has an electronic fuel injection system?) hahahahahah...i love it. Do me a favor and report that guy...lol.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Desslok &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">hydro = water.</TD></TR></TABLE>In this context, hydro = hydrostatic. It just means liquid in the cylinder, so with gasoline it would still be called hydrostatic lock. But it sure seems unlikely to get the cylinder filled with gasoline.

I guess it used to be possible (back in the day...) if your fuel tank pressurized itself, fuel flowed out from the carburator & down into the manifold. These days you'd have to have several things screwed up all at the same time...
1 - EVAP canister plugged so your fuel tank could pressurize.
2 - FPR allows pressure to build in fuel rail.
3 - At least one injector stuck open.
4 - Engine happens to stop with intake valves open on that same cylinder.
(pretty far-fetched...)

 

fukin a....The dealership just called me and told me my engine was shot and the 1st cylinder was losing compression. Now there looking for a rebuilt motor. This sucks, im so mad. Im a high school student that now has to come up for a crap load of money for a new engine....Im speechless.......

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by hondaracin24 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">....The dealership....Im speechless....... </TD></TR></TABLE>You can always tell 'em not to do anything. You'll probably be on the hook for some diagnosis labor or ?? Then get it towed somewhere, find a used engine, find a couple friends who know how to swap the engine...

At least tell them to hang on until they can actually give you a pretty good cost estimate.

It's still pretty bad news (if it's all true), but maybe not as bad as you think.

 

i wouldn't give them a dime until they could explain how the hell your engine hydrolocked while it was parked. Your engine can't just spontaneously fill with fuel.

i'd venture to say this was in no way your fault and there's no way it could have been avoided

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Schmitey &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

i'd venture to say this was in no way your fault and there's no way it could have been avoided</TD></TR></TABLE>

But the question remains of how it began to start with. Im not getting answers from anyone. I dealerships and only deal with them when I have to such as purchasing a new car. Right now I owe them $200 for the diagnosis to get my car back even though they did crap...Anyone know good places to buy a low mileage f22b1 or possibly and h22 if cheap enough?

 

you should just take the car back home buy a HELMS manual and buy a f22 motor for like $300 off someone that just did a h22 swap on their accord off one of the web boards and install it yourself. dealer will rape your for sure. your wallet will thank you later and so will your car since you learned something about it in the process.

 

Maybe the ignition is messed up somehow causing flooding of the cylenders with gas... A possiblity! If you need an engine, let me know.

Caleb

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by raceACCORDingly &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">you should just take the car back home buy a HELMS manual and buy a f22 motor for like $300 off someone that just did a h22 swap on their accord off one of the web boards and install it yourself. dealer will rape your for sure. your wallet will thank you later and so will your car since you learned something about it in the process.</TD></TR></TABLE>

i definitely second that man, that's what I did on my first car...well a complete head job anyways

truly man, the knowledge will be priceless and its not like you gotta pay for rent right now...besides you can get a ride from a friend in the meantime

shoot man schools almost out, make it a summer project

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Schmitey &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
shoot man schools almost out, make it a summer project</TD></TR></TABLE>

Problem is that I dont have much time. I was getting it ready for a high school car show May 14th which doesnt leave me a lot of time so I'll have to act quick on this one...You actually think I might be able to do it myself with a helms manual? I never attempted to do anything like this before. How long do you think it would take 8-10 hrs?

 

BUAHAHAHAHAHAHAH...sorry, i hate to laugh at your situation, but i think you got your priorities kind of skewed, especially if you're worried about a damn high school car show. And no, i dont think you will even be able to begin with this on your own, you have no experience and you have no idea what you'll need to do even a head swap, much less rebuilding anything or replacing the entire shibang.

Tell you what you need to do...let us know what all you DIDNT do to your car (tune ups, repairs to broken engine componants, etc) that you think led up to this situation, what you've neglected on that car (since if your in this situation, its probobly alot)...and then bring it to a reputible shop (one that has half a brain about automotive repair and simply tell them "Tell me what i need to do to fix my car...").

Im sorry but this story is so off the wall, the damage to your engine seems so unlikely to EVER happen in the scenario you described, theres either something really missing here, or you got quite a few people trying to dick you over for engine repair. I dont think you quite understand just how silly your story sounds...really.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by hypnosisracing &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Tell you what you need to do...let us know what all you DIDNT do to your car (tune ups, repairs to broken engine componants, etc) that you think led up to this situation, what you've neglected on that car (since if your in this situation, its probobly alot)...and then bring it to a reputible shop (one that has half a brain about automotive repair and simply tell them "Tell me what i need to do to fix my car...").

Ive kept the car well maintained with oil changes every 3,000 miles, flush out the radiator, recently replace the timing belt, crap like that. I know how to take care of regular maintence and always have it just that engine swaps are totally different...

</TD></TR></TABLE>

 

lol...im just saying man, your situation just has this HUGE hole right in the middle of it, and i think that is where alot of the answers to your issue are, we just cant see whats there. But hey, it could have been an act of god or something...weirder things have happened, the other day my cat was eating its food out of the bowl with its paws like a person would eat...lol, so sure, gas could just spontaneously fill your engine for no reason...lol.

 

...pull your plugs out and check to see if there is any fuel in the cylinders... check out your ignition system, I believe the problem lies within! If you have a multmeter, check for any current starting from your plugs and working your way to the battery. This may help you find the cause to your problem.

Caleb

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by supercreed2002 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">...pull your plugs out and check to see if there is any fuel in the cylinders... check out your ignition system, I believe the problem lies within! If you have a multmeter, check for any current starting from your plugs and working your way to the battery. This may help you find the cause to your problem.

Caleb</TD></TR></TABLE>

Again I dont have the car right now since its at the dealership so i cant check any of these things. What I can tell you is that the guy took the spark plugs out, started the ignition and said there was a whole bunch of fuel spitting out. When my car was at an high school garage we checked the plug wires with a multmeter and one of them was really weak which was the 1st cylinder which came to be one of the problems of why my engine is messed up. Before this happened I replaced the plug wires with new bosch ones and also replaced the plugs with denso ones. Car ran fine for a few days, then checked the #1 cylinder plug, black as hell. I think it was just a problem waiting to happen. The car was running really rich, plugs were getting fouled, the #1 cylinder wasnt functioning properly, couldnt get much worse....

 

My memory is alittle hazy but in regards to fuel leaking into strange places:

There was a slightly similar gas flooding in Rx7's where the car, after turning off / ignition off / leaving the car sitting overnite would flood the combustion chamber with fuel. Perhaps this might lead you in the right direction thinking-wise.

ripped from a google search how to fix Rx7 flooding:

Rx7 Flooded Engine Fix
Flooding usually happens when you run the engine for a very short time (&lt; 2 minutes) and then shut down the car. It then won't start because excess fuel has washed the oil from the sides of the engine and compression drops to near zero.
If your 3rd gen has never flooded I would save this message for when it does.
Here are the steps based on several peoples opinions and what I did that got it running.
Assuming that the car a) will not run and b) seems to be cranking fine or maybe even a little too well (cranks faster than normal because of low compression).
1. Pull the plugs and check for spark, if you don’t know how to do this take it to a dealer
2. If the plugs are soaked and smell like gas it’s flooded.
3. Pull the rest of the plugs and start them drying out or better yet get a fresh set.
4. Disconnect the battery and Pull the Fuel Pump relay, located just behind the bumper in the engine compartment under a little black cover, it’s labeled.
5. Connect the battery and turn the motor over several times for about 3-5 seconds at a time. Allow at least 30 seconds between each crank. IMPORTANT push the gas pedal to the floor while cranking the motor. This tells the computer to NOT fire the fuel injectors.
6. Wait about ½ an hour, go read the paper check your e-mail ----- Let the car sit.
7. Repeat steps 5 and 6
8. Squirt about a tablespoon of Automatic Transmission Fluid (ATF) into each spark plug hole.
9. Wipe up the mess you just made.
10. Put the plugs and wires back on.
11. Disconnect the battery and put the fuel pump relay back in.
12. Make sure you have enough gas, ¼ tank at least to be safe.
13. One guy mentioned putting a product called Dry Gas into the fuel tank. I don’t know if it helped or not but I did this as well, Pep Boys had it for $1.29
14. Crank the motor over once with your foot to the floor, to let the ATF get spread around. The ATF fluid helps seal the gap between the rotors and engine cases and boosts compression enough to start the engine.
15. Crank the motor in the normal manner and be prepared to "catch it" if it starts to stumble. It will smoke a lot from the ATF so just let it burn the stuff off. I ran mine till it was completely warmed up, shut it off, restarted it, and took it for a test hop.
It started and ran well this morning. I do not know why it flooded but it sure is a b(*&h to fix it when it does.