It was pouring rain pretty much all day saturday and some streets were flooded and whatnot but it was pretty driveable if you don't have a cold air intake (which I don't have).
But anyway I was driving down this one road with a huge puddle, probably about 5 inches or so deep I'm not exactly sure. I kinda saw it so I slowed down some but I don't think I was going slow enough because I could see some water splash onto my hood. After I escaped this massive lake I think my exhaust scooped up some water and I got a blinking CEL. My car was stuttering really badly and it sounded like an STI (not that I'm bragging or anything). I stopped at a gas station and poped the hood and everything seemed dry as far as I could tell. I doubt I got any water in my short-ram intake or I would have hydrolocked and my car would have just stalled or whatever.
I made it to a friends house and kept my car on the street which had a nice incline so that maybe if I did have water in my exhaust it could drain out and at least help the situation.
I let it sit overnight and it barely starts up. I seems to be cranking for a while and there's this deep humming noise that I can't really explain that happens when I started it one time. It drives fine in most cases but when I'm at half throttle in say, 3rd gear, the car stutters a lot. I really don't know what could be wrong. Anybody have any input on what kind of damage the water could have caused?
I was thinking one of the belts was slipping but they should have dried from the engine heat and sitting overnight. Sorry for the novel. Any input would be greatley appreciated. Thanks
Car is a 2000 civic ex with AEM SRI and apexi ws2 exhaust.

 

whats the CEL for?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by juanb &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">whats the CEL for?</TD></TR></TABLE>

a blinking CEL means its a misfire.

my friend you may have hydrolocked your engine. if the water was high enough to get on the hood it definatley could have gotten into the intake. unforutionatley it dosent take much water to bend a rod.

id do a compression/leakdown test ASAP.

 

hell you could have had a leak in your oil pan gasket and got water into, and once you get water into your oil your fucked. usually

 

well the water wasn't up to my hood just a little bit splashed up near my hood. I really don't think I got water in my intake. Even if I did hydrolock my engine it wouldn't run at all since water doesn't compress like air does and I doubt I have a bent valve. I may get a compression test done but it's such a pain in the *** since I need my car for school and work.

are you positive that a blinking CEL means a misfire? I no longer have a CEL. I think it was caused by water in my exhaust and/or water got near my O2 sensor or something.

 

Did it seem like any of your important electronic equip got wet? I.E. your alternator or your battery? Do you have an external coil? The only thing i can think of if it drives well up to third and cranks fine is that you may have gotten some other small component wet since you were saying water was shooting up onto your hood, water may have shot up underneath as well if you hit the water fast enough. check your dizzy cap/coil for water or condensation.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by FuNkDrSpOt &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">check your dizzy cap/coil for water or condensation.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Thats my vote

 

that's true... i got a 99 si and the first time i washed the motor, it had done exactly what you have described.. it just sounded like a sti and wouldn't start up for a while afterward.. it just takes some time to let it dry out.. i dunno.. it's pretty weird cause my friends can wash their motors (JDM B16, JDM ITR, and a GSR) with no problems and crap but mine's the only one that'll act up.. i think it's a 99 - up thing..

-Fredy

 

I usually put a shopping bag over the dizzy before i washed the bay, and the fuse box.

 

i would take the plugs and crank it over a little try to blow any possible water out of the compression chamber, than change the oil.. Probably follow it up with a tune up... good luck

 

thanks for the suggestions
I'll check out the distributor today if I can get a chance. I need to change the oil anyway but I can't do it today, maybe this weekend.

bump for suggestions from the morning crew.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by S2K NUB &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I usually put a shopping bag over the dizzy before i washed the bay, and the fuse box.</TD></TR></TABLE>

you should cover alternator too

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by FuNkDrSpOt &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">check your dizzy cap/coil for water or condensation.</TD></TR></TABLE>

i had a bad gasket on my distributor, and same thing went througha big puddle and was able to get water inside. also was washing the engine bay ang got water in the distributor. sounds exactly the same to the problems you are describing. i bet if you check that, you're problem will be fixed.

just get some electrical cleaner, or water remover from autozone... they make this stuff for electronics. worked great on mine. good luck.

 

you know i hate water myself......

 

So I went outside and poped the hood and looked around checking the basic stuff. The motor seemed to have started smoothly, almost normal, and it was idling fine. It seemed a lot better than yesterday when I started it. Hopefully it will be ok for me to drive it 12 miles to work and back. Thanks for your help guys!

 

it could be fine. sometimes it will dry out after a day of sitting. so good luck to you. if not, then get some electric water remover at autozone. sure fire way of not damaging anything, and gets any water or condensation out. good luck, and hope ot worked itself out.

 

Yeah it sucks to hear that kind of **** to happen to people. I had the same thing happen to me when I went thru water but I think I did bend a rod or something cause afterwards it had a pretty heavy knocking noise. Luckily for me I already had a B-Series swap waiting for me at home, I was just trying to pass emissions with my DX motor then do the swap but the damn rain messed up my plans.

 

I drove the car around the block and it's definitely misfiring. The CEL came back flashing and it started stuttering again but only at low rpm's with load on the engine. I'm taking it to a shop today so they can see what's up with it.

 

ok so it's fixed
there was some corrosion on the distributor cap and they replaced the gasket. All is good now.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by garrettej8 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">ok so it's fixed
there was some corrosion on the distributor cap and they replaced the gasket. All is good now.</TD></TR></TABLE>

i love it when im wrong in situations like that