With all this damn raining here in South Florida my car stalled in the middle of a semi deep puddle and now it won't turn over. How can I tell if it is hydrolocked? Please help.
Thanks

 

Well for one thing... STOP TRYING TO CRANK THE MOTOR!

If there is water in there, and it was not damaged initially, it will be with you trying to start it.

Try pulling the spark plugs. If there is water in there, you're hydrolocked.

Andrew

 

I know there is water in the cylinders. All 4 of them. Is there something I could do or do I have to take it in to the dealer? My car is completely stock except for the JDM Recaros I put in. I don't have an aftermarket intake system or anything? What is myt next course of action?

 

no aftermarket intake system and you hydrolocked? How freakin deep was this puddle really?

 

It came up to the middle of my door. So the guy that pushed my car said. It was pretty high. I was in an unfamiliar area and the puddle was deceptively deep.

 

It likely won't be covered under warranty, but as long as your intake is stock, your comprehensive Auto insurance policy should cover it.

Call your insurer and file a claim before you do anything else.

Andrew

 

I did that same damn thing in my old '79 LTD. A budy of mine and I were in south Miami and we pull up to a huge *** lake in the middle of the road. We look at each other and nod in agreement. I back up about 25 yards and guned it. We hit the water like a **** brick wall. The entire car was under water due to the water hitting the front grill and going over the hood and up and over the front window shield Car died, we climbed out the windows to push the car out (water was up to over middle of the door, so we could not open the door with out some major water problems ). Pushed it out of the water poped the hood and removed the filter, full of water Opened the butterflies and water in there.. doh. Pulled 7 of the plugs (that 8th on a ford 302 sucks ***) Spun it over, shot some water and put the plugs back in. Started the car up and water shot out the exhaust like a fire hose Car never ran right after that, guess i should have changed the oil... oh well sold it to some sucker a few weeks later after the float started sticking

Craig - Who is a little , and says take it to the dealer.

 

Hell yeah!

 

I've done this with my jetski but unsure if it will work with cars? Also was wondering if changing the oil would've helped you out?

 

hey nice avatar...wonder where that came from???

sorry to hear about that dude, hope it gets fixed

 

call your insurance company asap and claim flood damage, hopefully you have full coverage. gluck

 

If you are really hydrolocked, your car wouldn't even cran...check for water on your distributor and plugs first...

 

It wouldn't crank with the spark plugs installed. Because water cannot physically be compressed. But it will with them removed. I want to know if I can expel the water by removing the plugs, grounding the plugs and then turning over the engine. Then by changing the oil will everything be ok?

 

tough call.....wouldn't hurt to try, but if the water is in the combustion chamber (which should be sealed from the lower half of the engine), its not going to do much. you might want to try syphoning the water out of cylinders throught the spark plug holes...IF THAT doesn't work...you'll need to pull the head off and let the combustion chamber dry.

 

Too ****** funny... "Looked at eachother and nodded in agreement"... hahaha

 

Damn that sucks man.

When you said "semi-deep" puddle in your first post, i thought you mean like 2-3 inches deep, not up to half your door!

 

Hey the ITR is fast but it can't fly over a lake like the General lee.

 

I would think the dirty water would scratch the **** out of the cylinder walls. I would pull the head and clean up as much as you can.

 

Typically what you would do after you hydrolock is immediately pull the plugs - a lot of water will shoot out the plug holes. Then you'd use like a turkey baster or something to pull the rest of the water out. Then you would drain all the oil. Change oil filter. Fill with fresh oil. Say a prayer. Try to crank it. Hopefully you did not bend any rods, and your cylinders were not damaged, and your electrical system is ok, and there is no water in your transmission, etc... Since you were trying to crank the car repeatedly after the incident, you would be very lucky if there was not any damage.

Messing with it yourself is a bad idea IMO. You have insurance for a reason. Insurance should cover this. You may have severe engine damage, not to mention all of the damage that could have occurred to your electrical system and water damage to your car interior. If I were you I would not touch the car. Call your insurer first and file a claim right now! If you mess with the car first, you may give the insurer grounds to deny your claim.

A friend of mine hydolocked his Prelude with 9000 miles on the clock. Insurance paid to replace the motor with a brand new crate motor from Honda.

Andrew

 

Yea changing the oil would have helped, but it was a 1979 ford ltd with oever 150k miles on it. I did not give a crap. The thing was a pos, we used to dance on the roof on the beach... ah I miss that car. I remember the days when I used to be able to park my car anywhere and not give a chit....

Craig - Who needs a beater asap