Okay I almost made it through this godforsaken flood, then bam, car died. Wehn I try to start it it sounded really rouch like metal was knocking around in my engine. Now when I try to start all I can get is a squeeling noise, like the car isnt turning, and I can feel a light pump like it may be almost turning, but maybe this is the fuel pump. Is my engine gone? I need help asap because my job depends on it.

 

pull your plugs and see if the cylinders are full of water...

 

What if they are full of water? getting ready to go check 1 last time for the night.

 

Try new plugs , if that fixes it , Change the oil Asap

I hydro locked my 4 door gsr because I didnt feel like putting a short ram on it , I changed the plugs and it was fine and I didnt think to change the oil.

good luck man

 

looked and there was no water in the plug cylinders. Checked and it didnt look like there was any water in the oil. but ive learned to flush all fluids after drivng through a flood, espescially t fluid. But Its going wha wha wha wha with not much vibration in the engine. Like it is turning over but barely. the only way i can explain it is if u put ur spark plugs back on in the wrong order and try to start. It also kinda acted lke this when it sat for two months but I eventually got it to start. No starting here.


Modified by civicdelsol33 at 9:29 PM 7/12/2008

 

stupid question sorta but is there any way you got water in your fuel?

 

I wondered the same thing. Gonna have to look at it tomorrow. Im thinking I need an engine.

 

pull the plugs (all of them and leave them out. Turn the engine over with them out. Does it turn over? How does it sound? Should sound like a real smooth air compressor. Anything come flying out the spark plug holes? If you hydrolocked the engine it'll look like a friggen water fountain as it shots the water out.
Pull the distributor and check for water in there.

Hell, how deep was the water you drove through?

 

Damn dude, the south side keeps gettin hit hard, i work in greenwood at Bob Rohrman honda and we keep getting flooded like hell..... anyways, id pull the plugs and unplug the 2-wire connector on your distributor (disables ignition) and crank the engine over to get any water out of the cylinders. after you crank it over for a good 10-15 seconds, plug everything back up and see if she starts. good luck, weve had a lot of flood cars come into the shop lately

Edit: gah! islandsi beat me to it.

 

let it dry out too. had this happen once in my coupe... it shut off completely on me. i had a cold air intake and went thru a big puddle i couldnt see.

tried to start it once and got nothing so i left it over night. came back in the morning pulled a couple plugs, cranked over the motor and let anything that might have gone in come out. then i put it back together and the car still runs perfect. (2 years ago this happend)

there isnt much on these hondas to keep the water off the engines so big puddles or "rivers" are hell on us especially lowered ones.

 

LOL thats probably where Ill be buying the parts. Hopefully they give me internet price. Im living in greenwood right now so at least its close. Im gonna pull the plugs and crank her over tomorrow. I think it may start once it dries, it was giving me the notion. fingers crossed but if I loose the engine i cant cry it does have 230k on it. Looks like I may be rebuilding the Del Sol sooner than i planned. better get the transmission in my hatch tomorrow or Im out of my job then im really screwed.


Modified by civicdelsol33 at 1:03 AM 7/13/2008

 

Don't listen to the guy above. Letting the engine sit with water in it for any extended amount of time is just plain stupid.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by IslandSi &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Don't listen to the guy above. Letting the engine sit with water in it for any extended amount of time is just plain stupid. </TD></TR></TABLE>

ooooook...waiting till its not wet and you have some daylight is stupid?

first of i highly [freak]ing doubt he sucked up that much water if any water at all. usually when an engine gets the slightest bit of water in there they do what? they shut off. And usually cars only suck in a ton of water when your ripping thru that puddle. Sounds like the OP was trying to creep thru one.

True with dirtbikes, 4 wheelers and cars. Your right it probally isn't the best idea to not crank that water out of your engine right away but your not always blessed with the right conditions to do so. who knows maybe it was still raining? maybe its 2 am and your beat from the entire day.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by civicdelsol33 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">When I try to start it it sounded really rough like metal was knocking around in my engine. Now when I try to start all I can get is a squealing noise, like the car isn't turning</TD></TR></TABLE>

my next point is hydro-locked engines don't crank. or atleast i have always been under the impression that when you hydro-lock any engine it seizes up making it unable to crank untill you get that water out.

so i dont think its stupid to tell the man let it dry out. think about it he could of done a number of things... soaked his distributor, got his starter wet, soaked the alt. i have yet to see an older civic (or delsol) that really has any defense from water splashing up all over the engine. its all open areas.

to the op let us know what happens, i bet you maybe got a lil bit of water in there but not that much if it still seems like it wanted to start. i think you just got some stuff a lil wetter then normal.

and like i was saying with what happend to me, the same night my friends civic died on him too while he was trying to make his way thru another big *** puddle. he did the same exact thing i did and came back in the morning and she started right up.


Modified by dividedas1 at 9:13 AM 7/13/2008


Modified by dividedas1 at 10:16 AM 7/13/2008

 

Okay guys I got it started but it is running [freak]ing horrible, obviously, I think there is water in my exhaust that could be causing the whole problem. Change my oil and my t fluid for sure, check all other fluids to makes sure water didnt get in them, but damn it is putting around, not running, but the engine doesnt sound bad, its liek the exhaust is going ruh ruh ruh ruh while I drive. Shoould I let keep running to let it dry out or no?

 

Yea definitely water in the exhaust. Still going to flush t-fluid and oil because everytime I drive through one of these things, about a week later my tranny will start slipping. Everything else is good. I guess water in my exhaust was preventing air flow and my dizzy probably got wet. It drove really bad at first but the more I drove the more normal it got to where it almost got to apoint where I could barely make it start bogging. Alls well that ends well. Still probably gonna get the VX hatch rolling for the MPG and to give me a chance to rebuild the sol right instead of just making it run good and still keeping it looking like ****. Im just glad I got the Sol running long enough to get the Hatch rolling.

 

dosent hydro locked mean it wont crank over hence the term hydro locked

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by civicdelsol33 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Yea definitely water in the exhaust. Still going to flush t-fluid and oil because everytime I drive through one of these things, about a week later my tranny will start slipping. Everything else is good. I guess water in my exhaust was preventing air flow and my dizzy probably got wet. It drove really bad at first but the more I drove the more normal it got to where it almost got to apoint where I could barely make it start bogging. Alls well that ends well. Still probably gonna get the VX hatch rolling for the MPG and to give me a chance to rebuild the sol right instead of just making it run good and still keeping it looking like ****. Im just glad I got the Sol running long enough to get the Hatch rolling.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Glad to hear everything turned out ok The reason it ran rough at first was because even though it was running, there was still some water being burnt off inside the cylinders. as you drove it, all the water burned out of the cylinders and things returned to normal. (thats why water came out the exhaust).

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> dosent hydro locked mean it wont crank over hence the term hydro locked </TD></TR></TABLE>

Read the thread before posting. Problem fixed. PS- do some research before you post too, hydrolocked engines can be saved.

 

kinda off topic but this will clear some things up.

Hydrolocking is when your motor sucks up great amount of water. water is not compressible. So, when the cylinder(s) is on the compression cycle, depending on how much throttle you were on, could lead to catastrophic failure (i.e. blowing out holes in your block.) But, sometime people get lucky and may be able to still start their engines after drying and replacing fluids. Even though the engine could start damage still could have been done already (i.e. bent sh*t).

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by grandtheftlunchbox &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">PS- do some research before you post too, hydrolocked engines can be saved. </TD></TR></TABLE>

lol ya this happens alot with all types of motors its the same concept. have had it happen in a few dirt bikes and four wheelers...its more about how the driver is driving at the time. and fixing the problem before relentlessly cranking the engine with no place to escape

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dividedas1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

ooooook...waiting till its not wet and you have some daylight is stupid?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yes

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dividedas1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">usually when an engine gets the slightest bit of water in there they do what? they shut off.</TD></TR></TABLE>
Not even close I've driven my car on the highway in a downpour with a cold air intake and no fender liner. When I was finally able to stop I checked the intake pipe. The engine definitly sucked up an assload of water. Never locked up.
Also, ever hear of water injection?

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dividedas1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">And usually cars only suck in a ton of water when your ripping thru that puddle. Sounds like the OP was trying to creep thru one.</TD></TR></TABLE>
Crept through a puddle and locked up my engine. When you cover up the intake opening with water, engine RPM doesn't matter. The engine is going to suck whatever is in front of that inlet up. 5,000 RPM or 500.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dividedas1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">True with dirtbikes, 4 wheelers and cars. Your right it probally isn't the best idea to not crank that water out of your engine right away but your not always blessed with the right conditions to do so. who knows maybe it was still raining? maybe its 2 am and your beat from the entire day.</TD></TR></TABLE>
Ever check your brake rotors the day after they got wet? Surface rust, right? Well, inside your engine you have steel parts as well. I don't care who you are, rust INSIDE your engine is bad. Pouring rain, hail, sleet, 2 AM, 9PM, whatever. Letting your engine sit with water in it is stupid. When I locked mine up it was around 11PM, pitch dark, no covered area to work, and it was still raining. Pulled the plugs, cranked the engine, blew out water, put plugs back in, started car, let car idle for 30 minutes. Took all of about an hour and the engine ran great for the next 5 years.

 

Thanx for all the help. But its weird its almost like the car runs better afterwards. i guess it has the same concept as seafoam. I heard some people just spray water in their air intake and it does the same thing. I just wonder how dirty flood water could be the same as clean water, but hey, the car feels good as ever. And Hondas are pretty resilient, 233k miles been flooded three times and it still is good. And I did crank it relintlessly till I got it to start. Still never seen any water in the valves, pulled all the plugs off cranked and no water spewing. I also have a huge CAI so that didnt help. But there was water literally fille in the exhaust. Thats why i heard metal clunking around when i cranked it over first. The air had no where to go because the pipes were filled with water so it was liking hitting the exhaust system with a hammer the same force of the exhaust of my car.


Modified by civicdelsol33 at 1:11 AM 7/14/2008

 

You basically steam cleaned your engine the not-so-right way.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by IslandSi &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Took all of about an hour and the engine ran great for the next 5 years.</TD></TR></TABLE>

i know it doesnt take that long. and i do agree man you should do it right away... but when the car WONT crank because something else is wet and your no where near your tools wtf are you supposed to do.

i had all this happen to me and my car is running 2 years strong now. well actually its my friends car now. but not a single problem this entire time.

im glad the op got his car running again this can be some scary ****

 

your lucky usually when the engine cant compress the fluid in the cylinders you get the rattles but shortly after you get a pop when the cylinder wall breaks. Great for you though that you checked it thoroughly.