alright guys.. did some searching, but didn't find a situation that really answered what I was wondering, so I was hoping some of you might know..

a friend of mine has a 96 Civic EX.. he has an AEM CAI with no bypass valve, and had cut the plastic cover under the car, so "the filter can get more air".. before anyone says anything, myself and many others have warned him about this on NUMEROUS occasions, telling him it's risky.. well, surprise surprise, it rained really hard here this evening and he hit a big puddle and the engine stopped.. he got it towed home, and tried to get it to turn over a bunch of times, even going so far as to try to pop start it rolling it down his driveway..

keep in mind, he did all this before he called me.. so anyway.. he calls me just now and tells me about what all has happened.. he says it won't crank at all, and that he removed the valve cover and there was water on the underside, and after removing the intake, found water in the throttle body.. no surprise there..

my questions are: do you think the engine is totally screwed? if not, should he try the pull the spark plugs and try to turn it over trick? if this does shoot the water out, what all should he get checked(after changing the oil a bunch, of course)? like rods, bearings, compression, etc? also, if this doesn't do the trick, should he just suck it up and swap the engine out? what other parts are potentially damaged(in case he just wants to get another d-series put in)..

he does have full coverage, but neither of us is a big fan of fraud, so putting the stock parts back on and calling the insurance company is pretty much out of the question.. sorry for all the questions, but i've never dealt with hydrolock before.. thanks!

 

first thing he should have done was removed the spark plugs.

 

yup, remove the spark plugs and pull the fuse for the Fuel Injection, and keep cranking till no water comes out.

 

ok.. a bit of an update.. tried pulling the plugs and turning it over, but it doesn't sound like it's really turning over.. no water came shooting out or anything.. could he have damaged the starter when trying to turn it over so many times before? it appears that the battery has enough juice in it to start it..

 

HEY!! this is the same thing that happened to me not too long ago. I live in Arizona and there was a huge storm here a wek or so ago. I was driving in my neighborhood when I came to a stop sign. I stopped looked both ways then tried to drive through this puddle. (believe me it didn't look very deep at all and the last thing I thought about was hydro-lock) before I knew it I gave it some gas then the car jerked the same way when you stall out your car. I panicked and the first thing I tried to do was start it again. No luck. All I heard was "click" "click." It wouldn't turn over. After all I was in a large puddle and it was still raining pretty hard. I then got out and tried to push it to dry land by myself. Here I am in the middle of the rain /puddle which was almost knee deep, pushing a 2000 GS-R with the door open so I can turn the wheel and the wind is blowing all kinds of rain-water into my interior. I didn't care so much about the water getting all inside my leather interior, I was more concerned about the H2O in my B18. I finally got home with some help by pushing the car to my house. (I lived less than 1 minute away) When I got there I tried to start it again. It sounded like it wanted to start, like it wanted to turn over. The best way I can describe it is the way a car sounds when it seems like it will start only if it could have a jump. Well, it didn't start after several tries. I then took off my intake and wiped inside the throttle body and soaked up a couple paper towels. I left my hood open and left my intake disconnected from the throttle body over night. The next day I woke up early ANXIOUS to see if it will start by some miracle. I went out there with my little brother and....still it wouldn't turn over BUT it would still sound like it would. My brother was then saying, "hey something's coming out your exhaust" I got out my car and looked. It was water! I was like what in the heck...I stopped then said, forget it I'm gonna start this thing. I pushed the clutch in, turned the key, and it started making the sound like it wanted to turn over. Only this time I started to tap the gas. I kept doing it and it kept sounding like it wanted to start but it was sounding more and more like it wanted to as I tapped the gas. then finally BOOM!! (no the motor didn't blow) the car was running without me turning the key and revving the gas. I looked out by the exhaust and there alotta water there. Almost enough to fill a small bucket half way. this was about a week ago and my car is running good to this day. If you haven't tried this yet tell your friend too. Even if it sounds like you're hurting it when you're holding the clutch and leaving the key turned in while tapping the gas. That's what i thought but that's also the same thing that got my car started. By the way I should say that my intake was an AEM cold air with no bypass and it also didn't have that plastic piece under the car. BUT only because mine ripped off because I was stupid and tried to drive a lowered GS-R through the desert to a Rave. It was funny after all telling about 5 of my friends
No you can't have my GS-R wheels now
No you can't have my interior
No you can't have my stock radio
No you can't have my cigarette lighter (??? I dunno why)

Anyways, hope this helps. Sorry this was so long. I just wanted you to know my situation and see if it's similar to your friend's, because I can remember how I felt not knowing if your car will ever start again. good luck

2000 Taffetta White GS-R << potential Hydro-Lock Recoveree

 

<< (Just realized he didn't use paragraphs)

 

By now any water in the cyls would have drained out past the rings.. Forget the starter motor for a while and turn the motor over with a socket on the crank bolt..

Go both directions and feel where the resistance is. If something is bent ..like a con rod.. it will still turn over but compression will be low on that cyl..Unless the rod is severly bent then it may hit the cyl wall and there will be no turnover for you. You will get about a 250 degree rotation each way then a clunk ( I hate that sound )

Mostly what I see in hydrolock situations is a hole in the side of the block and half a rod sticking out.. check carefully. I have also seen the timing belt slip from the sudden stoppage of the motor, causing piston/valve interference.. That could be just a new belt and re-timing, as long as the starter motor hasn't forced the piston so hard that the valve has bent.

No matter what, if the motor won't turn over by hand, the starter won't do it either..
and it will have to come apart..

Sorry man