traveling at a constant speed of 35 mph. hit a moderate puddle (maybe 2"-3" deep)

I don't have a spashguard, but I do have a CAI. I normally disconnect the lower pipe under the hood when its raining bad, but I forgot

anyway - motor is surely toast. but here is the thing:

it was at about 2.5K RPMs - free spinning in neutral. it just died. - but now, it won't crank - AT ALL. I turn the key and it just sits there, no noise except one click. I put the car in 5th gear, and I think I was able to push the car a bit while in gear, so I THINK the motor can still turn like that -

anyway, what are the chances I'll walk away with just rods, bearings, & headgasket?


[Modified by JDM LUDE, 3:25 AM 10/23/2002]

 

take your tire iron and try to turn over the motor by hand should not be to difficult (especially if u take out plugs) if it rotates then myabe u didnt fry it... my firned has that FM intake. he drove it outta a parking lot with that bitch litterally under water. well it only ran for about 1 second. i towed him home the next day with my dads wreaker. we changed the oil in that bastarted about 10 times (milky lookin all brown (looks like milk with dunked oreos) and changed the ECU (it was under water too) and it cranked up and we hauled ***... i was impressed.

 

if u cant turn the motor , take ur headers off to see if u have a hole behind it. you cant miss it. jes letting u know because i did the same **** to my boyz car and it look normal until we took the headers off and it was the size of a base ball and 2 were bent and the other rods were snapped.

 

what?

 

um, ok Gangsta

ok, heres a dumb trick, but it works on my jetskis (yes, i know, it's a marine engine, but you can try it anyways):

remove the spark plugs/wires
leave hood open
crank the engine over a few times
if there is water, it will shoot out from where the plugs go (can't think of the technical name)
then, drain the oil, and replace it to make sure there isn't an water in it
replace plugs and wires, then proceed to trying to start the car

 

DUDE, DO NOT FORCE THE MOTOR OVER! Just take the spark plugs out, and crank the motor, have someone hold your hood though, because it will be like 4 gysers though.. I hydrolocked my old motor, just get some new plugs, change your oil, and crank the car for a couple mins, in 10 sec intravals...

 

WHOA.... that actually works on cars!?!?!?!?!? i was just kinda guessing at it, since that how it works on marine engines. jeez man, i'm a freakin genius and i didn't even know it. huhuhuhu kewl

 

I've saved motors that were locked like this, its a good idea to change the oil 2 or 3 times (run it to operating temp in between changes) to make sure the waters all out.


[Modified by kevie88, 8:04 AM 10/23/2002]

 

i would rock it over by hand first....

 

You can hydrolock from a 3" deep puddle?

 

I did from a 1 foot washout in the worst rainstorm I have ever been in..

 

Trust me man, you don't wanna try and start the motor with the plugs out. Take the plugs out and turn it by hand. My friend and I tried that with his car, cause he sucked water into his motor, and whenever we tried starting it with the plugs out, it broke a rod and sent it right through the block. Take your valve cover off to see if you still have your timming belt and take your plugs off to see if theres any water on them, drain your oil and and oil filter to see if there any water mixed in with it. Usually, the motor will just shut off by itself so that you don't blow the motor. Check the small stuff first before taking out your motor and replacing it...

 

turning the motor over with no plugs in will NOT hurt anything. the reason ur boys motor sent the rod out the side of the block was cause it was already broke. turning the motor over w/o plugs put absolutly no stress at all on any of hte parts in the motor.

 

That may have been possible. It may have already been bent or something before we did that.....

 

hydrolocked a 99 GSR with 20k miles in a 2" puddle and bend the rod.. i still have it .. going to take a picture...

bend it like a U didn't snap though... was driving 15mph... block was ok though.

 

ok, how are you guys sucking that much water from a 2"-3" puddle?????????

are you sure you dont meen 2'-3'? your tire's sidewall is higher than 2", or do you guys have some bumper mounted, unfiltered, super ram scoop intake that shoots sparks as it drags down the furrious highway at realy fast speeds...????? that MUST f#ck with the neon light kits too.... just kidding , but realy how can you hydrolock in a 3" puddle?

ps- sorry to head about the dammage though, must be sad to have such a crappy thing happen for no real reason at all.




[Modified by leptolude, 2:40 AM 10/24/2002]

 

my filter is unprotected from the tire

 

Hey man...if your motor is messed up, I got a 98 H22a longblock for sale....I'm in Houston, so maybe we could meet up. Most likely your block is shot....you can drop this new longblock in and not have to worry about bent valves, or a scarred block. You can use your existing harness, manifolds, throttle body...so basically its plug and play.

FS: 98 H22A Longblock $1000
I have for sale an 98 H22A Longblock.
Does NOT come with:
Engine Harness
Intake or Exhaust Manifold
Throttle Body
Alternator
A/C Compressor
Comes with:
Block and head(never been disassembled)
Oilpan
Valve Cover
Complete valvetrain
Cams
Camgears
Timing belt
Timing belt cover
Alternator Bracket
A/C compressor bracket
VTEC solenoid
Comes w/ papers and VIN#
This is my spare motor from a 98 w/ only 25,000 miles.

Asking price is $1000
Thanks.

 

one of the worst things you can do when your car shuts off from what you think is hydrolock is trying to start it again. The reason being is that if there is water in the cylinder walls, and you try to crank it, the pistons will be trying to compress water, and water is not very easily compressed... thus, what happens is you bend a rod, valves, what not. A LOOOOOONG time ago in CAI's infancies, many websites came out with this problem, and a tech articles starte dto appear about hydrolocking and seizing of the engine. the worst thing to do is try to start it.

any of those methods mentioned above will work. Remove the spark plugs, crank it by hand or by electricity, either way, the water will shoot out of the plug holes.

Just remember that if you seized your engine, don't try to start it. I know it might be too late, but its good information to retain for later on.

TIm

 

definitely change the oil a few times. you will get chocolate milky color liquid in there. you have to get all the water out before you try to start it again. hopefully you didnt bend anything. report back.

 

i didn't think it was possible to hydrolock your engine unless the whole filter got submerged. I was running a AEM CAI on my lude for months w/ a filter that didn't filter and never had a problem. I drove threw the rain and practically typhoons w/o the plastic guard, so my wheels also threw water and dirt straight on the filter. I just took it out a few weeks ago and the filter was full of dirt, but never had a problem.

 

I guess its about time you put that SPASH guard back on huh? or if you dont have one/ whatever just buy a bypass valve. Sucks about the car though. I had a similar problem when my truck was under six feet water; two gallons of water came out before I actually got any oil out of the engine. The auto tranny fluid looked like strawberry shake. Drove it for two years after that. God I hate Houston floods.

 

The smallest amount of water can hydrolock a motor. It doesn't take much.

 

It may be electrical? I know a guy w/ an Si and AEM CAI thought he hydrolocked his car. Got it towed to dealership and they fixed it, apparently it was electrical. I hope it's not too bad!

Help me out. How do you 'crank' it ?