suspekt360

My car runs an AEM CAI with no bypass valvle....

Hit a deep puddle lastnight in the middle of the night and check engine light came on. I lifted off the throttle as I was about to enter the puddle so it was not being gassed hard as it hit the puddle that was maybe 6 inches deep.

Issues:
- Check engine light came on immediately. Shut car off and re-started and the check engine light remained on.

- Let car sit for 4 hours where I was. Started car and proceeded home.

- Within 20 miles, the cars electronics started going haywire. The guages (speedo, tach, fuel, temp) all started randonly jumping up and down and the nav screen flickered on and off.

- Engine doesnt seem to want to rev at all. Seems electrically related not mechanical.

I know hydro lock means the engine will not physically crank over.

What should I do next?

I know an oil change and spark plug pull should be done asap. But what about the electronics?

Should I let it sit in a dry warm garage for a couple of days before taking for an oil change? Should I attempt oil change/plug pull first?

All feedback is appreciated....

YeuEmMaiMai

i honestly feel no sympathy for people that do not install water bypass...

remove all plugs and crank engine over to blow out the water. once water is removed reinstall plugs, change oil and drive about 500 miles and change oil again

richardparker

iTrader: (7)

If you think it sucked water then pull your intake and wipe your finger inside the tube closest to the TB or VSA witch ever's first on your car and see if it's wet.
It should be dry.

Also all your lights flickering to me sounds like some sort of charging issue.
Or if the water made a current connection where it should not have. then you probally have a permenent electrical issue that could be days of narrowing down the issue.

CL-S progression 01

iTrader: (2)

dude it's NOT a hydro LOck issue...

Hydro lock can only happen if your entire intake is submerged in water and u are throttleing it. So don't listen to these ppl

HYDRO LOCK... I.E motor doesn't work period, cause it's got water stuck in it.

Don't listen to anyone who tells u it's hydro luck.

You unfortunately got water in ur electrical system. I'd check ur fuse box(s) and connections... Bring ur car in a garage, and blast a heater in there, buy one if you don't have access to one... like make it toasty in there, REAL TOASTY. you're trying to evaporate the water that's messing ur electrical system up.

pop the hood leave it open, and disconnect ur batter and look at/open as many connection as you can so everything dries out.

I'd take the 7.5 amp fuse (located in the engine bay on the passendger fire wall) out also which will reset the ECU.

You unfortunately are going to have to play the waiting game most likely.

I'd leave the car there in that environment and test it once in the morning and once at night... until it works again.

But actually finding the EXACT problem is not an easy task.

That's for you to determine by looking at where the water has seem to gotten at.

Nothing is permenantly damaged most likely, it's just some bad luck

Rapture

I didn't even want to install my Injen CAI until my HydroShield showed up in the mail.

CL-S progression 01

iTrader: (2)

you guys are PARANOID really.

My buddy had a civic with the intake RIGHT by the wheel with NO mud guard

that thing would DRIP water from it when the roads were wet. He'd hit puddles too and nothing, NO issues.

AND NO HYDRO LOCK..

i think you don't understand how difficult it really is... on our cars we have the guard and it's protected fairly well for a CAI setup.

OP don't worry about ur motor, worry about electrical and drying that beast off.

YOU'LL b fine man, it's just the waiting game now

Rajca

iTrader: (8)

take out spark plugs and fuel pump fuse, and just crank the engine over to get rid of as much water as u can. let sit for a while. put in new spark plugs, change oil. dry of filter and inside the intake pipe. take off intake manifold cover (not the manifold just that cover thats on top) adn see if u have water sitting in their.

OperationDarkie

iTrader: (1)

This coming from the guy that went through like 4 sets of rotors when it was something simple.

Check your harness and see if it is wet, sound like the water shorted something out.

stlswagger

I disagree. In 2002 I had a heavily modified 1999 Eclipse. Thought since I had the bypass setup, I didn't need to worry "water," so I removed the plastic shield under the car near the front. I figured I'd get even more air. I was new to cold air intakes and always had the short rams. That damn car sucked up a lot of water. Even the water bypass could be squeezed and water came out. Got off the highway since I was doing about 75 in heavy rain and my car was idling around 5000 rpm. Shut if off and it wouldn't crank. Had to get it towed home. Voided my warranty and had to part it out then sell it. This is first time I have gone with CAI again but with the CT Icebox and even if you're friend is lucky enough not to suck in water, they should consider themselves very lucky. I had a big ass turbo so maybe that maybe my issue worse. After all, it still states on the AEM site till this day that the bypass is not meant for cars with forced induction so I wasn't pulling a standard amount of air.

CL-S progression 01

iTrader: (2)

i went through the OEM rotors and ebay shit rotors... nice exaggeration tho.. if u count each rotor as a set, then u'd be right

it was the wheel vibe that made me take the rotors off several times, and change pads, and do shit over and over cause i thought I was doing it wrong.. and it started when i started fucking with the brakes ironically. Or i started to notice it.. i dunno

turned out when i bought the car it had 4 different MXM4 tires on (all had different tread wear) and 2 were fucked (shifting belts)... so there was a cross balance issue where sometimes everything was fine and sometimes it would wobble... so it was a bitch to find.

I can do a full brake job now in under 1 hr now tho cause of all that BS lol. I'm just glad i'm done with all that shit.

but back on topic..

I'd like to bet buddy has no water in his motor and u guys are freaking out. He said a 6 inch puddle.

U had a turbo so u were pumping a lot of air, which would be more likely to suck in a lot of water.

I had a CAI for 5 years on my probe also... which was 7.5 inches from the ground and was pointing DIRECTLY at the pavement... 5 years I had that and never worried about jack. Ran through puddles, mud, snow... w/e and no problems.

So you guys must have some bad Karma cause that's NOT an expected or normal thing to occur. Have you been a bad boy recently? lol

That's why I'm telling you it's electrical.

Ask urself how his dash is moving around all wonky cause he's got water in the motor?

that's electrical

CL-S progression 01

iTrader: (2)

anyways... let us know how it all turn out and what you find OP.

you'll b fine

Rapture

I live in Oregon, we get rain about 10 months out of the year. I like to think I have an obligation to be paranoid in this case.

fuzzy02CLS

iTrader: (2)

It's not hydolock. It something electrical. Didn't like that water. Check your battery, cables & grounds.
Check the area around your engine fuse box. Check the passenger & drivers foot wells & make sure no water got in those areas & is shorting something.

civicdrivr

iTrader: (9)

x2

Definately check your grounds first. Clean them up and make sure its contact is clean metal.

friesm2000

iTrader: (4)

civic you be 3rd and not 2nd

so x4 yeah check your grounds and positives are tight and corrosion free and also make sure the battery posts are the same way cause by the ways it is sounding is that the battery is not dampening out the alternater charge pulses as needed which can be caused by loose battery connections

suspekt360

hi everyone... thanks for all the suggestions!! Very much appreciated...

so the car has been repaired and here's the conclusion:

- not hydrolock. Car would have died instantly had it "locked up" i believe. When I removed the CAI off the throttle body, it was bone dry inside. That was a relief. Even the thought of having 'some' water in the oil and then driving for several miles gave me chills.
- The strangest thing was that the car would crank over and startup if I left it alone for a few hours. But after idling for 5 minutes, it would die.
- In the end, my local mechanic went through all the fault codes triggered and made the following conclusions-remedies:

1. I may have saved my motor by completely lifting off the throttle prior to entering the puddle. I was beyond the point of no return, but i did have the sense to lift off. It was fairly deep (6-10 inches) and i was probably going 20-30mph
2. Somehow the water on the alternator caused a short in the electrical system. This resulted in a bunch of fuses blowing including O2 sensor, HVAC, etc.
3. At first it was believed the alternator and battery were toast. Further testing revealed the alternator was fine (phew). The battery however, was somehow completely destroyed by the event. It may have been dying anyway (no evidence of this prior to this incident).
4. Final REMEDY - New Battery and Replacement of fuses

Overall, I think I really dodged a bullet here. Given the way the car was idling and driving, I was certain the motor was damaged. All seems fine now.

Guys, I live in a very wet climate. It rains a lot here. In the first 20 days of this month, we have already received 8 inches of rain. I have run CAI's for the better part of 10 years and never had a problem. If your careful, and dont try to take your car snorkeling, you would rarely have an issue. Also, I think if you did get knee deep in a puddle and were 'WOT', a bypass valve would likely do nothing.

Again, thanks for all the feedback, you guys are awsome...

Suspekt

richardparker

iTrader: (7)

Glad to here you got of easy.
What was the damage at the shop $$$

friesm2000

iTrader: (4)

or you don't go into a puddle unless you know how deep it is, cause it must have been PRETTY DAMN DEEP (there is misjudging sometimes though)

hey at least it was not a HUGE bill (proably a couple hundard, mostly diagnosis), like it would have been with a f***ed motor

CL-S progression 01

iTrader: (2)

should only be some fuses and labour.

Allout

- even if it sucked up some water, it's already spit out whatever it injested.

MrFluffy

That is a crazy story

and btw mitsubishi sucks for HYDRO lock I wouldnt even put a cai on a mitsubishi

OperationDarkie

iTrader: (1)

IMO look at your harness first to see if anything is shorted

CL-S progression 01

iTrader: (2)

well that was a good lil escapade there OP.

nice happy ending and everything! :-)

That was bad luck tho... i'll bet u'll never have that happen again with that car. Or it musta been a dirrrty puddle

either way

cheers

suspekt360

I have a suspicion my IMRC is no longer functioning though.... maybe its paranoia but I dont think I can feel the change over @ 4,500rpm or so anymore.... and by 5,500, i swear the car seems to be not pulling as hard....

I guess I should check if the PCM is still sending voltage... is there a IMRC related fuse I can check first?

CH46ESeaKnight

Just stand at the engine and have someone do a few light revs over 4500 rpm and see if it is working. You'll see it open and close. Very simple to check.

Rajca

iTrader: (8)

4700 is when vtec engages. 3500 or so is when the imrc opens.