Chung S

Hi all, i was driving home today and came across this huge flowing water... yes i know i'm not suppose to cross it... but 2 cars infront of me made it ok, so i say, ok, I'm going to go for it. Half way across, i see the VSA lights come on, and i go "oh crap, i'm going to float now.." then I see some red and some yellow lights come on on the dash, and the car coast to a complete stop. So I'm stuck there, i call 911 and they say they can't help me cuz there's like 1000 houses being flooded right now. Any ways, i made it out fine and some people helped me push the car to the side of the road. but the car won't start anymore
If i try to start it, the engine makes one sound, then stops responding to the key turn. I think the electrical system is fine, the radio works, trunk still pops open, and the remote works too. Can someone give me some advise on what to do? I want my baby back!

Chris

do you have a CAI?

Nicky Pass

The same thing happened to my sisters Celica GTS. It turned once, then nothing. She drive through a big puddle ( 2.5 ft deep)
........then end result, 3 bent rods and a cracked piston NON WARRANTY.

fbazakos

well, dont try and start it that's for sure. if there is water in the cylinder, you will definately break it. (guess that wouldn't be so bad, because then you can bore out your engine and get some new pistons & rods) ... but you need to take it in ...,on a TOW TRUCK.

Chris

damn and to think i was paranoid about going through water that went as high as my brake calipers this past weekend... my calipers were steaming... haha

mcdanjw

Chung, are you the guy I saw on Mopac and exited onto Far West next to a couple of months ago?

Sorry to hear about your car, the storm around here tonight is some crazy shit. One of my coworkers got hit by a wave thrown up by the car next to him and it stalled his Honda CRV. He had to walk back to work.

I don't know what you should do, hopefully just giving it some time to dry out will help.

Chung S

Hey, hows it going, I i'm the one in the silver CLS on Far West. I think I'm going to try to start it one more time later tonight, if it doesn't work, I'll get a tow truck...

aeon

Somehow I knew you were in Austin from reading the thread title, some weather huh?

Sorry about your car though, good luck. David McDavid is going to be real happy to hear from you...

mcdanjw

Chung, good to figure out who you were... let me know if you need a ride to get your car or whatever.

Did it die around the Far West area?

John

Chung S

tell me about it, i can't believe how hard it rained. Cars were going through that puddle before AND right after I stalled out. WHY ME!!!

someguy

congradulations, you may have just earned yourself a new engine!

When Houston flooded last summer, I was trying to make it to dry ground in a suburban (wasn't driving). Same thing happend, water got sucked into the engine. New engine. My father and his friend both lost their M5s. Engines were still good because they weren't running. You many have ruined your engine.

BlackShadow

Never underestimate a puddle. Just cause other cars made it will not mean that your car will.

Good luck with getting a new engine.

defrag

as asked before, Do you have a CAI or just stock intake?

-defrag

mrdeeno

just pray it was an electrical short somewhere.

had a 300zx that had this happen...but it was an electrical problem and the car started half an hour later.

gto2050

It doesn't really matter if he has CAI or not because the stock pick-up is so low in the car. It has no bypass valve.

JRock

Well that time you tried to turn over the engine and it only cranked over once was probably a pistol trying to compress water, so you probably did even more damage by doing that than if you hadn't touched it after it died.

Either way you're probably looking at a new engine. Hope it's covered!

JRock

er PISTON. not pistol .:P

Chung S

It's the stock intake.

defrag

well if I were you id take at least take a look at my air filter and se eif it was wet or not, like really wet. showing a crap load of water that somehow got up in the engine. You could also check out the rest of the restrictive intake boxes, tubes, mazes for water. If you dont find any hopefully your allright when it comes to water. Sounds electrical to me though. gEtting water in your enigne is comparble to putting rocks in there. Uncompressable/ignitable. Thats BAD. good luck

-defrag

mcdanjw

I'm going with electrical thing too... hopefully. Hope it's like getting the distributor cap wet. Just give it some time and it will work again!!

autoxCLS

Guys - you're forgetting the obvious. If he hydrolocked (the proper term - ) the engine, there would DEFINITELY be fluid leakage of some sort, and I seriously doubt it would even try to turn over.

If we had a distributor, I'd tell him to dry it out and spray silicone spray in it.

Chung S

if it was electrical, would it also mean that the audio system, alarms, windshield wipers won't work too? Or is it just engine's electrical problem? All the electrical componet seem to work for me. ie the sound system...

I think I'm going to call road side assistance in the morning

JSuppi

I sure as hell hope that stuff doesn't make it down to Houston, it was bad enough that we got hit once, we don't need to get hit again

Sorry to hear about your misfortune bros.

4pumpedCL

It would seem to me that if you hydrolocked your engine it wouldn't even turn over. I'd guess you have an electrical short somewhere. I washed the engine in my Accord once and it wouldn't start afterwards. Turned out I had water in the distributor. All the electrical components (ie. stereo, wipers, etc) worked fine, just the parts that carried a spark didn't work. Also, in a really humid, cool climate I think it would take more than a day for that water to evaporate. Personally, I wouldn't start stressing about it yet, but it's definately a possibility the engine be have be shot...good luck.

-Aaron

wayneg

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but it sure sounds like you hydro-locked the engine. Water on the outside of the engine and wiring hardly ever causes a miss, never mind a no crank condition. Water ingested in through the intake is usually always fatal. Have it checked at the dealer- easy to do- just pull the spark plugs and turn the engine over. It usually sprays the water out of the plug holes if the rods aren't bent so bad that it wont crank. If it is shot- call your car insurance co. I have seen them pay for many engines in cases just like this. It's worth a shot!
Good luck!

NSXNEXT

iTrader: (2)

Me thinks you should take it to Rick Case for a little 3.5L upgrade.

Hope everything turns out OK.

Eggplant-EX

Don't even tell Acura or your insurance that you cranked the engine after it died....

Just my 2 cents...

mcdanjw

We just went to pick up my coworkers car that died after being hit by the giant wave last night, and it started up just fine.

Just needed some time to dry out I guess.

I wouldn't stress out too much yet.

Shawn S

I shed a tear while reading this.

Shawn S

moomaster_99

Damn!! Beat me to it Wayne...
Okay here's the situation...from experience, I saw someone do it on a Turkey Day off-road meet in Hollister. One guy dumped his SUV straight into the water and cranked it....poof!!! The motor died....My friend did the exact same thing, except...he was a lot smarter....he had someone pull him out.....he disassembled his airbox and dried out everything.....and replaced the plugs....voila!! The car was fine...the mistake is to actually let in the water into the engine....which cranking does....

mrdeeno

wonder if insurance would cover it if you had a CAI?

moomaster_99

Why would you not change it back?? Insurance, like the most dealerships will say anything in their defense as to not help you...

ruvz

So does this mean having a CAI with a by-pass valve is safer than having a stock box intake??

Wayne?