Bullpup

We recently had an official 100 year flood where I live. Im lucky I drove the Excursion that day because I was afraid of hail, but I didnt even consider flooding. Water came up to the doors in the dam SUV, woulda been halfway up the hood on my TL easily. I woulda had to stop traffic and turn around to get away from it because as soon as I saw the water it was obvious tht it was at least 3 feet deep in the corner of the turn I had to go through. We have a church on the side of the main road through my town that looked like it was sitting in a pond. you couldnt see any of the pavement in the parking lot until about 30 feet from teh church doors. Craziest flooding ive experienced

Bullpup

Also this is going to sound really really stupid, but i just have to ask lol... What if you saw a short, but very deep area of water approaching as you were driving and turned the car off before entering, coasted through it, then cranked the car again after coasting for as long as possible to let water drain. Would this help in a last ditch effort?

350TLS

VARA
i feel your pain bro...the same here..i couldnt believe it either..when i look back at what happen, i felt so stupid..i asked myself wtf am i doing in the rain with my new car?? that should be a sign but i just had to take my sister home..

alot of my friends are mechanics and they said to let the ins comp handle it bc its a new car..if something arises down the way it is still covered under warranty..

also, i didnt even get to upgrade or modify anything..i was about to clear the headlights, do some interior lighting (red), get some 19's, and subs..now its making me think twice..but..i know im gonna do it anyway...

has anybody try to put some lights where the ACURA name is at the doorstep? im trying to get that red but hadnt seen anyone with it yet..

rbf351

your "mechanic" friends aren't right. it will have to be covered by your insurance company or whoever does the work on the car. it would be covered under the factory warranty if you never reported it

pimpin-tl

Actually you can restart a hydrolocked engine. I have done it on a 98 Maxima. The engine seized, it took a bit to get it started and it did. Lots of white smoke then a hammering noise. Engine was toast but was able to drive it to a safer area at only 20 mph.

rbf351

sounds like you killed the head gasket on that car

Texas

How low is the air intake on the TL? Sounds like the TL cannot handle much water. Any way to raise intake to avoid this again...?

ankur914

I believe the stock intake cold-sources throught the lower valence grill on the driver's side....Please correct me if im wrong.

rbf351

there is an opening in the lower grill, but it only routes the air up there. the actual opening for the stock intake is right in front of the battery. it's almost impossible to get water to where the opening (orange arrow) is

ankur914

^^ Thank You! That helps understanding the air flow much better! Thanks again

vara411

Okay so here's an update. Had the car towed to Esserman Acura here in Miami. Nice bunch of guys. They want to get to work on it but GEICO says the dealer needs to wait until they can send a claims adjuster to do an estimate....... which won't be for another TWO DAYS! It makes no sense to me that my car just needs to sit there with water in the engine (assuming a worse scenario) until they look at it. The folks at Acura said they'd prefer to get to work right away. I called GEICO again and they said they can't get to it sooner. Can't they do anything??? Help!

rbf351

rust in the engine is a fun thing

now if you would have just removed your spark plugs, and cranked all the water out, you could have already had a running car, but what do i know i'm just a 28yr old guy with a dad thats a mechanic for over 35 years

vara411

Didn't get a chance to do that... would have, but... I was in the middle of Bank of America teller lane (where I had pushed the car to), my toolkit was in my apartment, and of course, I didn't have access to Acurazine.

Besides the dealer has just called me to inform me the engine needs to be replaced........ (sigh)


The upside is I've learned a ton from this experience. Wikipedia has a great write-up on engines that are hydrolocked. This of course isn't for your reference rbf351, but for the rest of us noobies.......... read!!!

In automotive terminology, a hydrolock is the immobilization of an engine's pistons by a liquid (usually water, hence the prefix "hydro-"). Hydrolocking occurs when liquid fills a cylinder on the intake stroke and, due to the incompressibility of a liquid, makes the compression stroke impossible. This, in turn, prevents the entire engine from turning, and can cause significant engine damage if one attempts to forcibly turn over or start the engine. Typically, connecting rods will be bent, making the engine uneconomical to repair. It is relatively common when driving through floods, either where the water is above the level of the air intake or the vehicle's speed is excessive, creating a tall bow wave.

Hydrolocking is often a concern when consumers modify their engines with aftermarket intake systems (e.g. Cold air intake). A cold air intake typically locates the filter near the bottom of the engine compartment to gain access to colder air, which can also increase its chances of ingesting water should it be submerged.

Another reason for it to occur is in the event of the head gasket cracking or "blowing", which causes the radiator coolant to mix inside the combustion chamber.

Regardless of the cause, treatment is the same. Removal of the spark plugs will allow access to the combustion chamber. By inserting an irrigation syringe fitted with a flexible plastic tube on the end, you can suck out the liquid that infiltrated the combustion chamber. Once all the fluid is removed, the chamber should be sprayed with a liberal coating of a water displacing lubricant such as WD40[citation needed], and allowed to sit until the remaining water has evaporated. Once the water or coolant has been removed, inspect the combustion chamber for rust. The best option would be to remove the head, but a borescope or small flashlight and mirror will also work. Light surface rust will be normal, but if you see any heavy corrosion, it should be gently removed, and vacuumed out of the chamber. After inspection, pour a tablespoon of assembly lube (such as Marvel Mystery Oil) or clean engine oil into each combustion chamber. Attach a socket to the crankshaft, and slowly rotate the engine through a few revolutions. (Make sure that you turn the engine in the proper direction, see a service manual for proper rotation direction.) If you hear any clanking, or harsh scraping, you should bring the engine to a competent mechanic. After verifying that the remaining systems are free of water (electrical, fuel delivery, air intake, distributor, etc.), re-install the spark plugs and wires, and attempt to start the engine.

vara411

BTW rbf351 I didn't want to come across as jibing at you in that last entry... I appreciate your help I just didn't have access to it in time....... But thanks. I'll pass your wisdom along.

pimpin-tl

Actually it bent the rod at a complete 90 degree angle without breaking. It needed a new small block.

rbf351

which was because you blew the head gasket, white smoke is from anti-freeze burning

pimpin-tl

Per the dealer white smoke was because the water in the cylinders was burning out not antifreeze. It stopped smoking once the car ran.

rbf351

this is nothing to do with the original poster, so i'm sure someone will complain, but where did the water come form? the only water that runs in the engine is antifreeze

pimpin-tl

Obviously you do not read. Water came in through the intake. IT HYDROLOCKED.

darksom1

I fixed it for you rbf351!

That is one crazy avatar! LOL!

SteveP66

It's kinda creepy

revitupwriteitoff

I'm astounded.

Good luck w/the fix, though. I'm in town, so lemme know if you need help, fwiw.

vara411

Here's a question: how the heck does a dealer know if the engine needs to be replaced without opening the damn thing??? The dealer told me I needed to have the engine replaced but admitted to never looking in there. He did say that he pulled the drain plug from the oil reservoir and about half a gallon of water came out. In addition there was water in the air intake...... WELL DUH!!! They've already drained my oil tank and air intake. Why not just take out the sparkplugs and crank the remainder of the water out of the engine while they're at it?

"No," he said, "we need authorization from your insurance before opening the engine, and they haven't sent the claims adjuster for an estimate yet."

Well, but here's my problem with that. One can still assess the shape of the engine just as easily once the water has been cranked out, can't he? I mean, does pulling out the spark plugs just to crank the water out constitute "working on the engine"? I say take the water out, then let them assess the damage all they want!

Meanwhile, the water is just sitting there in my engine, and time is ticking..................................

jay0k

Might be time to consider another insurance company. What's done is done now but for the future if you were to go with a reliable local agent it probably wouldn't take this long unless it was some kind of natural disaster and they were too busy. The Geico adjuster probably services a large region.

Formula 350

Sorry dude..... but you should have known better if you have been in Houston any amount of time...

You also need to check to see if you got water in the oil... now that can do damage...

And, you need to check your wheel bearings... if you had water to the door, you might have gotten it in your bearings which will cause problems later....

AlexandeR 37

Gotta love mother nature sometimes. Take it a step at a time, and it will get resolved. Sorry to hear though

350TLS

okie dokie..thanks again guys for the inputs...

today..ins adjuster called and and left a voicemail saying that the engine cylinder 1 has a bent rod and a cracked small block, those 2 needs to be replace....gonna cost $4300 to do everything i just need to pay $500 for deductible...i didnt have a chance to talk to him yet but when i do im gonna ask about what happen when future problems arises with electrical problems or with any other flood related problems..as for now i guess i just have to wait...

revitup..
thanks for the offer bro..but i think the ins will take care of that..i never want to touch another engine again..

This TL is my first new car and i thought it was indestructable..i would have never drive it in the rain if it was my other cars...i went from a 90 TT 300zx to an M3 then a 350z..i never drive these suckers in the rain...but i love the TL so much i drove it everywhere anywhere anytime..didnt think the rain hurt the TL that much but i guess i learn my lesson..

and again guys..thanks for the inputs..

rbf351

if he pulled the dipstick, and water is already in there, then your head gasket is blown, and the oil and water mixed.once that happens you are already past just pulling the plugs

pimpin-tl

LOL! You have no clue what your talking about.

I won't say it isn't impossible for the headgasket to blow during this, but water came in through the intake and got into the engine reason #1 why he has water in his oil. Not because his headgasket is gone.

Most of the time if your lucky when a engine hydrolocks it shuts itself down before any damage can happen. All you have to do is remove the plugs, and turn it over and let the water shoot out of the cylinders. Once that is pretty much done, do a full oil and oil filter change to remove the water from the oil and put new oil. Reinstall everything and it should start back up just fine. The only time the engine gets damaged is when someone tries to restart it.

rbf351

even if water came in through the intake manifold it can not mix with the oil. oil never mixes with air. air it gets compressed inside the cylinder with the gas, which then ignites, and leaves through the exhaust port.

since water can not be compressed, it will either cause the piston rod to snap, bend or break or cause enough pressure to break the headgasket. which will then cause the oil, and water to mix.

i think you need to learn how an engine works.

pimpin-tl

No I just talk to ASE mechanics and find out actually what happens not some some end user that thinks he knows everything.

rbf351

believe whatever you like.

vara411

Hmm... okay so things are getting interesting on this forum.

So let's assume the worst then and assume the guy is right.... my engine is destroyed. For a $500 deductible I get a new (refurbished?) one. This will be pretty pricey for GEICO. Considering I got in an accident that was my fault last month (talk about bad luck, eh?), can I expect my premiums to skyrocket now?

darksom1

I can't see how they wouldn't raise it up after that. Call acting like a new customer and ask the question by posing the situation, and saying you wanted to know as a deciding factor in your search for insurance.

350TLS

arghhhhhhhhhh still waiting for them to finish the work..hopefully be done by Monday..just a quick note

IndyHP

Just keep this in mind......every action you take....no matter how big or small...is indicative of your character. Nuff said. Now stop talking about defrauding your insurance company and buck up and take your lumps.

350TLS

wat??
how is that defrauding my ins company?? i had to pay $500 deductible and have my new engine fixed like a refurbished machine..dat is fraud?? i dont get your thinking

K-Shawn

True that!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kevin

darksom1

Just yesterday, I mean JUST YESTERDAY, there was a serious downpour and there was some flooding. I kept my scared ass at work for about an extra hour! Hahahahaha! So hell yeah, I won't go there!

350TLS

i think Acura needs to do something about the intake pipe bc that is just too low..usually, cars have their intake somewhere level with the headlights instead of going downall the way below the bumper..
hmmm..maybe i should adjust it where it will be around that high so water wont have a chance going in..especially in Houston when it rains..it rainsssss