DWitis

I dont know much about a car hydrolocking, but last night through today it was gloomy whacky rain in NY. After dropping my girlfriend off last night and on the way home, before hitting the highway there was a big blockade of water that was about up to the sideskirts of a stock height 5AT. I went through it once on the way to the girlfriend's house and on the way home going through the same way, my car made it through half the puddle, going less than 20mph it suddenly stops. I then turned off the engine and hazard lights on and waited for a friend with a 4runner to push me out. I did try to start up the car but it wouldn't crank, and made a thump sound. I had to get it towed to a parking spot and waited for 6hrs around mid afternoon to try to start it up again and it was a no go as well. I then got it towed to a shop and mechanic tried to jump start it and it was a fail. The mechanic called me a few hours later and said it was the starter, and he will get one in tomorrow and will try to start it up with the new starter. Experts, I need your help because this is a family car and I need to get it up running asap. I have read about it being hydrolocked and might need a new engine depending on damage. Is the mechanic correct on the starter or may it be more than a single starter? Any advice or tips would be greatly appreciated!

greco9885

iTrader: (1)

were u on the belt? were u the one that passed me when i was on the side before the flood lol

DWitis

I was indeed on my way onto the belt, i wasnt payin full attention to the sides though sorry it was dark and just wanted to get home. SSM TL was me if that's who u saw.

greco9885

iTrader: (1)

yeah i saw u lol

DWitis

U got caught in that stupid flood too?! Did u see my dumbass go through half way and then totally failed with the hazard lights on?

I hate cars

Your mechanic is an idiot and he's going to ruin your engine. Pull the plugs out, crank it over, reinstall the plugs and pray there was no damage done.

Bearcat94

OP, not to pick on you, personally, so please forgive the mini-rant that follows.


[RANT]
First, DO NOT DRIVE THROUGH DEEP WATER!! Half the people on this site have CAI and have read about hydrolocking. So, WTF makes you go, "I can make it" as soon as you see deep water in the road? :wtf:

More money than sense, I guess.


Second, when you do drive through deep water and the car stalls thats the GOOD PART. The part in Blue above: DO THAT and then leave it be.

When you try to restart it, that's the BAD PART.

DO NOT TRY TO RESTART A CAR THAT MAY BE HYDROLOCKED. That's the thing that practically guarantees you're going to FUCK IT UP!!!

It's water in the cylinders that stalls it. It's YOU forcing the car to crank with water in the cyliders that BREAKS RODS and BENDS VALVLES.

DO NOT TRY TO RESTART A CAR THAT MAY BE HYDROLOCKED.


Once it stalls in water, you have to go through a process, which starts with removing the spark plugs, cutting fuel to the engine and forcing the water out thorugh the plug holes. You DO NOT try to start the car until you're SURE the water is out of the engine.

You should probably also have a compression check performed to insure everything seats/seals properly.

[/RANT]


OP, hope it works out for you. Maybe it is just the starter.

Please don't take my rant the wrong way. It is directed at others who may read this and learn from your misfortune.

DWitis

Thanks for the quick replies! I will take out the plugs and crank it tomorrow to see if it will fire up. IHC, I am praying hard no other damage is done and thanks for the reply! You are a highly respected member to me on this forum and I take your knowledge in this mechanical world any day. @Bearcat, I take a lot of bullshit day and night, your rant was not taken the wrong way, I understand where you are coming from and appreciate the insight. This is my first car and first time being in this situation, heart is still pounding. I do not have a CAI installed and I was testing my luck last night, which I found out the hard way luck is not on my side. I will post back asap when I get to the shop tomorrow to see if my luck has changed sides. Thanks again

I hate cars

Luckily the starter rarely has enough torque to hurt anything. However, hooking up an extra battery as in jumpstarting it greatly increases the chances of hurting both the engine and starter.

Elegant TYPE S

iTrader: (2)

^^This


It took me an hour yesterday to drive home from my friends house which was 2 miles away because there was so much flooding at all the intersections and I had to keep rerouting. Yes I could've went through the water... but there was no way in hell was I about to risk it! I even stopped traffic and became "that asshole" who everyone had to go around cuz I could give two shits .. not going to ruin my engine. I ended up backing up a few times and did it safe as possible ... so that I could take side streets and other means to get around it. Longest 5 miles I have ever driven but wouldn't have it any other way. I have the V2 AEM and wasn't going to hydrolock.

I could've taken the highway but I chose not to ... cuz the maneuverability to reroute would be greatly diminished if you encountered a puddle of that magnitude. Last night's storm was pretty bad in the LI/NY area.

jda123

Be careful - the water can come out with some serious force. Don't stand in front of the car.

Majofo

Your mechanic shouldn't be qualified to put air in tires.

DWitis

Car has started up again but still having some worries! Replaced starter, replaced spark plugs, engine air filter and did an oil change. Engine check like did come on after replacing spark plugs and code was Cylinder 1 Misfire. Replaced cylinder check engine light has not come on and drove home, driving experience seems almost normal but when I come to a red light with foot on the brakes, there is a slight vibration feeling. Does this sound like a problem or is my paranoia getting at me?

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

replaced cylinder 1?

DWitis

Excuse my mistake, took it out and put back in. No check engine light as of now

I hate cars

It's time for a compression check. It's possible you bent a rod which lowers the compression ratio. Lack of compression shows up most at idle and as a misfire. If this is the case, odds are the engine will commit suicide eventually. If you have one turn up low, I would start saving my money.

DWitis

Indeed, check engine light came on as I turned the car on a few mins ago. IHC, save money meaning ... ? this is really scaring me now.. F**K!

Bearcat94

Meaning start saving because if you throw a rod, you'll have to replace the engine.


Something like this: https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-problems-fixes-114/locked-engine-wont-crank-help-826102/

Elegant TYPE S

iTrader: (2)

Could it just be the car needs to relearn the normal idle characteristics? Like do you see the RPM's during idle flucutate?