Last night i was driving through a shopping center approx 10mph and didnt know how deep the puddle was to exit the parking lot. Long story short have a CAI right at my bumper and the water was overtop of my bumper. My ncar stalled out and wont start again. Ive been reading about hydrolock and all but not sure on what to do. As you know i tried several times to crank it but got a dead click. Nothing will turn over. Any sugestions on were to start or what to look at. I know i need to take my spark plugs out and try and suction any water out that i can. Then i was gonna try n flsuh the oil and go from there. Any help would be greatly appreciate. Thanks

 

Your first and biggest mistake was trying to start the car, water is not combustable and hopefully you didn't do anymore damage. If you don't have a source of suction for the water, I suggest taking all the plugs out and leaving them out with your hood closed to allow it to air dry in the mean time. Also a oil change will help but don't expect it to solve miracles. Also take your intake off and check the filter and the intake manifold for water, wipe down if necessary. The air dry method is the best for now until your able to get a vacuum.

 

I fixed a hydrolocked 3G TL in the past. Removed the water, replaced the filter, it fired right up and was fine. First start was rough but the idle smoothed out after a few seconds.


I wouldn't take the plugs out and just let the chamber naturally air dry. You have one or more cylinders that is full of water. You need to suck a majority out with a suction tool, and blow clean, regulated air into the chamber to force dry. You need an air blower with a thin tube, so it can be inserted into the chamber, and allow the water to be pushed out through the plug hole. Then get the residual water that's in the plenum, by letting the blower purge air over time.

When I got my TL, I remembered why I didn't want a CIA lol.

 

Take the plugs out and crank it over. Don't let the water just sit in there for long. Don't stand too close, the water can come out under serious pressure.

Put the plugs back in, start it up and see how it runs. It will idle rough for the first few seconds but should clear up in less than a minute. If all seems well, change the oil and drive as you normally would.

A compression check is not a bad idea even if all seems well. If it bent a rod, it will show up as low compression on whatever cylinder is hurt.

You can easily have issues that show up later. If a rod or piston is slightly damaged it's not uncommon for it to let go at a later date.

 

Do like IHC said, pull the plugs and crank it over. Hopefully you didn't hurt anything, good luck

 

You mean compressible. (Water's not combustable either, but in this case, compressible is the word you want).

Since liquids don't compress under pressure, when the pistons stroke, the water builds pressure in the cylinder that can bend rods, valves, etc.

This is why you don't try to crank an engine stalled from hydrolock. You pull the plugs and turn the engine - the water can exit (shoot out) through the plug hole; it has an escape route avoiding damage to rods and valves.

Once you've pumped the water out, the risk from hydraulic damaged is eliminated and you can try to fire the engine.

 

GREAT NEWSS!!! So im guessing i was lucky unlike some ppl and i pulled plugs and only a little water in there. Got engine runnign did oil change and car has driven like new ever since. Thanks for all your help. MOD please close this thread.

 

Time will tell. Although I hope that you don't, issues can arise later on. If you have a compression gauge, I would check the compression in each cylinder to see if there is even the slightest abnormality.