i was driving tonight in my Z (yes i know it's not the acura..but it's my ZZZZZZZZZZ) anyways, i came up on a shallow (or so i thought) puddle, which another car had just gone through, well as i entered it, i guess the water was comming back, and my car stalled. knowing that it possibly hydro-locked, i didn't start it again, i had it towed back to my mechanics, where it's sitting now..how do i tell if it's hydrolocked? i know there's no way to find out till tomarrow when i'm with the car..
also what breaks when the car is hydrolocked? Rods? anything more?
fucking california and there fucking pice of shit streets. it hasn't rained more then 5-6 hrs today and theres water fucking everywhere

 

pull the plugs, air the motor out, then crank it for a WHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIILE, drain the fuel, change the oil, then try it.

 

but there is no way for me to tell right now if it's locked or not..

 

without trying to start it/risking nething

 

I can't imagine a puddle....even a slightly deep one, would cause any issues. How deep is deep? If it was more like a 2' puddle then I can see something happening but not by a shallow puddle. Can you give any more info about the puddle or how your car stalled?

 

well i'm not exactly sure how deep the puddle was, but i do know my intake was wet. now i don't know if it was from the rain or not, but i am possitive it was wet.

i don't know what you mean how did the car stall..it's a manual, so i was starting out in 1st, going really really slow (you could walk faster) any as i was comming out of the dip of the street, it basiclly just died. i didn't try restarting it..

 

pull the plugs, crank the engine for 15 seconds, re-install the plugs and she should fire right up.

The chance your engine is hydrolocked is quite low.

Post back your results.

 

Usually hydrolock damage occurs when the motor is running and then sucks in water. The starter typically will not generate enough torque to damage the block, pistons, rods, etc. if there's water in one of the cylinders. It flat out just won't turn the motor over. If it's hydrolocked, you'll see a geyser of water when you pull the plugs and crank the motor over.

I suspect from what you're describing, your motor is fine. Hope so for your sake.

 

fuck there is no way i can go to bed. all i want to do is go to the shop right now and see what the fuck the deal is with my car

 

which is quite fun to watch....it like jumping waters..... but a friend of mine did the same thing you did.....all we did was take the plugs out...turn it over....and let it air dry over night...he had no internal damage whatsoever...just sucked up a lil water....you might have sucked in a lil water....enough to where it wont turn over...just do like everyone says...and take the plugs out..turn it over a few times.....and then try..you should be fine....

 

heh.....times like this is where that website will come in handy..which im still waiting for! damn card payments take forever

 

wish the car was here. it's in the valley

 

Are you sure you didn't just stall it? How deep was the water? Do you have an intake that draws air from below where the water was with no bypass?

 

I drove into water that was too deep, so it is the streets fault? Boo-hoo, I am a victim.

 

isnt the filter on the z's pretty high

 

If you don't take out the plugs and crank away....you will never know. Your mechanic will probably do that first, but you may want to have him do this quick. Water ain't supposed to be in there. It will mess with the internal parts.
But as long as the car shut off, you may have gotten lucky. Drain the oil and stick an Oil Boy in there and get all the water out. Replace the oil, and spark plugs. Run the motor to burn off any excess water and get a bypass for the intake or remove it before you go swimming.
I getting rid of my CAI because I read to many of these and we flash flood in Jersey too.
Good luck.

 

damage from ingested water ("hydrolock"), while driving.
worst case: bent crankshaft , conn rods bent, piston domes cracked, piston rings cracked, crank bearings scored, cam bearings scored, valves bent, valve guides scored timing belt stretched or destroyed
best case: small amount of water in puddled in intake , water has leaked into oil pan, no internal damage
proceedure: remove all spark plugs , remove intake plumbing & TB, remove intake man cover, drain all engine oil + oilfilterand leave drain plug out, remove all puddled water in intake, slowly bump crank engine (1) cylinder at a time to force water on piston tops up and force compressed air into cylinder until completely dry, dry all intake parts reinstall , spray light oil into ea cyl thru spark plug opening, reinstall s- plug. fill crankcase w/ fresh oil and filter, perform compression check on each cylinder , if all within spec.... YOU ESCAPED!! (suggest you install a bypass on your intake if you dont all ready have) IF one or more cylinders are low on compression, most likely internal damage

 

lets see, if you HAVE to get from point A to point B, and all the streets to get from A to B are flooded...who's fault is that? the city.

 

accually it's not, it's right above the opening on the front bumper

 

acuracls, reread your 1st post.
possible that NO water made it thru the TB and into the combustion chambers.
check for water present in the TB & intake manifold first. if none maybe ok. however, if present there, continue as i posted in #17

 

update:

well i just got off the phone with my mechanic (where the cars at in the valley right now)
he said they pulled the plugs, and it turns over fine. I asked if any water came out of the cylinders, he said if any, very very little. he said they won't start it till he can get the intake hoses off the throttle bodies, and all the intercooler pipes and stuff off just to make sure there is no water in there. they will also check the oil to make sure its ok..so thus far i'm ok..just hope that everything else works out cuz i don't have 5 grand it put back into it for a engine (i have 3 grand for turbos though :P)

 

WRONG! I have seen cylinder walls crack when there is water (or coolant) in the chamber and the motor is cranked.

 

Where's the intake for the turbo... if its pretty high up, its unlikeley that water got in.

 

it's accually not that high up..it's right above the center section of the bumper..i'll post a pic and show u in a sec

 

damn sam... that sucks.. i was :shit:ing a brick driving in the rain w/ my CAI

 

semi NWS link (girls in a bra and jeans) but anyways, the intake is right behind the nissan logo on the front bumper (but centered)

semi NWS

 

akuracls'
so its a FI car. the same basic rules apply as previously posted. from your post 21 your mechanic is taking the correct steps. if any water is found in intake, but no water present in oil or filter, compression check is warranted and even a "leakdown" test . water in oil /oil filter means more serious problems

 

update #2 he just called and told me that there was about a gallon of water in my left intercooler. they are going to pull the right one in a few minutes and let me know what they find (i'm assuming more water) but they can't start the car until all the water is out of the pipes

 

Just FYI. I think you car will run with the intake off. So if faced with this again, loosen the screw holding the intake on and pull it off so the car sucks air in higher up. That's what I did. Now I have an ICEBOX. Just in case.

 

update #3

Well they drained all the water out of the intercooler piping, intercoolers, and pretty much everywhere else in the exhaust, they turned on the car, and just like that, works like a charm. he said everything is A-OK. he's gunna go drive it around the block, but he said it would be just fine..
Lucky me! I'm going to go buy some lotto tickets

 

Lucky guy! Watch those "shallow" puddles.

 

per update #3 ,
thanx for posting under tough circumstances, you appear to have been fortunate. others havent ...so a story as yours helps soothe our pain.
best, frank