Hydrolocked...argh

[WinterKnoll]

I'm afraid I hydrolocked my engine today and I feel like a massive dumbass..there were large puddles in the middle of the road all around my house, and I needed to get to school so I really had no choice, but the fact is that I already have done it..lesson learned. The engine starts, but I'm afraid to drive it because I don't want to cause any more damage than I already have..I understand this has the potential to be an extremely serious problem. Can anyone advise me on the best course of action for what I should do next?

[StatGSR]

what kinda of intake do u have? u have to submerge the filter to really suck up any amount of water to do damage...

[Wiscon_Mark]

If it still runs, I doubt you actually hydrolocked it. That would usually cause some serious mechanical problems that wouldn't allow your engine to run.

Going through some puddles is unlikely to do it - water fording up to the hood will though.

where's the location of your filter?

[shazapple]

you need to describe your symptoms

[WinterKnoll]

There were quite a few that I had to go through, but the one that I'll bet did it was when I was going down a hill and didn't see it at the bottom, so I hit it at probably 25 or so and it was a good foot of water. It seems to run okay, however when accelerating the car sputters and jolts occasionally. I have a Weapon-R Dragon intake.

[shazapple]

My car did that, but thats because of the crappy wires I have. It just sounds like you soaked everything. Check your spark plugs and wires and air filter.

Hydrolocking is when water gets into the cylinder. Water isnt exactly compressable, so when the piston trys to compress it something usually breaks. If something was broken like a rod, ring, or valve you'd know cause the car wouldnt run right at any time (if it even ran)

[WinterKnoll]

Okay, good to know, thank you everyone.

[d1giPhux]

Weird.. this happened to you to? Damn rain storm! I went out to start my car up this morning.. and upon attempting to start it up.. it sputtered, and coughed.. and made all sorts of weird sounds.. then when it was running.. sounded like it was only running on 3 cylinders or something.. as you could hear ticking and sputtering / shaking when you stepped on the accelerator.. i couldnt do anything about it.. so i left it alone. Few hours later.. went to try it again.. fired up perfect! I hope its the same case for you.. im assuming either my plugs, or something got wet.. and the suby was having none of it. Let me know how urs turned out? Anyone know why this would happen.. sucks it seems to be a common prob?

[Wiscon_Mark]

Weird.. this happened to you to? Damn rain storm! I went out to start my car up this morning.. and upon attempting to start it up.. it sputtered, and coughed.. and made all sorts of weird sounds.. then when it was running.. sounded like it was only running on 3 cylinders or something.. as you could hear ticking and sputtering / shaking when you stepped on the accelerator.. i couldnt do anything about it.. so i left it alone. Few hours later.. went to try it again.. fired up perfect! I hope its the same case for you.. im assuming either my plugs, or something got wet.. and the suby was having none of it. Let me know how urs turned out? Anyone know why this would happen.. sucks it seems to be a common prob?

That's not hydrolock - just something to do with the ignition system. Happens when it's real wet sometimes.

[shazapple]

You have a lot of current going through those wires and only a few millimeters of rubber to keep it from jumping to a very conductive engine block. Covering everything in water just decreases the effectiveness of that rubber.
Crappy wires, or crappy connections at the coil or plug are the cause and it can happen on any vehicle.

[d1giPhux]

Weird.. this happened to you to? Damn rain storm! I went out to start my car up this morning.. and upon attempting to start it up.. it sputtered, and coughed.. and made all sorts of weird sounds.. then when it was running.. sounded like it was only running on 3 cylinders or something.. as you could hear ticking and sputtering / shaking when you stepped on the accelerator.. i couldnt do anything about it.. so i left it alone. Few hours later.. went to try it again.. fired up perfect! I hope its the same case for you.. im assuming either my plugs, or something got wet.. and the suby was having none of it. Let me know how urs turned out? Anyone know why this would happen.. sucks it seems to be a common prob?

That's not hydrolock - just something to do with the ignition system. Happens when it's real wet sometimes.

Yea, i just find it weird that it happened.. the car was sitting.. and it had the hood on.. so how did anything get water on it.. very strange. Ive also driven in WAYYYYY worse rain than that before.. when i bought the car, i came back in some VERY bad rain storms.. and never had a problem. I'm glad it cleared itself up however. Would you recommend changing the plugs / wires? Maybe that will help it not happend in the future.

[Wiscon_Mark]

The car can wick up moisture that's just sitting on the ground pretty easily. That's what happened when it happened to me.

[d1giPhux]

Interesting.. so, would replacing the plugs help it out a bit? Anything else you could do really? Thats pretty crazy..i NEVER had that problem with my honda at all.. seems very strange that it just happened randomly.. like, weird. I just dont see how it could happen.. but i guess it did! :lol: At least its better now.

[Sarra]

Hydrolocking is when there is so much water in the engine itself that the crank can no longer turn. IIRC, it causes oxidization of the cylinder walls, which instantly and permanently locks one or more pistons in place. If it happens when your engine is running, it usually results in a severely bent rod, or even a broken rod.

Hydrolocking a car isn't very easy to do. I COMPLETELY submerged my BE's engine, there was water coming up over the entire hood and onto the window. Believe me, unless you were in that kind of water for more than a few seconds, you should be okay.

[shazapple]

Hydrolocking is when there is so much water in the engine itself that the crank can no longer turn. IIRC, it causes oxidization of the cylinder walls, which instantly and permanently locks one or more pistons in place. If it happens when your engine is running, it usually results in a severely bent rod, or even a broken rod.



errr.... what? Oxidization takes quite a while. The pistons are 'locked in place' because the engine sucks in water and then trys to compress it. Water doesn't compress very much at all, so something has to break and its not going to be the water.

And yes, its very difficult to hydrolock an engine especially with a stock airbox (even with an aftermarket it would have to be completely submerged to suck in enough water)

[Sarra]

Hmm, I be corrected. I read the wikipedia article, rust is mentioned, but not as the cause...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrolock

Oh well. Glad you car didn't hydrolock, or rustlock.

[deadlydave]

hey man, it's ok. If we all knew EVERYTHING, this would be NASIOC.

[d1giPhux]

So whats the story with your car man.. is it still not working?

[WinterKnoll]

Appears to be working. Drove to and from school today with only a few rare little jolts, I expect it will be completely fine tomorrow. What a relief.

[Sarra]

I've heard that you can get a small heater and put it under your engine bay if you need to dry it out faster. Be careful of melting wires/hoses, though.

[shazapple]

I think if a running engine doesn't dry things out then a small heater isn't going to do much.

[d1giPhux]

I still dont really understand why this is a problem? Didnt they test this while making the cars? I mean.. my engine seems to be completely covered by the hood / body.. so how did it do this / get water into the plugs / whatever else? Where do you think the water did in fact get into? The weird thing when it happened with mine.. it was sitting.. not even moving.

[WinterKnoll]

That is strange indeed, but mine was driven through a river, so...

[d1giPhux]

That is strange indeed, but mine was driven through a river, so...

Hmm, even so.. when i bought my car, i drove through some REALLY bad rain storms, where the main roads were like rivers.. didnt have any problems then.. and then a small ass rainstorm comes along and disables my car. :lol:

[backpack09]

You have an 8 year old car. As cars get older plastic pieces start to deteriorate. This can the smallest amount of water into places it shouldn't be. This is why when you do plugs and wires, and pretty much anything else electrical, you should be using gobs and gobs of dialectric grease.

Also, the crazy wind we have been having can easily get water up under your hood.

[d1giPhux]

You have an 8 year old car. As cars get older plastic pieces start to deteriorate. This can the smallest amount of water into places it shouldn't be. This is why when you do plugs and wires, and pretty much anything else electrical, you should be using gobs and gobs of dialectric grease.

Also, the crazy wind we have been having can easily get water up under your hood.

Yea thats true.. i figured it must have been the sideways rain we were getting for the past few days. I think next time i do my plugs and wires (soon).. i will be using lots of dielectric grease to keep any water / condensation out! What else could have gotten water into it to have caused this?

[Sarra]

I think if a running engine doesn't dry things out then a small heater isn't going to do much.

Unless the car's being driven 8 hours... Leaving a heater on for 8 hours should dry it out pretty well.