**urgent Help** Car Wont Start Water

franky_402

Registered User
ok, i went driving around tonight, and of course i live in illinois where we have had a bunch of rain in the past week. Well i have a cold air intake that runs down to the front bumber. I went through some water down by the river and the car died. Well i went to start it and it cranked for about 2 seconds and stopped. Well i got out and pushed the car out of the water and it will not crank!!!! Also i have no blinker or hazards. When i go to start the car all the lights go out and nothing else happens. My theory is i sucked up water through the cai and now it wont start. We also tried to push start it with another car pushing it at about 20mph and the tires just skid. My friend thinks the starter might be soaked. But i need sugestions. My friend suggest pulling all the plugs and cranking the engine to spit out the water and also to change the oil. Im hoping that letting it sit overnight will dry it out enough to start as i am going to downers grove tomorrow! Urgent help needed!
 
it would'nt hurt to pull the plugs and check
if it did suck-up a bunch of water and you think it got into the cyl's -cranking or pull/push starting might not be a good idea -hydro-lock can rag a motor right quick -bent rods --hopefully this isnt the case

steve
 
just talked to my uncle and he thinks that i should change the oil, first thing tomorrow and see if it starts if not then pull all the plugs and crank it then! Any insight
 
Pull the intake tube where it attaches to the throttle body and see if it looks like water made it that far up. MAF sensor probably got wet...if it sucked it into the cylinders, cranking with the starter will bend the rods if the plugs are not removed first.

David
 
We also tried to push start it with another car pushing it at about 20mph and the tires just skid.
that statement is why id do the plug thing

davids idea sounds great too
Pull the intake tube where it attaches to the throttle body and see if it looks like water made it that far up. MAF sensor probably got wet

have you pulled the dip-stick -what does the oil look like
if you even think you sucked up a bunch of water into the cyl's ,id pull the plugs first ,i know it's easier to change oil than play with the plugs
an oil change is cheap for the most part ,a motor is'nt
better to play it safe - than be sorry
good luck
steve
 
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This sort of thing happens in Texas all of the time during floods, folks don't realize the danger and end up getting water in their electronics and it tends to destroy more parts than you might think. Check out every electrical part that got wet, figure out what it is and what it does and how it works. Some parts will dry out and be ok, others could be ruined. Manufactures protect such parts by placing them in areas that don't get very wet, like up high in the engine bay, or inside the car. Water is a great conductor of electricity so circuit boards can fry pretty easily when the wrong connections get made due to the water in there. Good luck to you, above advice is all sound.
 
yes, do you think the serious engine damage can happen that quickly, also would there be any external signs!
 
just by cranking it you can cause major damage if theres water in it and pushing was really bad idea .the starter might not be dead. the engine is probly locked up. an engine cant compress water. like cbt said pull all the plugs check your intake for water and check your oil for water then crank the hell out of it with out burning up your starter lol and be on the save side and change the oil anyway and just put it all back together pray it starts without a knock
 
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Pull your plugs and crank it over before doing anything else. No you may not see external signs of damage if the water has locked the engine unless you see that all of the oil leaked out because a rod went through the pan or the block. A lot of Fords had that problem without the CAI installed. And yes the damage can happen that quickly.
 
It's called hydrostatic lock...

STOP TRYING TO CRANK THE ENGINE, to avoid causing any more damage than may already be done!!!!

Pull the plugs out and check the oil. If there is a lot of water in the oil change it first. Crank the engine to expel the water from the cylinders. You can also spray a healthy dose of WD40 into each cyclinder and recrank it a few times. WD40 is a great moisture displacer and will ensure the cylinder walls stay lubed. Use the sun and warm weather or a blow dryer to dry the MAF and the plugs. Put in clean oil, replace the plugs and MAF and try to start it. I recommend not racing the engine for a while once it starts. I would run it through a few warm-up cycles, maybe drive it around town a bit then change the oil again.
 
I would definitely say pull the plugs and then crank....See if water ashoots out. Then reinstall new plugs and see if she runs ok.

You could have done serious damage. From yoru description it appears you may have hydrolocked your motor. This means water is in the cylinders and cannot be compressed therefore the motor will not turn over. The problem is wether or not damage had occured when it first happened.

Also change your oil
 
ok, i went driving around tonight, and of course i live in illinois where we have had a bunch of rain in the past week. Well i have a cold air intake that runs down to the front bumber. I went through some water down by the river and the car died. Well i went to start it and it cranked for about 2 seconds and stopped. Well i got out and pushed the car out of the water and it will not crank!!!! Also i have no blinker or hazards. When i go to start the car all the lights go out and nothing else happens. My theory is i sucked up water through the cai and now it wont start. We also tried to push start it with another car pushing it at about 20mph and the tires just skid. My friend thinks the starter might be soaked. But i need sugestions. My friend suggest pulling all the plugs and cranking the engine to spit out the water and also to change the oil. Im hoping that letting it sit overnight will dry it out enough to start as i am going to downers grove tomorrow! Urgent help needed!


You are not the first one that this has happen too. Dame those fender well cold air intakes. They just don't work well when you drive through a lake.
 
You are not the first one that this has happen too. Dame those fender well cold air intakes. They just don't work well when you drive through a lake.


Damn those Tbirds-they don't work well as boats.
Future reference-if you are coming up on high water-SLOW DOWN!
If it is to the bottom of your front bumper, don't even try to go through it-find an alternate route.

Nick
 
yes i was going very slow, i wasnt even thinking about my cai being that low. I am changin to a short ram air box after this ~~~~ happened. I pulled it on a trailer today and towed it to my friends house where it can sit and dry. And all the electronics were going crazy, when i hit the brakes the vmm and the cluster was flashing/dimming. Im guessing that electronics are soaked badly. Also when i pulled off the maf after a night of sitting the maf dripped of water. Also the small tube that connects to the intake tube had sucked up water. Monday i am tearing apart the engine to clean everything out. Cant do anything untill then when i get back from the burbs. Any other advice is greatly appreciated. Also does autozone have the spanner nut wrench to remove the intake tubes and the resealer. Also autozone doesnt carry the autolite duoble platinum plugs. so i need some advice on the best plugs to use. mostly stock but thinking of souping up a couple of things while i have it apart. I believe in the theory that everything happens for a reason whether it seems like it or not, so maybe this happened to prevent a bad accident or something worse with the engine! Thanks for all the input!!!
 
I think you jacked up your electronics. I've driven through deep water with my cone in the fender and it didn't get anywhere near the TB. I know this because I pulled over ASAP and pulled the intake at the TB and the water had not gone up that far. Sometimes you can't avoid getting into deep water especially in the desert where you get flash floods.
 
if it was me ,this is where id start...
the vmm ,at least on mine ,it's a 90 - will sometime cycle crazy ,i've just ignored it ,does'nt seem to effect the cars preformance at all ,mine seems to run just fine
the spanner-nut on top of the blower ,if it's got a good seal id leave it alone ,remove it by taking the 4 bolts off -there is another bolt behind the power-steering pump ,under-side of the IC tube ,and then theres 2 bolts on the inter-cooler

first things
however before doing that - check the oil by pulling the dip-stick -does it look like oil or is it milky - if so drain the oil and replace the filter and oil

first thing would be pull the spark-plugs out...
mark the wires so that you can put them back on where they go...
-see if it will turn over using no more that about 10 sec of cranking-don't run the starter for long periods of time -it's not good for them -have some-one watch while doing so -they might want to stand at the front of the car -not the sides -they might get sprayed ,do this 3 times or so giving the starter a short break each time.
was there any water -- water setting in the cyl's ,is a bad thing -so do this as soon as possible or they will rust and will cause cyl. wall damage ,take note ...

replace the plugs ...put the wires back on...make sure the the rubber tube going to the throttle-body is clear of water and the filter is dry...now try to turn it over...what happen -does it turn over ...maybe check any lower connections ...to make sure they are dry...

steve
 
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well i will start tearing down the engine in a couple of hours. Also i took off the two bolts that connect the ic line to the intercooler and it has the big nut that is threaded that has to come off correct? Thats why i thought i needed the spanner nut wrench! And yes very tight connections car idles at 20 in/hg, well did anyways! I will post pics and update very soon. Thanks for all the help. Also i have a ford shop manual so that should help!
 
Most people don't realize that what we call the air silencer was actually designed to prevent water ingestion into the engine if you drive through water. Works pretty good....up to a point that is.
 
Most people don't realize that what we call the air silencer was actually designed to prevent water ingestion into the engine if you drive through water. Works pretty good....up to a point that is.

Shoot, I didn't know that. I might have to go down the the city dump and see if they still have mine :).
 
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