so that song "it never rains in southern california" is BS! i have a cai, trd springs, on 19's lo pro's, and drove through some pretty big puddles of water (about a foot deep) picking some chick up so my car died after about the third or fourth puddle (in the neighborhood, the gutter canals at the ends of the streets) and hasn't started ever since (of course it had to be the first day it rained in so cal all year!) i took the spark plugs out and there seemed to be no traces of water or rust. engine wouldn't turn even when they were out. so i thought maybe it was the starter...... took it in and it passed. checked all fuses and they're fine. i thought hydrolocked engines we're supposed to turn after the spark plugs were out. what else could it be? it just clicks when i turn the key

 

Excuse the sarcastic comment, but cars are not boats. Let alone the fact that you went through multiple puddles. Please, leave the water fording to trucks, hummers, and other vehicles that are capable of going through water.

As far as how to fix it? Take it to a garage, and pay up for your repeated mistake

 

he is asking for help not for a smart a$$ like you to comment your opinion and then say got to a garage and pay for your mistakes


i would say check your intake it might of sucked a lot of water and it is still sitting in there and also check the throttle body look inside

 

He wouldn't have the problem if he hadn't gone through the "puddles" in the first place. Good suggestion on the intake, btw.

 

well you said it was just a click.. that means you might be on the right track there is more to the starting system the just the fuses. you have a relay under the hood and the starter it's self has a soloniod on it.. these are the only two things i can think of that would make a click but not turn over. try finding a friend with a tc and switch starters.

 

i know it was stupid, but it's not like i was doing donuts in the rain or anything. i was just trying to get home. i was in a neighbor hood that was flooded. but i did find about a table spoon of water in one of the cylinders. thats it. it could of done some major internal damage. and hunter, i don't appreciate the comments. i know f-ed up. but i'm just trying to get my car going at MY cheapest expense.

 

Engine got choked from water i think you need to remove the spark plug and if you have borescope put in spark plug s hole and look for water or else inside the engine if you find them then you need have syringe suck water out of engine until clean and put some WD40 spary inside the engine to allow sit until the remain water has evaporated once and checking make sure no heavy rust if light rust will be fine put back spark plug and start up if you found heavy rust then you need to remove the engine cover and vacuum whole the water and put engine lube and clean until cleaned and put back and start up and run good i hope you will get helpful from this msg

 

First, how did it die? If it hydrolocked it would have suddenly stopped dead. If you would have pulled the plugs, it should have cranked over unless it bent a rod badly and was preventing it from turning over or unless water also played a role in the starter not working.

So, remove your plugs, get a breaker bar and the right sized socket and place it on the crank pulley bolt and try to turn the engine over by hand (in neutral of course). If you cant budge it there is a chance it is locked up either from it sitting full of water and rusting (if it sat a long time) or from serious engine damage. After you try that, you can troubleshoot from there.

 

Hey man, hate to break it to you..... I went through this same thing back in june. You are definetly hydrolocked. The reason your engine isn't turning over is because you more than likely bent a rod.
I did the same thing, only I shut the car off when I realized the water I was in was way too deep, pushed it into the parking lot and let it sit for a good 3-4 hours... came out pulled the plugs, emptied teh CAI tube and tried to turn over and all I got was the click. The bent rod is shoving one of your pistons into the side of the cylinder.
I would suggest if you have the injen, or anything other than the TRD CAI, pull it off before you go to the dealer... they aren't going to cover anything other than a TRD. I think my total for new short block, machined head, throttle body and all associated labor and materials was just under $7500.....

Sorry to hear it happened to you, but I know how you feel...

 

even the trd CAI isn't covered by warranty. it says it on the site. the trd CAI is an off-road only part and not covered by warranty.

becauset toyota isn't dumb, they know that a cold air intake has a high probably of leading to hydrolocking.

actually, even if the cold air intake wasn't there, they wouldn't cover it because a warranty covers manufacturer defect, not "i drove my new car into a deep puddle and hydrolocked the engine, now give me a new engine.

 

I wasn't aware of them not covering the TRD... crazyness.... Well, do you have good insurance? My insurance covered my repairs, minus the $500 deductible..... Got my fingers crossed for you man.

 

i'm with hunter. why would you drive through a bunch of foot deep puddles? couldn't wait to get home? anyway, if you can't turn the motor at all by hand then you probably bent a rod. take it to a good mechanic and have him pull the pan and take a look. does it not budge in either direction?

 

That really sucks. similar crap happend to me earlier this week from the same rain. I drove through a puddle that looked innocent and when I drove through my car stopped suddenly. It wouldnt start either, then i gave it gas and it started right up. Scared the crap outta me. I hope you can get yours sorted out!

 

Yeah, hydrolocking is never under warranty (and shouldnt be) unless the head cracked (and it was not due to driving it while overheated) and started dumping coolant into the cylinders, causing the hydrolock.

If you drive into deep water and it happens, no chance of warranty covering it.

 

do you have full coverage auto insurance????? if so you should be covered.i had the samething happen a few months back the only difference is i had it happen with fresh water. which is fixable. salt water is not salt water destroys everything it touches( as far as metal and electrical) call your insurance company and tell them what happened and they should fix it. if not let me know i have some other ideas for you.

 

i hydrolocked the engine in my eclipse years back and it wasn't under warranty. Luckily my insurance covered it so a $7500 bill became $500 deductible. I was lucky though since the adjuster went to look at the car at the dealership and saw the CAI, the mechanic convinced her I thought it was stock since I bought the car from the dealership used like that.

I of course new it wasn't stock but the mechanic did me a big favor. I'm going to be installing the Injen CAI on my tC as well next weekend. I'm going to look at using the AEM bypass valve and modifying the intake to accecpt the bypass valve.

 

Make sure you just dont have water in your exhaust and that you a really hydrolocked. Jack up your cars front end a few feet and see if anything comes out of the exhaust. Honestly its worth any small shot that you have. I had bad luck like this and I kept trying to turn the car over for a good 15minutes and it finally turned over. All you smelled was starter and after it started it smoked for atleast 5 minutes.


Since the car is up in the front take off the pass side tire and plastic wheel well so you can get to the crank pulley. Then you can use a breaker bar or torque bar to see if it turns. Post what you find

 

like mtcx said you will have to pay your deductible(but its worth it becuase the will cover anything that is related to it event if it happens years down the road), just an fyi i would take everthing aftermarket off because its the adjusters job to find a reason not to pay for it.

 

^ right but if its really hydrolocked it doesnt take a rocket scientist to figure out that unless he went through 3feet of water it didnt get locked up due to a stock intake.