i live in so cal and it was raining pretty hard about two weeks ago. i have a k&n cold air intake and i drove through a REALLY BIG PUDDLE.... my car stalled on me (i have an automatic) and i tried to start it back up immediatly afterwards, but it didn't crank over. i waited about five minutes and then tried to start it. a lot of white smoke came out the exhaust and my tC was sputtering a lot, but i managed to drive it home which was a few blocks away. i have been driving it around , but around 4 - 5k rpm, it bogs, but then continues through the shifting.

any ideas on what it could be? i have changed my oil and my spark plugs, but i still have the problem. PLEASE HELP!

 

Doesnt sound good. I would not have driven it at all after that. Best idea is to tow it home, pull the plugs out and crank it over. That will push the water out of the cylinders. Then pour a bit of Marvel Mystery Oil in each, crank it a couple of times and let it sit for a little while.

Is everything under the hood good and dry now? What did the oil look like (normal, or lighter brown than normal) ?

 

ok, i will go to my cousins house tomorrow and try that. he has all the tools at his place.

what does the marvel mystery oil do exactly? and i pour that in with the spark plugs in our out? where do i buy it from?

everything is and has been dry under the hood for about a week. the oil looked normal to me. the car drives fine, only when i push it hard is when it bogs, but it is not happy.

 

I mean, I don't know about everyone else... But why would you drive through a big puddle knowing you have a CAI? It just doesn't seem logical.

 

yea im sure he did it on purpose.


i hydrolocked my 300zx. it is really low and i couldnt even tell that there was a puddle in front of me. when i stepped out, i was in about 8 in of water. the way that it blended in and reflected the road color looked like it was just road surface.

As for oldgreg, what ya doin in those waters. its best to not start the car motherlicker lol haha sorry had to do it. but i feel ya man. mine didnt start at all and was immediately locked. i bent one rod and had 2 pistons and walls that had to be replaced and honed down. at least youre a little better of than that

good luck

 

i went through several puddles those days that it was raining hard and my CEL came on cause my filter got wet so i took it off until it stopped raining. cleaning your filter as well with that K&N filter cleaner kit they sell at autozone. good thing water didn't get passed my filter

 

Haha, maybe I should crack open a fresh Baileys and pour that into my gas tank.

But on a serious note, thats exactly how it was for me. I couldn't see how deep the puddle was. I've driven through rain and small puddles without any problems. It's not like I intentionally tried to hydrolock my car. I hope I didn't do any serious damage. It almost feels more like an electrical problem more than a mechanical.

I've done the following after the incident:
> Replaced Oil
> Changed Spark Plugs
> Cleaned K&N Air Filter
> Swapped MAF sensor with friend's tC to see if that solved the problem (it didn't)
> Used electric parts cleaner on all electrical components in the engine bay
> Poured SeaFoam into Crankcase and Gas tank

If I had bent a rod, wouldn't I not be able to start my car?

Also, when I first start my car in the morning or after it has cooled down, my brother said he noticed a black/brown cloud of smoke coming from the exhaust.

 

If it is not hyrdrolocked technically, water does not compress in the cylinders and most of the time will create a stress factor so small not visible seen, however this crack will grow and will cause a thrown rod etc.

 

If you bent a rod, you would obviously not be able to start it. however, the pressures created (it is like your piston hitting an immovable wall in mid stroke) can cause lot of other damage. The next thing I would do is a compression test on it.

 

Where would I go for a compression test or is that something I can do myself?

 

Start it up and keep it running for 15min now .... and then start it tomorrow .... as long as the water evaporates you are golden. You surely didnt kill the engine because you were able to start it. If you 100% locked it you would never have gotten it started again.

 

But the fact remains that after drying out, it runs like crap. I have seen blocks shot to crap by a hydrolock before.

The absolute worst thing to do if you even think you hydrolocked is to start the car. Pulling the plugs and getting the water out is first priority.

 

+1

if you didnt mess anything up your lucky, but i would get it checked out well before driving it to much

 

You know they make water-resistant socks for the CAIs now?
Go short and don't worry.
You guys do realize that a big aluminum tube in the engine compartment unwrapped will suck up heat like crazy - your air's not so cold after going though that tube.

 

thats why I went SR its all just a pipe and a filter

 

Yeah, unless that pipe gets wrapped, it's one big heat-sink.

 

Of course, a CAI is near worthless other than for looks, and a short ram is just the same... most likely worse since it draws in engine compartment air.. the stock setup at least draws from the fender. As far as performance, you are better off just staying stock or building a GFI (just search for it.. trust me). But even the GFI will just be a tiny gain, but at least it battles the heat soak issue.

But the water resistant sock isnt going to help if you submerge the end of the filter.

 

true, i got mine for sound, I would love to do ITB theres your best gain for a air intake system

 

Actually, THIS is a pretty decent replacement for the stock airbox.
I might go this route.

 

TEll me you are kidding man! :D

Looks to me like someone severly hacked up a stock airbox (Actually, that is what it is if you look at it). You cdold just build the same one yourself easilly. Still doubtful any gain would be achieved, and again, looks like it is pulling engine bay air.. I would stick to stock over that for sure.

First hint that it is a hack is that the Typhoon intake by K&N is an actual metal tube cold air intake, not a cut up stock airbox