Bad news in deep water

[djailer]

For some reason the 'Danger, Will Robinson' signal didn't get trhough my head yesterday. We had a torrential downpour and I came up to an intersection which was flooded. I have no idea why my pea brain told me it was OK but I tried to drive through it. It was deeper than it looked. After stalling about 2/3 the way through I continued to pile on the bad decisons by trying to restart it in water which was by then only up to my door sills. As I sit pretty much as low as it gets it didn't take much.

I pushed it out and let it sit for a few minutes. After a lot of chugging and wheezing it finally caught and I was able to get the last 3 or so miles back home. By the time I got there it was running fairly well...slight hesistation on accellerating but my biggest concern is the soft tapping I hear when it gets above 2K RPM or so. It accelerates with the RPMs but I don't think it is as pronounced as valve tapping.

I am going to check the dipstick before I take off for work this AM. I thought I would give it a try on the freeway (about 5 miles or so) on the way to work. When I get home I am planning on putting new plugs in, checking out the compression, and taking a look to see how wet the air filter might be. I just cleaned and oiled it a month ago but I am certain it got pretty wet. I could also take the valve cover off just to see if it looks wet.

So, any thoughts - besides the obvious of not doing this in the first place? It is running so hydrolock seems to be out. From what I read so far it would've seized up and not be running at all? What can I look for and what would your best guess be as to the tapping?

Thanks for taking the time to drudge through this!

 

[V12 Killa]

Check dipstick for oil/water mixture, air filter, take a look under the vc and check ic pipes & engine harness connectors for moisture/wetness. I would even change the oil & plugs. Yes if the engine hydro-locked it wouldn't be going any where . GL

 

[renovatdkitchen]

We all make mistakes somedays.

I'd do a compression test to see if any valves bent and check your rockers.

Have you checked your intercooler to see if there is any water pooled at the bottom of it?

 

[djailer]

#V12Killa - vc? I have FWD, not AWD. Is there a similar part in mine?
#Both - I have a very basic ic...maybe stock I am not sure. How do I check for water in it? I will google this some but I assumed the ic is a closed system??

Yes, oil change as well. When I looked it was very black - just changed it recently so that is not normal.

I can check compression but what about checking the rockers?? I am not sure what I would look for.
Thanks.

 

[V12 Killa]

VC= Valve cover. If its stock, there should be a sidemount ic located behind the front bumper in the passenger fender well. I would the remove bumper to get easier access to the bolts holding it in place (Easier IMO). There are two sets of piping connecting it to the engine (One to intake manifold and other to turbo). Remove piping and check for wetness/moisture.

 

[jbeaton9292]

This sucks hopfully you didnt vapor lock it this could be a very expensive mistake

 

[BogusSVO]

This sucks hopfully you didnt vapor lock it this could be a very expensive mistake

Vapor lock?????

I did not know a DSM came with a mechanical fuel pump and a carb!

Vapor lock happens on old school engines with a Mech FP and no return line.


Hydro lock, is when an engine ingests water, and on the compression stroke, bends the con rod, due to the fact that water will not compress.

 

[djailer]

I stopped at Baxters and got new oil and Iridium pllugs. The guy at the counter had an interesting observation I wanted to throw out there. He had a smilar problem but his locked up tight He ran about 4 oil changes through before it was better. Anyway, he suggested I run one change of regular house oil - 5-10 minutes max with a cheap filter, then drain it and see how it looks. I know you are not supposed to mix synthetic and regular but the concept seems reasonable - $20 worth of regular oul instead of $50 of Royal Purple. It is only in there long enough to pick up whatever might be left and I am onlly gong to drain it right out and toss it anyway.

I saw the sidemount ic and now I get that. Tomorrow I get will get this all done and see what happens.

 

[91-GS]

Hopefully she did not inhale too much water. Cold water hitting hot engine internals will make bad things happen.

Where about is the noise coming from? Does it sound to be in top part of motor, or at the bottom? Turn the engine over with a ratchet, try to feel if it's trying to bind at some point (or opposite of that, too easy to turn). And if you do pull the IC (intercooler) piping apart, go ahead and spin the turbo by hand to make sure it still spins freely "just in case".

 

[Dsmkauai]

Why are you wasting money on iridium plugs and royal purple oil?? That's what I don't get!!

 

[Ghost_92TSi]

Vapor lock?????

I did not know a DSM came with a mechanical fuel pump and a carb!

Vapor lock happens on old school engines with a Mech FP and no return line.


Hydro lock, is when an engine ingests water, and on the compression stroke, bends the con rod, due to the fact that water will not compress.

Could a rod still bend, even if it didn't completely lock up? Starting it in a puddle is badd. Back pressure keeps the water out, once it dies it goes in, On start up the engine can suck in air/water from the exhaust side.

 

[BogusSVO]

No water would not get sucked up the exhaust on start up, it would still be blowing out.

But, and it is a big but,

With the car stalled out in deep water, the water can flow up the exhaust and past any open exhaust valves into the cylinder and hydro lock.

The other way to hydro lock, would be to suck the water in through the intake into the combustion chamber.

On a 4g63 that can be a small amount of water with a head CC of 47 and the dish piston in a 1g being 20 or so CCs,

75-80cc of water would be enough to hydro lock an engine, so just a few fluid ounces would do it.

 

[jbeaton9292]

Vapor lock?????

I did not know a DSM came with a mechanical fuel pump and a carb!

Vapor lock happens on old school engines with a Mech FP and no return line.


Hydro lock, is when an engine ingests water, and on the compression stroke, bends the con rod, due to the fact that water will not compress.

Lmao sorry my mistake i was brought up working on father son project of mustang gt carb swapped didnt know there was a differant name for this stuff

 

[renovatdkitchen]

Exchange the iridium plugs for copper ones. Copper is better for turbo engines due to the larger surface area of the copper. Turbo engines run rich, and using copper plugs makes it harder to fowl them.

There's a write up about that on here if you search it.

 

[V12 Killa]

Why are you wasting money on iridium plugs and royal purple oil?? That's what I don't get!!

x2

Invest in some NGKs plugs (BPR6ES) & Brad Penn

 

[WES_393]

I stopped at Baxters and got new oil and Iridium pllugs. The guy at the counter had an interesting observation I wanted to throw out there. He had a smilar problem but his locked up tight He ran about 4 oil changes through before it was better. Anyway, he suggested I run one change of regular house oil - 5-10 minutes max with a cheap filter, then drain it and see how it looks. I know you are not supposed to mix synthetic and regular but the concept seems reasonable - $20 worth of regular oul instead of $50 of Royal Purple. It is only in there long enough to pick up whatever might be left and I am onlly gong to drain it right out and toss it anyway.

There's nothing wrong with mixing Conventional and Synthetic oil. They even blend the two together to make Semi-Synthetic oils. And like mentioned, the Iridium plugs won't do you any favors.

To get water out of the oil, I would just add about 1/3-1/2 bottle of Seafoam to the current oil, run the engine for a minute, and then change the oil and filter for good. Seafoam is mostly Alcohol which will absorb water rather than repel it.

 

[LaserRS92]

Just so you guys know, Mobil execs now train both execs at Advance Auto and their own that going from conventional to full synthetic these days isn't the issue, it's keeping the same weight no matter what. You can go back and forth now but once you pick a weight, keep it.

 

[djailer]

See? That is why I check out the forms. I use RP oil because that is what the guy I bought it from used. I don't know of many other Brands - Redline, Amsoil - of synthetic, besides the commercial brands.

From my observation it seems that everyone has their favs for their own reasons. I have had exceptional luck for the past four years running with RP and It looks to me like synthetics are synthetics and any one is lightspeed better than standard oil.

I am going to try the Iridiums just to see. From what I read here and elsewhere their claim to fame is endurance and it doesn't look like performance should suffer. Mostly just perfoming bigger surgery on my checking account.

I am going to head back to get the Seafoam though. Great suggestion!

 

[crash89]

If you were only in about 7-8" of water I have no idea why you are even contemplating any of this? You were no were near deep enough to have water flow up your exhaust, through the hot side of the turbo, and into any open valves nor be sucked through you air filter. Unless you have your filter run where the stock IC would be. However I see no modifications in your profile so I think we can rule that out. Just my .02

Did you just blast through this "puddle" or kind of crawl through it?

 

[renovatdkitchen]

It's not about performance. You run rich when you boost, the rich mixture will put deposits on your spark plugs, iridium plugs have a tiny electrode and that is easily fowled because its so small, unlike copper plugs.

 

[Colt4G63 also]

The ignition wires probably just got a little wet, and the ticking sound and hesitation are caused by spark leaking out of the wire set. All you people telling him to remove his valve cover and take tons of things apart are jumping the gun a little bit. Unless he has a cold air intake plumbed to the bottom of the bumper, there's no reason to expect water to be in the pipes.

 

[TWOpointFORliter]

I am going to try the Iridiums just to see. From what I read here and elsewhere their claim to fame is endurance and it doesn't look like performance should suffer. Mostly just perfoming bigger surgery on my checking account.

When your car starts to run like crap and is breaking up under boost remember to put the correct plug in your car before you start a "why does my car not run right" thread.

 

[djailer]

I didn't charge in tremendously fast and once it died I was barely crawling. You are right about the mods...nothing unusual. The only thing that right side scoop does is feed the ic radiator tingy!

I don't boost all that much so I am reasonably sure I won't be starting that thread!! If I do run into problems I will have an idea of where to start looking. I do appreciate all the feedback though. I couldn't do it without the forums!

 

[djailer]

OK, update - of sorts. Ran about 1/3-1/2 can of Seafoam in the oil, complete change with cheap oil and more Seafoam. Drained that all out and I didn't notice any foam or water in it. I put the good stuff in. It looks good now. New plugs and fired it up again. I still hear the indistinct but definite tapping. It almost seems like it comes from the pulley side rather than the top but it is hard to pinpoint. I coulldn't do the compression test since I don't have anything long enough to reach inside the plug wells. I have two other thiings to run past here.

One, after shutdown the coolant reservoir bubbles like a mad witch. It has never done that before. The coolant level is fine but what gets wet and then messes up the cooling system? I was going to pop the cap off after it cools down - a lot - to see if I can see water up there - I imagine I should, right? There are no obvious leaks or puddles underneath. The temp gauge moves up to normal and stays there.

Two - boost. I almost never got an indication on my boost gauge in 1st. Now I can get it almost to 15 psi before I shift in a normal RPM range. And it hesitates badly - at least in first but sometimes second when I lean into it. The turbo doesn't seem to set me back like it used to so maybe a leak? But aren't all those hoses and connections basically rubber? Doesn't seem like water should affect them.

 

[motomattx]

Sounds like a messed up mass air sensor.