So I was in Tampa today at USF buying a book and it started raining torrentially. So, I decide to make a run for it to be back in saint Petersburg to go to work...get to the car and come to an intersection, As soon as I get through it "woosh" and the car stopped. I knew immediately it had hydrolocked. So I get it towed home after me and 2 good sumeritans (sp?) took the spark plugs out and cranked it, the pistons shoot the water hella high.
Me and my dad have been working on it ever since. After vacuuming out the cylinders, I got some Marvel Mystery oil and put a little bit into the cylinders, let it soak for 2 hours and vacuumed that out. Realized I had no fuel, got a MAP sensor and all is well with that. I have "cold compression" in each cylinder albeit low like 30ish psi, but thats coz its cold I figure. It has spark which is erratic and has a bit of a delay. My crank turns fine and all of that. My guess is that another sensor is out. Earlier it threw a p0351, checked the connections to the ignition coil, bought new spark plugs and have relatively new wires...never threw that code before the water incident. Timing belt is still intact as far as I can see..., dont think it jumped I wasnt even going 15 mph, and as soon as I realized I was in deep water/shit, got off the gas pedal and pressed the clutch

Maybe I drowned the crank sensor... it was like 6 inches or water.... but I dont get why it would still fire if that happened...

It throws no other codes....
Before today didnt have any recent problems with cranking (8 mos ago ASD)
Bottom line car turns over, wont start....
If this car ever starts again, Im getting a short ram intake, period.

Originally posted by 97EclipseGrl
I have "cold compression" in each cylinder albeit low like 30ish psi, but thats coz its cold I figure.

Sorry. 30psi means you're fucked. Even when I eyeballed my piston ring gaps (everyone gets a kick outta that one) and had a blown head gasket, I got better than 150psi. The service limit, according to the factory service manual is 100psi. If you're getting 30psi, you've blown the engine.

I'd suggest you visit the Parts Dinosaur site and start pricing stock rebuild parts, or head out to the local junk yards and find yourself a donor motor.

Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but 30psi is about as bad as it can get. :(


EDIT:
The reason why it's still firing, but not lighting off is because you have no compression. You need three things to have the engine run - air/fuel, compression, and spark. Since you've either destroyed your piston rings or your valves, you aren't compressing the air/fuel mixture enough that it will explode and push the piston back down the cylinder. As the piston comes up, the air/fuel mixture is squeezing past the piston and/or valves and you get bupkis.

Moral of the story: Full, CAIs are a risk that no one should be taking. The extra 1whp they might provide is not worth this risk.

I'm sorry.

Even if the engine is dead cold? I get that only compression cranking it for like 7 seconds after its been sitting for 9-10 hours. I thought that compression tests have to be done at operating temp in order to be accurate... meaning the car has to actually run first...
I also have no water in my oil, so I doubt any got past my pistons/rings

I 2nd Driggs diagnosis. You hydrolocked the engine. Remember water does not like to be compressed. You probably realized a bit late and the motor sucked in a healthy dose of water.

30psi hot or cold is extremely low. Normally it should be between 170-210 depending on mileage. My Neon with 170K on the odometer still cranks out 160-165 psi across all four cylinders when cold.

Donor motors can be had for cheap. Check junkyards, or Neon.org for them. I think I came across a few while surfing through there that might be close to you.

Next time purchase a bypass valve or remove the Lower section of the CAI before driving in the rain.

Good luck.

Ok so I got it started yesterday and the idle was a little rough and it smokes white (Mystery Oil that I let soak in the cylinders for 24 hours) for about 30 minutes, then stops. Drove it around the block and its a little sluggish, but she purred, no abnormal sounds... but then again all I had was a wash cloth clamped over the throttle, so maybe thats why she was a little slow. I did a compression test today after all of the Mystery oil was burned off and have a 180 across +/- 2 and I have no smoking.
I also cut my CAI and now it sits in front of the top part of my fan, gonna run and get a new filter and High Mileage Fuel system cleaner (Slick 50) and fill up on high grade.
Prolly have other sensors out, Ill give them another day to dry out before I replace any of them.
Also, todays idle was a little better than yesterday. :-)

Must be something about the Florida sun :P

Lesson learned... CAI's are the Devil!!!!

WOW congrats. Looks like you dodged the bullet.

Originally posted by eclipsekaiser
WOW congrats. Looks like you dodged the bullet.

Amen to that. It's like, the bullet was coming at you, and you got all Matrix-stylee on it and leaned out of the way just in time. Wow.

she must be cute ;)

Originally posted by Blizare
she must be cute ;)

id say shes pretty cute, i know her pretty well, and helped her out through this whole thing, thats why its running again ^_^

www.myspace.com/adrialynnp <--- thats her myspace incase anyone wants to check her out

Regardless of how it's running now I'd be a little careful. I would NOT boost that motor regardless of how little boost you plan on running.

I'm also a previous victim of a hydrolocked motor. I got my motor running well also but it left it's damage ... just couldn't be seen until I pulled the motor apart. I had 2 bent rods. Still made decent compression 170-180 on the cylinders.

It'll probably have a great life as a daily driver but I wouldn't try pushing the limits on it.

Just my .02 :)

How do you get 30 PSI on one day, then 180 on the next? Possible you made an error using the compression tool on the first day?


Eyeballing the ring gap - ha ha, yes we still get a kick out of that, it never gets old Driggs.

Originally posted by 97EclipseGrl
So I was in Tampa today at USF buying a book and it started raining torrentially. So, I decide to make a run for it to be back in saint Petersburg to go to work...get to the car and come to an intersection, As soon as I get through it "woosh" and the car stopped. I knew immediately it had hydrolocked. So I get it towed home after me and 2 good sumeritans (sp?) took the spark plugs out and cranked it, the pistons shoot the water hella high. Me and my dad have been working on it ever since. After vacuuming out the cylinders, I got some Marvel Mystery oil and put a little bit into the cylinders, let it soak for 2 hours and vacuumed that out. Realized I had no fuel, got a MAP sensor and all is well with that. I have "cold compression" in each cylinder albeit low like 30ish psi, but thats coz its cold I figure. It has spark which is erratic and has a bit of a delay. My crank turns fine and all of that. My guess is that another sensor is out. Earlier it threw a p0351, checked the connections to the ignition coil, bought new spark plugs and have relatively new wires...never threw that code before the water incident. Timing belt is still intact as far as I can see..., dont think it jumped I wasnt even going 15 mph, and as soon as I realized I was in deep water/shit, got off the gas pedal and pressed the clutch Maybe I drowned the crank sensor... it was like 6 inches or water.... but I dont get why it would still fire if that happened... It throws no other codes.... Before today didnt have any recent problems with cranking (8 mos ago ASD) Bottom line car turns over, wont start.... If this car ever starts again, Im getting a short ram intake, period.

Thats a pisser bro. sorry to hear about your ride.

From reading your problem, I assume you have a FUll Cold Air intake system.
Did you use the AEM Bypass Valve with it. This Bypass valve, prevents Hydro-lock which messed up your ride.


I have a Injen RD full cold air intake system and I have aem's bypass valve on it. Believe me this thing does work, I hadn't have a problem yet with it.

Does the filter make any difference?

I have a real K&N oily filter on my CAI and it took literally immersing it completely in water to hydrolock my engine (good I was going super slow and that saved it from death).

Im not a guy...
But anyways yeah I did have a full CAI without a bypass valve, it was only submerged like halfway in the water, it didnt matter. The car runs fine now. After I finally got it started my cold air became a short ram before it left my driveway again...
Only thing is that it took out my oil pump, I guess, but it was probably on its last leg anyways. After a day of driving it, on tuesday,the dummy light popped on and I was like not again...coz once, I had debris in the sansor and it gave a false read, but luckily I refused to drive it and borrowed my dads car for the rest of the week. The light would only come on under acceleration, so I took it easy for the last 2 blocks home. Anyways, installed an oil PSI gauge same day with steel braided line started it and it read low as hell. So I put it up on jack stands. Got around to changing my oil pump today, reads like 57 psi at cold idle, its still on jackstands coz Im too lazy to put the drive belts on tonight ... Ill do that tomorrow. I have no noise coming from my crank or anything, thank god :-)
Earlier this week I was doing good deeds trying to get some good behavior points in hopes that I wouldnt have a spun bearing. Guess it worked...

Originally posted by 97EclipseGrl
Im not a guy... But anyways yeah I did have a full CAI without a bypass valve, it was only submerged like halfway in the water, it didnt matter. The car runs fine now. After I finally got it started my cold air became a short ram before it left my driveway again... Only thing is that it took out my oil pump, I guess, but it was probably on its last leg anyways. After a day of driving it, on tuesday,the dummy light popped on and I was like not again...coz once, I had debris in the sansor and it gave a false read, but luckily I refused to drive it and borrowed my dads car for the rest of the week. The light would only come on under acceleration, so I took it easy for the last 2 blocks home. Anyways, installed an oil PSI gauge same day with steel braided line started it and it read low as hell. So I put it up on jack stands. Got around to changing my oil pump today, reads like 57 psi at cold idle, its still on jackstands coz Im too lazy to put the drive belts on tonight ... Ill do that tomorrow. I have no noise coming from my crank or anything, thank god :-) Earlier this week I was doing good deeds trying to get some good behavior points in hopes that I wouldnt have a spun bearing. Guess it worked...

My bad, :scratch
I should've looked at your name first. I figured that's what happened w/out the bypass valve. If you do decide on a full CAI system you might wanna get others opinion's about the bypass valve.

I've installed one on my Injen Cai, because it pours like mofo, whree I live.

Originally posted by dalesmitsu
If you do decide on a full CAI system you might wanna get others opinion's about the bypass valve. I've installed one on my Injen Cai, because it pours like mofo, whree I live.

I had one before I went turbo and I think it saved me on one occassion, it went through an easy 6-8 inches and sputtered for a second but that was it aside from some steam due to the water hitting the exhaust.

If you do decide to get one I have one you can have for cheap.