I have a cold air intake on my 95 eclipse GS. I decided to try and get through a big puddle, but instead, my engine got hydrolocked. I was going very slow through the puddle, only idling the car as I went through. And my engine didn't just stop running all of a sudden, but it kind of died slowly. I took off my plugs and cleared out some water by turning it over, but it still wouldn't start after I reconnected the plugs. I checked my spark, and it was strong.
What should I do? Could I have done any bad damage?
Thanks

well you probably took the water in slow since it didnt die right away. DONT TRY TO START IT ANYMORE your gonna do more damage to it trying ot start it. take the plugs out leave them out take ur intake off look for water in the manifold and just let it sit and dry out. its gonna take a while and if you lucky it will start. when you get it started either take it to your mechanic right away or do a compression check to make sure u didnt bend and rods. if that checks out change the oil. just dont try and start it anymore if you still have a lot of water in its just gonna break shit. G/L

ditto take out the plugs and let that sucker sit and dry out

Well, did a compression test just to find out that it's about 25-40psi in each cylinder. Definately something broken there. I need to start looking around for a new engine. Any ideas where I can get one for a good price? I need my car up and running. This sucks...
Thanks

You could get one of the 2.7 sebring engines from Howell. They're all built up and available in different compressions.

is your engine running yet? if its not i wouldnt have done a compression check yet the engine should be warmed up a little and if its not starting let it dry out longer its gonna take a lot of time.

I think the engine is messed. Just a week before, my compression in all my cylinders was about 175 psi. If its showing such a low reading now, I think something cracked or broke, reducing my compression dramatically.

sorry about your engine....

however no offense dude, but what were you doing trying to get through a big puddle with a CAI on?


were ya drunk?:wary

jeff

I totally can relate... I hydrolocked mine just 3 weeks ago... let it dry out -- if there is still water in there and you try to start it... you are gonna bend the rods or break other stuff... leave it alone for like 3 days... and then cross your fingers and try to fire it up... if you didn't mess up anything on the head... i would say get a Howell block shipped to you.

It aint gonna be cheap though man... hope you have a little bit of money saved up ($2000 or so).... sorry to hear you also fell victim.

EVERYONE WITH A COLD AIR -- take notice -- with the 10 straight weeks of rain we have been having... switch your cold airs to non-cold air mode or buy a by-pass valve.

We don't need anymore 2gnt troopers falling prey to hydrolock.

As of today, (the day after the incident) my car runs!
Right before my hydrolock my engine ran nicely with a good idol, and reasonable power. The top end was just rebuilt and re-timed with new belts put on. At that time I had between 165-175 psi in each cylinder (not too bad). When I did a wet test, (where you put some oil in the cylinder to seal the piston rings) I was getting about 250 psi.

Now, I’m lucky to have my car running, but it idols unevenly, and it lost some power. I did a compression test, and was getting like 30-50 psi in each cylinder.:( I did a wet test on one cylinder, and got about 75 psi. Now I have to figure out what kind of damage I did.
I'm assuming I didn’t crack the block or any cylinders since the compression is fairly even through all 4 cylinders. I think I did one or more of the following:
1) Blew the head gasket
2) Damaged all the piston rings
3) Or jumped the timing belt?

Please if anyone can help out with some input on what kind of damage the hydrolock did to my car, I would appreciate it. Where do you think the weakest point could have been in each cylinder when it reached upwards of 600psi in there? I'm hoping it was the head gasket that went.
Please help!:(

No, you probably bent all 4 rods.

Update:
I let it sit more overnight, I I checked the compression again. This time it was 125-150 across the cylinders. I checked the timing gears just to see they are off by 4 teeth!! So possibly, this is the only damage I did?

Is it that hard to put on another timing belt, and re-time it myself, or should I find a garage to do it for me? Should I even replace the belt, since it only has about 1500 miles on it? How much have you guys paid to have any of this done on your dsm?
Thanks

yup you bent all 4 rods, i wouldnt run it much longer cause there just gonna break eventually and mess more shit up for ya

So how hard is it to replace the rods then? Or how much would a garage charge?

well if i were you i would buy a howell bottem end rebuild kit and get all forged internals, if your gonna boost go with lower compression in u plan on stay N/A go with higher compression. dont know exactly how much for labor charges but prob. will get fairly costly.

I just don't understand how all my rods could have been bent. Arn't they really tough though? I know my timing is off, and that may explain my drop of pressure of 175psi (before the accident) to like 125 psi now. I don't know though. I keep checking the compression, and i'm getting different results everytime. I just checked again and got like 100psi. Maybe this relates to the valve timing problem?

I can't picture my engine running this smooth if I have 4 bent rods, or other internal damage. I get like 125-150 compression; but I think it's low just b/c my timing gears off off 4 teeth. Anyone agree, or do you still think I did internal damage as well.