Flooded engine - how much trouble am I in?

[EssexBoy]

oil change at minimum

 

[Howard]

6 year old thread. But relevant.

06 civic. Drove through a flood and engine stalled on way out.

Tried to start the engine over the course of 50mins.

On the 7th or 8th go the car started. Very hesitantly.

Felt a bit jumpy whilst accelerating, but seems fine now.

Checked the dip stick, pulled it out and looked a bit milky around the stick, wiped it and checked several times for rest of day, including taking the oil cap off, no sign of milky fluid again.

Oil just looks like oil.

Engine isn't making any noises, so am I good?

Anything else to check?

I wonder if the water went into the exhaust. There was a lot of steam once the engine started.

It's a Civic, you could probably fill the combustion chambers with sand and it'd still drive Sounds like a lucky escape if the engine isn't knocking like an.. erm... I can't think of a metaphor.

 

[Gaygle]

6 year old thread. But relevant.

06 civic. Drove through a flood and engine stalled on way out.

Tried to start the engine over the course of 50mins.

On the 7th or 8th go the car started. Very hesitantly.

Felt a bit jumpy whilst accelerating, but seems fine now.

Checked the dip stick, pulled it out and looked a bit milky around the stick, wiped it and checked several times for rest of day, including taking the oil cap off, no sign of milky fluid again.

Oil just looks like oil.

Engine isn't making any noises, so am I good?

Anything else to check?

I wonder if the water went into the exhaust. There was a lot of steam once the engine started.

Get the oil changed ASAP and have a look at the air filter/in the air filter housing to make sure it's not soaking wet.

 

[Skynet5]

Thanks guys. Will check air filter in the morning before I head out. Guess it might be dry by then though?

Care drove OK today.

Will also call my garage for an oil change.

 

[Nasher]

How deep did you go because the air intake is near the top of the engine. Half of the car would need to be under for it to flood. The steam was probably water being boiled by the exhaust and cat.

 

[Skynet5]

Just gone out with a torch. The air filter is damp, not dripping. With the amount of water around I guess that might be expected?

Not sure depth.... Maybe 12 inches?

 

[Nasher]

Just gone out with a torch. The air filter is damp, not dripping. With the amount of water around I guess that might be expected?

Not sure depth.... Maybe 12 inches?

12 inches is no where near enough to flood the engine

 

[Skynet5]

I did observe the airfilter is right on top. Surely the intake isn't low down.

 

[Nasher]

I did observe the airfilter is right on top. Surely the intake isn't low down.

The water would be coming through the doors before it reaches that then.

 

[Dogbreath]

I did observe the airfilter is right on top. Surely the intake isn't low down.

The induction hose is quite a bit lower than the airbox itself. Follow the the big pipe coming out of the airbox.

 

[Django x2]

Is this an auto or manual?

 

[Alibaba99]

How deep did you go because the air intake is near the top of the engine. Half of the car would need to be under for it to flood. The steam was probably water being boiled by the exhaust and cat.

Are you guessing or do you actually know where the air intake sits?

 

[Mercenary Keyboard Warrior]

The water would be coming through the doors before it reaches that then.

Not in most cars now, in most cars the door seals are so good they will float literally, its why frequently cars end up floating off in floods when they go out of the depth where the wheels lift off the ground

Vid of a stonking great 4x4 floating and thats with a slowmo holding tank fill

https://newatlas.com/floodwaters-cars-float/43930/

 

[Marc2180]

Put rice in the fuel tank and in the oil cap to soak up any water. Just to be on the safe side.

 

[Jonnycoupe]

Are you guessing or do you actually know where the air intake sits?

hea guessing and not appreciating a moving car has a water level at the nose much higher than then actual level. Oh and doors are more water tight than air induction systems

 

[Skynet5]

Well engine block cracked. Just got towed.




Ah well. 2006 civic 60k on the clock.

Don't think it's worth replacing the engine.

 

[Mercenary Keyboard Warrior]

Was the car really hot when you went through the water? wonder if it was a case of water cooling part of the block a lot compared to the rest
It seems odd that a cracked block would have taken this long to show, could have been it was enough to take an already weak point and take it just past the point of failure with the shock of the water cooling the block quickly

 

[Skynet5]

Was the car really hot when you went through the water? wonder if it was a case of water cooling part of the block a lot compared to the rest
It seems odd that a cracked block would have taken this long to show, could have been it was enough to take an already weak point and take it just past the point of failure with the shock of the water cooling the block quickly

That's what my dad thought too.

AA guy didn't think it was directly related to water coming into the engine.

 

[Marc2180]

Well engine block cracked. Just got towed.




Ah well. 2006 civic 60k on the clock.

Don't think it's worth replacing the engine.

It all depends. Check ebay for an engine. And if you're handy with tools, an engine swap is relatively easy. Especially if it's a non turbo petrol. So could potentially be done cheaply.

 

[Jonnycoupe]

I imagine it’s hydrolocked, bend or snapped the rod and punched a hole in the block rather than a simple ‘crack’