Moisture Sucked Into My Injen RD CAI

[Nexagen]

I have an Injen RD Cold Air intake and my car is a 2000 Eclipse GS.

I live in California and like 2 days ago it was raining really hard. Also I had to go to work and took the freeway. I was going about 80-85 MPH on the fast lane when I saw a puddle of water about 2" thick. It was too late for me to slow down or steer clear of the puddle and I blitzed right through the puddle ramming it hard.

I thought "F*ck! My Injen CAI probably sucked in water!" And it did...

It was fine and ran fine all the way to work but on the way back it began to chug and choke.

I would accelerate from 0 and it would chug and choke. The RPM's would go from 3,000 RPM to like 2,000 RPM's at random every 1 second or so. My instrument cluster says "Service Engine Soon" and is always on.

Day 3 and it is still having that problem. On the highways it feels like it wants to shutdown on me. It still runs but wants to shut off every now and then. I thought it would go away after a couple of days if the water would evaporate.

Anyway I still have a warranty on the car but I would need to take the Injen CAI and put the stock back in along with all my other mods. It would be a real pain in the ass.

Would this be enough for me to brag to my dealership to force them to give me a new engine?

Also I really dont have alot of time to take all the stuff out wait like a day and put the stuff back in. So I was wondering also if there was like another way of fixing the problem by getting rid of the water, taking it to some kind of shop or wait for the water to evaporate/go away?

A new engine sounds sweet though.

What do you guys recommend? Have any of you had the same problem?

[454Casull]

Take out the spark plugs and wait for the water to evaporate. If there is water inside the intake manifold, remove it and let it drip out, though it should be able to evaporate too.

[burly]

I also suggest that you change your oil and filter. As if you have water in the intake and cylinders, then some water (and quite possibly sediment) made it into the oil. Check that your air filter is both dry and clean ,and check the intake box (if you dont have a conical filter) for any water or debris. If nothing other than pure water got into the engine, then you will probably be alright as long as you haven't run it hard since then. However, since it was a puddle on the highway, not only might it have sediment, but it could also contain many other chemical "impurities". If it doesn't run well after the aforementioned work, I would take it to a mechanic and see what they have to say right before driving the vehicle further. After that, you can decide whether replacing the OEM equipment and returning to the dealership will be necessary or not. Hope this helps.

[MagicRat]

I suggest, if the air filter is in good shape, you may have gotten water in an electrical component which is not vented, that is, the moisture is stuck inside and can't dry out, so its producing a short circuit day after day.
I have dunked many jeep and dirt bike engines. So long as the engine does not hydraulic lock itself, the effects of the water are very short lived. Water in the engine itself is not your problem.

[sameintheend01]

agree with above....the water in the engine changes the compression and pop go your rods. Were you pressing the gas when you drove through the puddle?