Help with waterlogged engine

[soreballz]

Alright, a few hours ago, my gf made the mistake of driving her 2000 Neon through a flooded intersection. It was pretty deep; the floors of the car have water in them. Hell, even the cupholders have some water in them. The engine is waterlogged, I know that because I tried to start in and it cranked, but the pistons sounded like they were stuck, so I'm guessing the combustion chambers are filled with water.
Now I know I have to find the drain plugs for the interior (or use a shop vac), but what can I do about the engine? She's freaking out because it's her parent's car, and she thinks they're gonna kill her, so if possible, I'd rather try to avoid taking to a mechanic unless it's absolutely necessary. I read somewhere that if you pull the sparkplugs out and start the car, the pistons should clear the water out of the combustion chambers...

HELP ME

Cliffnotes: Engine is waterlogged... Is she completely screwed? Or is there anything I can do without towing it to a mechanic?

[CBFryman]

if the engine hasnt had time to seize and the ECU wasnt submerged then take the spark plugs out, put plastic over any electronics and crank the engine, it will push most of the water out, put some gasoline into the cylender (jsut a tad) and crank it agian, then pour some heavy weight oil in the cylender and crank it over agian. put the spark plugs in and change the air filter or take it out and let it dry then crank it, it might take a while so if the batery is nearing dead you much want ot charge it. but dont crank it for more than 15sec at a time, when it does crank your exaust will likely be spweing black and white smoke. keep it running untill smoke clears up then you should be good to go. if the ECU was submerged then take it out and let it dry in the sun, then clean it up with rubing alcohol. check to make sure no fuses where blown on the ECU, in under the hood and inside the car.

[sierrap615]

do what CB said, and pray to god it works, hopefully the valves and connecting rod aren't damage. when you crank the engine with the spark plugs out, pull the fuses to fuel injectiors and the DIS/spark plugs(i don't know what type of system a neon has). you may also want to put a towel over the spark plug holes, or water will get every where. crank for 15 secs, then wait 60 seconds is the general rule of thumb to not over heat the starter.

also check the oil level, some water may have gotten into the oil pan. and just to be on the safe side check all fuild levels while you are at it.

[CBFryman]

oh ya, i forgot the oil and transmission fluid levels. to tell if there is water in it when you pull the dip stick out if its clear at the bottom and then oil then there is water in it (oil is lighter than water, most oils anyway)

[Kven]

water shooting out shouldnt really hurt any of the electronics under the engine bay since theyre supposed to be sealed anyways. just take the spark plugs out and crank it over and that should push any water out. dont put oil in there since if there is more water in there the oil will just sit on top of the water and might hydrolock your car some more. if you think theres more water in there just stick a tampon through the spark plug hole and that should absorb anymore water.

[CBFryman]

you put oil in there to prevent corosion, all but a very small ammount of water will be pushed out when you crank it with the spark plugs open. the oil not only helps corosion but re lubes the cylender walls for start up. im nost saying fill the cylender up with oil, just about a half a cap in each cylender, if that. the electronics are not sealed if water got inside. how do i know? well during francis my yard flooded, bad. and my moms nissan frontier's door didnt seal well enough and water filled in to the bottom of the dash (not the bottom of the level surface, just below the steering columb). the ECU was fully sumerged according to the insurance claims guy, thats why it was totaled. would turn over and fule pump would turn onbut it wouldnt start, no water even go into the engine, the exaust was spitten water like crazy but the intake didnt get a drop. explain that one...

[Kven]

how would water shooting out of the engine spark plug holes get into the interior? im talking about under the hood here. nothing in the engine corrodes(unless its exposed to some chemicals, and the water probally hasnt sat in there long enough to oxidize the steel which would cause rust), nor does the wall need lubing since its gonna scrape it up anyways(part of the rings: called the oil control ring ) btw; water shooting out of the exhaust pipe, but no water in the intake, usually means water entered through the exhaust pipes also. that happend to me when i accidently sprayed water in my muffler when i was washing my car. the water is behing pushed by air from the engine cycle.

[sierrap615]

i suggested the towel to prevent a huge mess, and not to get anything wetter.

[Rufe]

Did the car stop in the water, or did she drive it out?

Do you think the water is in the exhaust system?

The engine is water-tight by itself, the water would
have to enter via the intake or the exhaust. If the
air filter is dry, the engine might be fine. The water
in the muffler/cat might be the problem.

[curtis73]

Good suggestions, all, but soreballz, DO NOT crank that engine anymore until you have the plugs out. If you tried to crank it and it "felt like the pistons were seized," then it might be too late. If you cranked it with water in the combustion chambers then chances are the rods are bent or broken. In fact, it probably bent the rods when she ingested water into it. If that's the case, its toast anyway.

1) Pull the plugs and crank it over plenty.
2) Drain the oil and replace with new oil and filter. If even just a few tablespoons of water got in there it can mean certain death if you run it that way.
3) Get new plugs (trust me on this one with your ignition)
4) Try to get it running.

If it runs but makes noise, stop it immediately and seek professional help. If it starts and sputters but makes no mechanical noise like knocking or scraping, it should run itself out. In the future, if a car ingests water enough that it stalls, just know its probably already toast from hydrolock, but don't try to get it running by cranking it with the plugs still in. There is more than enough torque in the starter to bend rods, score journals, and pop a piston in half.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, and it may be fine, but my guess is that it will need mechanical work. Its possible that the rods are mildly bent and you'll be fouling plugs and have a bad knock only in one cylinder.

Best of luck

[-Jayson-]

waterlogging is the worst. I watched a buddy of mine submerge a brand new Ford Ranger Edge 4x4 into a puddle of nasty mud water. He sucked water in through the intake. Engine siezed up. We towed the truck out, then removed all the plugs, cranked the engine a few times, water shot out like a blow hole, was pretty funny. Then we put the plugs back in, cranked it a few mins and it finally started. Then for the next 3 mins their was a 6ft blast of water shooting out the tailpipe, that was pretty funny too. Afterwards the car ran rough, had a check engine light on, gave it an oil change, check engine light went off. As far as i know the car is running fine now.

[CBFryman]

Originally Posted by Kven

how would water shooting out of the engine spark plug holes get into the interior? im talking about under the hood here. nothing in the engine corrodes(unless its exposed to some chemicals, and the water probally hasnt sat in there long enough to oxidize the steel which would cause rust), nor does the wall need lubing since its gonna scrape it up anyways(part of the rings: called the oil control ring ) btw; water shooting out of the exhaust pipe, but no water in the intake, usually means water entered through the exhaust pipes also. that happend to me when i accidently sprayed water in my muffler when i was washing my car. the water is behing pushed by air from the engine cycle.

if its a pure cast iron block... it carodes very quicly even to air. water makes it oxidie in less than a day. and your idea about water inside the cylender. it wasnt hydro locked. the exaust manifold wasnt under water where ir meets the exaust ports of the engine. and if yo uread it carefylly it turned over. water in the cylendr wont allow the piston to reach TDC. and we where crnaking it makeing water spit out of the exaust. and spraying water in the exaust with a hose wont get all the way up to the manifold unles you seal it and even then i doubt it will because the air trapped in top will be stuck there...

[Kven]

Originally Posted by CBFryman

if its a pure cast iron block... it carodes very quicly even to air. water makes it oxidie in less than a day. and your idea about water inside the cylender. it wasnt hydro locked. the exaust manifold wasnt under water where ir meets the exaust ports of the engine. and if yo uread it carefylly it turned over. water in the cylendr wont allow the piston to reach TDC. and we where crnaking it makeing water spit out of the exaust. and spraying water in the exaust with a hose wont get all the way up to the manifold unles you seal it and even then i doubt it will because the air trapped in top will be stuck there...

damn you need to read what i said more carefully. the hydrolock part wasnt directed towards you. i was talking about the other guy's case, not your moms car. the part where i say water entered through the exhaust was directed at you... btw....if a iron block corodes from air, they wouldnt even make it because the engine wont last very long...

[RandomTask]

Sorry to hear this dilema. Curtis dangit, you beat me to this one again , I hate to be presenting the 'doomsday' approach here as well, but I'm almost certain you hydrolocked the motor. Water doesn't compress like air and as such the cylinder pressures become insanely high. It only takes a teaspoon of water to make it enough to snap/bend a connecting rod. The starter has more than enough torque/mechanical advantage to do this. I would suggest also: The spark plug hole is located on the top of the combustion chamber, I don't think the motion of the pistons would be enough to throw all the water out. Try taking a small vaccum or somesort and sucking as much water out as possible. Also, if there is rust inside the cylinders, throwing oil in it or letting the rings clear it are not the thing to do. Any rust in the cylinder must be machined (honed or bored) out. I would imagine being a 2000 Neon the car would not have a cap and rotor. If it does then this might have to be cleaned. If you didn't instantly kill your motor, you more than likely did a pretty bad hurting on it. Don't think that I'm trying make it sound horrible, I sincerely hope none of this happened, but chances are against it.

If all fails, listen to curtis, hes our hero
Best of luck,

Joe

[CBFryman]

^^i said throw some oil in there to prevent corosion, not to get rid of it . as far as that goes cranking the negine with the plugs out will get most of the water out. the rest can either be vacumed out (ie what you said) or put some heavy oil in there to prevent corosion, turn the engine over a few times, and let the water evaporate. as far as what Kven said, the outside of the block is kevlar/teflon coated and will eventually rust. the cast iton inside the cylenders has a film of oil on it most of the time and usually has a small carbon deposit in any pores. water will often deteriorate this carbon deposit and will allow for corosion. and ever notice that if you dont crank a cast iron block for even a few months then try to crank it it will be seized? that is because the thin layre of oil eventually drips down and the engine siezes.... this is especially present in older cast iron blocks.