Hydro-lock

[zamboknee]

I drove through some 6 to 8 inches of standing water last night with plumes of water shooting up the side of my '02 SR5. That was cool until my engine just died. Was motoring along and then the engine just shut off.
Any idea what this could be? TELL ME the 4Runners have some sort of 'oh uh, we better shut down before this gets really bad' type of system.

Some specifics:
the engine won't turn
the electrical system still works for everything just starter won't turn over

I pulled the plugs out and started cranking. Water came shooting out. I let it sit overnight and tried cranking again but nothing. The starter just clicks.
Tried charging but that didn't work. I went and bought a new battery hooked it up and nothing still. After reading the Haynes manual for it, I pulled the plugs, put it in neutral and tried turning the crankshaft with a socket wrench. Crankshaft would NOT turn clockwise nor counterclockwise.
My automotive friend seems to think that it's not looking good (bent rod, etc.) but the only caveat there is that he's more of a hot rod tech-guy and not too caught up on the japanese, later model cars.
Any more suggestions? Or is my next move to call the insurance company and get it towed to a shop? ugh.

[Brian R.]

I don't get some of your description. You cranked it with the plugs out and water came out of the plug holes. Then you let it sit and the engine won't turn at all? Really bad problems like bent rods don't behave like that. Did you remove all the plugs or just the easy three?

It is hard to understand how the motor can turn with the starter one day and the next, not turn at all - even with a wrench on the crank pulley bolt.

See if there are any stored codes in the ECM.

Make sure there is no water in the cylinders or crankcase. Get any out of the cylinders with suction, and change the oil - for sure you have water in your oil. Make sure there is no water left in the intake system, including the air filter box.

Was the new battery for sure charged? Old one and new one may both be discharged. New one may need to be charged first before you can get the engine to turn over. There may be a water-caused short in the charging system that drains them or maybe the new battery was not well-charged in the first place.

It is also possible you broke the timing belt and it is jamming the crank pulley. Pull the upper timing cover and see if the belt is intact.

If there is no visible problem, it is possible that the rings froze to the cylinder walls overnight (strange). Try shooting a little pb blaster/liquid wrench (not WD40) into each of the cylinders through the plug holes and see if that helps.

[jdmccright]

One day is all it takes for rust corrosion to freeze the cylinders to the walls and the rods and bearings to the crankshaft...it doesn't take much. The whole engine should be disassembled and inspected for water damage. Even after the engine is unfrozen, the rust particles can cause serious scoring to the wear surfaces. Good luck.

[fourwd1]

And a day later the water could have taken it's toll on the starter, hence the clicking and no start.