Blew my engine, (hydrolocked)

Mike P

Mike P

c:enter
Staff member
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I hit a huge puddle today and did what my friend calls a hydro-lock, so he had me jam it into park after we pushed it to get it going, which worked but it had a knock that slowly got better. We ran it for about 5 minutes until the WHITE smoke seemed to stop and then we drove it around and all was sounding good then suddenly, BANG! and now it sounds like, to him, that it threw a rod. WTF do I do? I can't believe this all got caused by a f'ing puddle. He says if we can get a cheap engine that it would be better than rebuilding.
 
How to you think I ended up with an Aviator engine? Same dang thing. Except I did not get far when it fired back up. I had a bang in seconds. The water does not get expelled and with each stroke a connecting rod bends a little more each time until it bends too far and locks up against a balancer-thing.

Sine the crank could be damaged, a replacement engine would be the best idea but you could put this one aside and see if replacing the connecting rod would get it running again. But probably not worth it.

If you ever stall out in a puddle, the plugs MUST be pulled right away without even turning over. Once the plugs are out, then turn over and let sit for a while to make sure its dried out.

Sorry man!
 
Sorry to hear about the engine, but I was wondering if you guys had the air silencer removed or in place when this happened?
I've wondered if either way makes it more prone to damage or not??
Thanks, and good luck with getting it fixed relatively painlessly.
 
removed, I did that mod (bad idea I suppose)

The plugs idea would have been better, too bad he didn't suggest it. He's having it towed to his shop this morning and going to assess the damage.
 
thats why i never removed my air silencers in any of my 5 marks, the way we get storms here in the summer and flash flooding, biggest reason i just leave my cars alone and dont remove anything that isnt supposed to be removed. what you did was basically like sticking a straw on yout throttle body and putting into a lake. sucks but most likely its dead. see what kind of deal thomas can do for you.
 
The silencer was removed in mine too. Keep in mind with it out you are raising the air intake height. At the same time I always wondered if having it on would have caused it to stall faster since the tube is only so wide. I will never know but if I got another Mark the silencer would still come out.
 
unity said:
The silencer was removed in mine too. Keep in mind with it out you are raising the air intake height. At the same time I always wondered if having it on would have caused it to stall faster since the tube is only so wide. I will never know but if I got another Mark the silencer would still come out.
Click to expand...

Why's that?
 
whiplash15 said:
I know that Thomasma@alltel.net has/had a 97 eng/trans available recently. Ya might
e-m him and ask.
Click to expand...
I'll try him, thanks

jamies98lsc said:
thats why i never removed my air silencers in any of my 5 marks, the way we get storms here in the summer and flash flooding, biggest reason i just leave my cars alone and dont remove anything that isnt supposed to be removed. what you did was basically like sticking a straw on yout throttle body and putting into a lake. sucks but most likely its dead. see what kind of deal thomas can do for you.
Click to expand...
thats what I figured
 
Actually removing the silencer is better than leaving it in. Like mentioned, the silencer is lower and so takes a suction a good 6 inches lower than not having one. I too have been a victim of this with my Mark, Cobra and the Tbird. Both times the water was even or higher than the headlight when it happened. Flash floods on the island. Each time I just pushed the vehicle out of the water, had them towed home. Then pulled the plugs and rotated the engines by hand until no more water came out the cylinders. Then pulled the upper intakes and drained all the water out of there. Once that was done with the plugs still out cranked the engines over with the starter until clear of water. On the IMRC setups you have to pull the lower intake also to get all the water out unless you hold the secondaries open manually. Change the oil and cross your fingers. The Cobra didn't make it but the other two vehicles did.
 
unity said:
What he said. The air intake point is higher up.
Click to expand...

That thoery doesn't really hold true for a completely stock setup. The actual height different is maybe 1-2" at the most. But the location is a lot better with the silencer in place as it's almost 2 feet forward.

The silencer pushes the intake port way up forward, where it's covered a little better by the bumper cover, compressor and other stuff that gets in the way. So if you're thinking splash of water under there, the car without the silencer has a better chance of surviving.
 
no they have two of them both versions, they arent rebuilding mine they are selling one or its used.
 
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