Bad news.... what should I do?

[Marv17]

okay. so i dont wanna hear BS from anyone about this....
basically what happened is that my motor got a lil' messed up last week due to some rain. it didnt rain for long but it did rain a LOT for the time the clouds was over us in SoCal. i was driving at 2am, dropping someone off at home, and being careful what streets i was driving. i stopped at this intersection and it seemed as tho the water was real low, the reflection from the street lights made it seem like nothing was there. well the level was a few inches higher than i thought and the level rose as i drove into the street. some water got sucked up into the motor and it died. the head didnt crack or anything. i just died.
i texted jesse a few mintues later to see what i should do... so i had to get it towed at 2am in the rain, no fun waiting for the truck....i took out the plugs and cranked the car. let it spit out all the water, wasnt much. dried it up, let it sit the next day in the sun. after like 30min of doing what i could do it started up. but it shook a lil bit. there was a "pinging" sound and it misfired in cyclinder #1.
now its just sitting in my driveway in the back and im waiting what my dad will want to do with it... fix it? or replace the motor? depends what my uncle and my dad decide.
so what should i do? repair the motor i have already? if replace it with another M44 should i just drop it in or bore and polish it up ? or just stick in a M52 in it while im at it?
well this all depends on what my dad says, he's the one with the $$$ for it now.
but i wanted to hear what you guys think and say...

[dave45056]

Check your oil, does it look normal in color? Also, do you think you hydrolocked?

[SDKmann]

Hmmm, it doesnt sound bad and it sounds like you did everything right as a follow up on it. Honestly Id first take it to a professional and get them to look it over, even just take it to the dealership to get a diagnosis of the problem. That is where Id start, sounds like the motor is salvageable to me but of course Im no expert.

[Marv17]

i dont know what the symptoms of hydrolocking is... so i dunno....

the oil was just a lil darker... i changed the oil out the next morning and changed the plugs as well. seafoamed it. but still lags power.

it throws the CELs for cam shaft position sensor and a misfire and something about the MAF.

[Will'sBimmer]

Your air flow meter (AFM) is bad more than likely. This will make your car run like crap. Maybe you could replace it.

[cooljess76]

Hey Marv, I have a spare MAF you could use to troubleshoot with.












I also have a spare factory airbox

[SDKmann]

Originally Posted by cooljess76

I also have a spare factory airbox

Those are an absolute b***h to get back in..... It took me at least an hour and Ive got a hand that looks like hamburger to show for it. I really dont think those were designed to come out very often.

Sounds like you got luck Marv, I hope its just an MAF, I love that car!

[xxxJohnBoyxxx]

MAF is toast. It is a heated film and any water will destroy thje element. Put in a new one and all errors sound go away. Ensure you oil or WD-40 all cylinders with the spark plugs out to prevent any rusty rings or bores while sits not running. Check oil for water and when you get it running check the oil again for a milk shake color

[cooljess76]

Originally Posted by xxxJohnBoyxxx

MAF is toast. It is a heated film and any water will destroy thje element. Put in a new one and all errors sound go away. Ensure you oil or WD-40 all cylinders with the spark plugs out to prevent any rusty rings or bores while sits not running. Check oil for water and when you get it running check the oil again for a milk shake color

Yeah, I agree. He texted me while he was waiting for the tow truck that night. I gave him a list of things to do in the hours immediately after it happened all the way to what he should do the next day which included exactly what you suggested.

In case this happens to anyone else on the forum, first thing you should do is get the car to a dry area(assuming the car shuts off and isn't running) Don't try to start it or drive it. Pull your spark plugs and intake. Dry them off completely with a blow dryer or something. Also dry the inside of the intake boot, pipe and filter. Thoroughly clean and dry the throttlebody and intake manifold.

With the spark plugs out, crank the engine a couple of times to blow the water out of the cylinders. Spray some WD-40 into each spark plug hole, don't be afraid, spray a lot as it will displace the water and prevent it from sticking to the cylinder walls. Crank the engine a couple more times to blow out the WD-40 and residual water trapped in there. If you have a compressor, blow some air in each hole to help dry it out. Wait a few minutes to ensure the cylinders have completely dried.

During this time, you should drain your oil. Try to get it all out, this includes the filter and may require you to jack the front driver's side of the car up a little to divert all of the oil towards the drain hole(remember oil is thicker than water, so the water will be sitting on top of the oil. It'll be the last to leave the oil pan). Refill the engine with fresh oil.

Reinstall spark plugs, make sure they're properly gapped. Firmly attach plug wires, making sure that they're going to the correct plug(remember one of the wires is really long and loops around to one of the aft plugs). Reinstall intake and plumbing(you'll probably need a new MAF or atleast a known to be good one). This is the moment of truth. Give the engine a few cranks. It might take a few tries to get it to fire. If it starts up, let it run for a few minutes to let the oil circulate and re-lube everything. I'd recommend following up with a seafoam treatment and a compression or leakdown check.

If your car won't even crank, make sure the battery isn't dead, remember you've used a lot of juice cranking it to get the water out of the cylinders. If the battery is good to go, your engine may be slightly seized. Don't panic. Take the plugs back out and pour a tiny bit of oil in each spark plug hole, this oil will help prevent the cylinder walls from scoring. You'll also need to remove this oil once you're done, so don't go crazy with it.

If the car is a manual, put it in neutral and act like you're going to push start it without the plugs in. The plugs provide compression, giving resistance for the pistons to travel, so leave them out. With the vehicle rolling, put it in gear and release the clutch. This should free the seized pistons. Push it back to your driveway and use a lint free cloth such as a tshirt or some type of suction device to get the excess oil out of the plug holes. Reinstall plugs and give it another go.

If your car is an automatic, this may be a little tougher. Follow steps above(remove plugs, oil cylinders etc), Put the transmission in neutral. Take a 22mm(i think?) wrench or socket and place it on the big ass crank pulley bolt. Using a giant breaker bar, perhaps a floorjack handle, slowly crank the engine clockwise. Give it a good quarter turn or so to ensure that the pistons are freed, remove excess oil from cylinders, replace plugs and give it a go.

FWIW, I'd recommend using your factory airbox during the wet seasons to avoid this from happening to you. CAI's aren't worth it IMO, but I know people are going to do it anyway. Also FWIW, this isn't a guaranteed fix. Marv very well may have damaged his engine. At the very least it is not happy right now. He may have gotten lucky, but let this be a valuable lesson to all of you who think CAI's are cool. Hope this helps, but even more I hope people will take my advice and ditch the CAI's.

[b.u.ti-ful]

Motor oil floats on top of water.

Other than that, nice write up jess!

[spidertri]

I think in this case, the water will be on top of the oil...hopefully.

Great advice Jess, thanks for the write up.

[b.u.ti-ful]

Marv17, did your cold air intake have an air bypass valve?

[cooljess76]

Originally Posted by b.u.ti-ful

Motor oil floats on top of water.

Other than that, nice write up jess!

whoops, you're right. I'd just make sure to get it all to drain either way

[cooljess76]

Originally Posted by b.u.ti-ful

Marv17, did your cold air intake have an air bypass valve?

I'm pretty sure it didn't. Atleast I don't remember seeing one when we took it off last time.

[SDKmann]

Someone should sticky this or Jess should put it in the knowledge base, this seems like something someone is going to need sooner or later.