Thread: Engine died in high water

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I recently went through some water that was covering the road to my home. The water was deeper than what I thought and the engine died on me about 3/4 of the way through. I got it pushed out of the water and towed home, but after a couple of days of drying out, it wouldn't start. I pulled the oil pan and there was a little bit of water in the oil (not much) and then pulled the starter. It had some water in it as well. If I replace the starter and oil, will I be okay or is the engine just shot? I have a 1995 Dodge Caravan with a v6 3 liter. Any help will be appreciated. I don't want to replace the starter if I am going to have to turn around and put a whole new engine in it. Thanks.

When I pulled the starter, it had some rust on the rotor. I don't know if that makes a difference or not, but it might be of some help.

Does it crank over????
If it does I'd pull all of the sparkplugs and crank it over to clear the cylinders,change the oil and hope like hell it did'nt bend a connecting rod when it hydrauled the cylinders.....

Also check yer ignition system water in the dis will keep you from firing.

Otto

Let me rephrase that.... Does it try to crank over and then just go thud ???? like the motors locked up ??? if so then clear the cylinders put the starter back on and keep your fingers crossed...

I'd bet it's wet Ignition too. If you pull all the plugs spin it over, reinstall plugs ....change oil ... dry out the ignition. Once you get it running .... keep it running @ operating temp for a while to dry everything out.

I would try the starter out of the vehicle if you've already pulled it. Hook jumpers to it from your battery to see if it spins. If so, reinstall it to try it under load.

The sooner you get it running the better your chances of avoiding bigger prolems.

I'd bet the engine is locked up. If you were driving through the water, you hydralocked the engine. Water does not compress. If water was in the pan, the only way it gets there is through the cylinders. I've seen these engines hyradlocked before and I'd almost bet money that one or two connecting rods are bent 90 degrees against the block. This type of damage doesn't necessarily punch a hole in the block. Drop the pan again and look up into the block. Look at the connecting rods and see which rods are wedged against the block.

If you have comprehensive coverage on your insurance, it's covered (your insurance coverage does cover stupidity). Depending on the van's mileage, I'd bet the insurance company installs a used engine or totals it.

I am by no means a Mopar mini-van expert but its been my experience that the water floods the ignition system and shuts the engine down then the water enters the engine thru dip stick and crank case ventalation (low points). I would have pulled the plugs before trying the engine tho. But a starter should not have enought torgue to damage the engine so that should be OK.

So back to the main question is Does it crank? How high did the water go? If it made it to dash level your going to have tons of problems in the future. Most insurance companys total cars that have been in floods to the dash level cause they know the car will be returning over and over again.

Originally posted by Gorn
I am by no means a Mopar mini-van expert but its been my experience that the water floods the ignition system and shuts the engine down then the water enters the engine thru dip stick and crank case ventalation (low points). I would have pulled the plugs before trying the engine tho. But a starter should not have enought torgue to damage the engine so that should be OK.

So back to the main question is Does it crank? How high did the water go? If it made it to dash level your going to have tons of problems in the future. Most insurance companys total cars that have been in floods to the dash level cause they know the car will be returning over and over again.

Back in the early 80's i worked in a body shop in Joliet. After a heavy rain this young couple brought in their Brand New Olds Cutlass. It had stalled under an overpass in the water. It was TOTALED. They didn't have insurance in force yet and hadn't even made their first payment yet. What were they thinkin' driving without ins. ????????????? Talk about payin' fer' a dead horse.

At the dealership I worked at we had a guy that put the front end of his brand new S10 blazer underwater. He was towed out by the local dealer who told him he should let them tow it back to their shop. Since it started right up he said no and drove it home. He made it 2 hours. Seem that while it was the water it washed most of the oil out. The engine overheated so bad on the trip home that I took out the head bolts with my fingers. Engine with 4000 miles on it was a complete loss. First year for the 4.3 too.

No warranty and since he did not follow the tow truck drivers advice no insurance. Heck at that time there was no long blocks listed. Service manager had a friend at GM and got him a complete engine off the production line for 5 grand.

i would first start simple and check your fuses. if they are alll ok and the engine does crank this rules out it being locked up. check for a crank reference from the crank sensor in the transmission housing. .if the water level was high enough it may have shorted that sensor. these are usually insulated but they can go bad.

Here's where I stand right now, as of 8:20 a.m. on Wednesday morning. I have pulled the starter. I left the oil out overnight to check to see how much water was in the oil because I know they will separate if left alone. When I came in from work this morning, there was no appreciable water in the oil, less than a full cap from a Coca-Cola bottle. The motor didn't crank over when I tried to crank it with the starter in, but I did hear the distinct click from the solenoid, so I know it's getting power. I know the crank sensor that you are talking about Brian, but where is it on this vehicle? I simply cannot find it. I am going to check the starter and see what happens, but I am betting (hoping, really) that it won't work. It was already making that whirring noise that you can hear when a starter is about to go, although only occasionally, so I figure (again, hoping) that the water shut down the ignition system and that the starter was gone as soon as the water got in it. I am really, really hoping that I didn't hydralock it. The water did not reach dash level, so I am going to check the fuses, sensors, etc. even if the starter doesn't check out. Thanks for all your help!!

a 3.0l doesnt have one yet i realized that after i wrote it . a 3.3 or a 3.8 would have had it. yours still should have a dizzy in it. if doesnt even crank over its not your crank sensor. did you bench test your starter ? also dont assume that you have power down there get a test light and a volt meter and make sure that you have a good 12 volts down to the big post and a good cranking volts down there,.that will be the littler wire.

Didn't get anything done yesterday, as it rained all day. I did check the starter. The bendix (is that how it's spelled?) popped out but didn't spin, so I'm now sure that the starter is locked down. That's all I got done, though, since, as I said, it rained all day.

I know this will not help you but maybe you find some solace in knowing that others have water problems too. Ha!!

High water is common here in So. Indiana, especially along the river bottoms. Several years ago we took one of the boys new girlfriend to basketball game. In So. In. basketball is not a sport but just one step below religion. It was raining and there was water across the road but I had no trouble getting to the girl’s house. On the way home it had turned dark and there appeared to be just a little more water but it had not rained much more so I decided to chance it. Wrong Choice!! We were in what the boys called “The Mother Ship,” a ’96 Dodge conversion van with a ¾ ton chassis, which had a fairly high clearance. As I neared the end of the water, the front wave made by the van hit a hill and rolled back like a tidal wave. At least I think that is what happened. The windshield of the van for an instant looked like I was looking into an aquarium. Of course the engine died. I tried to start it but it was frozen. I had to walk about three miles in the dark over a road covered in several places with floodwater to find a house that would let me call some friends to come and take the family home. (The next week I bought a cell phone!!) We trailered the van home after church the next day and surveyed the damage. The air intake hose starts high over the radiator and runs from there down hill to the throttle body and manifold. So all the water was funneled directly into the engine. Even after pulling the plugs, the engine would not turn at all. The dealer said they could not get to it for two weeks and it was still under warranty. Some how I did not think that damage from under water touring was covered in the warranty any way, so my hot rod buddy, Mike (the one with the ’57 in the photo gallery) and I decided to take things into our own hands. Neither of us are professional mechanics and I had never even worked on a fuel injection engine before. When we finally got the heads and pan off, all the cylinders were filled with water. There was so much water in that engine we were surprised that there were no fish in the oil pan. The left second piston was stuck down and the rod was bent with about a 30 degree arc. Mike had that rod and piston up on his garage wall for years. The cylinder wall and crank were intact. We replaced the piston and rod, changed all its vital fluids including transmission and differential and put the Mother Ship back on the road. The van now has about 115,000 miles on it with no further engine problems except for some odd reason it runs hot when we drive it in the mountains in the summer time. I doubt that this is related to its submarine heritage. We have not even had to change the starter or alternator.

I hope that you find a simple easy to fix problem.

Rick