car won't start after driving through flood

sarahhartley

i'm new here and decided to check this out as i really can't afford a new car / repairs. basically i drove through some flood water the other day and there was a dip in the road which went all over the bonnet and then the car stopped so i think some got up the exhaust. i tried to start it again but it just started clicking. my boyfriend came out and we pushed the car out of the water and then tried bump starting it but it stopped so quickly that my boyfriend nearly went through the back window.

we decided to tow start it with his van which pretty much yielded the same results of the car slowing down rapidly but this time the front wheels weren't spinning and were just dragging and smoking along the road, not sure why but it only did it when in gear the wheels turned fine when out of gear so i think the breaks were jammed on or something. we did eventually get the wheels to start turning but then there was a banging grinding noise come from the engine. we thought maybe it was low on oil so we put some in and it pretty much came straight back out all over the floor. we looked and there seems to be a big hole on the side of the engine where the oil keeps coming out. obviously we cant drive without oil so how do we fix this on the cheap?

marlot

You don't say what the car is, or even if it is petrol or diesel. But it sounds like the engine was hydrolocked - you probably got water into to engine bores, which doesn't compress. Cheapest way forward is probably a secondhand engine.


Some insurance companies might pay out for such an instance - you'd need to check your policy.


http://www.autoevolution.com/news/engine-hydrolock-how-water-can-damage-or-destroy-your-engine-90270.html

BeenThroughItAll

It's likely to have ingested a load of water through the inlet tract and filled one or more cylinders. Trying to get it going would cause hydraulic locking and that could cause a conrod to bend and break through the crankcase.


New engine time.


Welcome back, BTW.

WestonDave

I'm no mechanic but it sounds to me like something in the engine seized when you went into the water and whatever you've done since has done more damage to the point where you'll be lucky if you get away without a new engine never mind finding a cheap easy repair that you can do yourself. Having a hole that oil pours out suggests you may have forced a hole in the engine block or at least ruptured the head gasket. Forcing it to move in gear when it doesn't want to was pretty daft - that banging and grinding noise was probably a lot more than just a bit of missing oil!

tykesi

BeenThroughItAll wrote: »

It's likely to have ingested a load of water through the inlet tract and filled one or more cylinders. Trying to get it going would cause hydraulic locking and that could cause a conrod to bend and break through the crankcase.


New engine time.


Welcome back, BTW.

And in female form, I bet DM makes a lovely looking girly.

BeenThroughItAll

tykesi wrote: »

And in female form, I bet DM makes a lovely looking girly.

All sounded feasible until the 'big hole which the oil comes out of' bit.

motorguy

Why doesnt MSE do what other forums do and prevent newbies from starting new threads until they have made a certain number of posts on the forum?

worried_jim

BeenThroughItAll wrote: »

All sounded feasible until the 'big hole which the oil comes out of' bit.

Hasn't DM got a tool for sucking out the oil- then another for testing it.

LandyAndy

Quiet times in the world of Management Consultancy.

LandyAndy

motorguy wrote: »

Why doesnt MSE do what other forums do and prevent newbies from starting new threads until they have made a certain number of posts on the forum?

Because lots of people find this site when they have a specific problem and sign up just for the purpose of asking about it.

Stoke

sarahhartley wrote: »

i'm new here and decided to check this out as i really can't afford a new car / repairs. basically i drove through some flood water the other day and there was a dip in the road which went all over the bonnet and then the car stopped so i think some got up the exhaust. i tried to start it again but it just started clicking. my boyfriend came out and we pushed the car out of the water and then tried bump starting it but it stopped so quickly that my boyfriend nearly went through the back window.

we decided to tow start it with his van which pretty much yielded the same results of the car slowing down rapidly but this time the front wheels weren't spinning and were just dragging and smoking along the road, not sure why but it only did it when in gear the wheels turned fine when out of gear so i think the breaks were jammed on or something. we did eventually get the wheels to start turning but then there was a banging grinding noise come from the engine. we thought maybe it was low on oil so we put some in and it pretty much came straight back out all over the floor. we looked and there seems to be a big hole on the side of the engine where the oil keeps coming out. obviously we cant drive without oil so how do we fix this on the cheap?

You can't, game over.