Hydrolocked
 

How much should I expect it to cost to get this fixed? My '98 Trans Am is my primary transportation so it needs to get fixed as soon as possible.

After browsing through a couple forums I've figured out that this is something that happens quite frequently to people that weren't expecting it to happen but it's a little late for that now.

Would my insurance company cover this, and will my insurance go up if they do? I have Allstate.

I'm just so fricken pissed right now, I can't even think straight so if this message sounds scattered to you, I'm sorry. I can be reached on AIM (ratrodcamaro) or email (supersport355(at)yahoo.com) I need some answers fast.

Call them up.

I'd definitely call my insurance company. This should fall under the comprehensive portion of your policy so it should have no effect on your premiums.

Good luck! ;)

if you have full coverage insurance it should cover it, not like i would know or something :secret2:

I have had some time to compose myself after the initial shock of this. Here's a brief update.

My insurance is probably not going to cover it because of technicalities and stuff, but I filed a claim with them anyway to see what happens.

Here's exactly what happened:

I stopped at a stopsign, then proceeded through a water stream that was like 4-5 inches deep. I was going maybe 5 miles an hour, if that. I was listening to KOLA 99.9 (oldies radio) when I noticed the car wasn't accelerating very fast after I was through the puddle so I hit the mute button on the steering wheel, and the engine sounded like it was only running on 3 or 4 cylinders. There was tons of steam everywhere. If burning water had a smell, I smelt it bad.

I opened up the cold air box and everything in there was saturated with water. After the engine cooled off for an hour I tried starting it and it idled (quite roughly) at 950 rpm's for about 7 seconds before dying. Now it won't even turn over.

I'm going to be going and getting the trouble codes off of it in about an hour when I can get a ride to the car. Does anyone know where I can get a list of the trouble codes? I've been looking around on Google for a half hour now and all I can find are dead links.

I've never personally delt with this, but I believe after that your rings will be gone, and thats it, you will have to hone your block and rering your pistons, get some new plugs, and of course drain any water out of the motor.

Try taking out your spark plugs and cranking it over, see if it spins free

I personally had almost the same exact encounter....

mine ended up a lot uglier though.

Went through what i thought was a lot shallower water than it was. Ended up locking up the motor,

got the car to a shop, turned the starter over twice, cranked over, and blew a softballl sized hole out the side of the block. Wasn't a pretty site. I came out smelling like roses. The insurance payed for ALL of my problems, even provided me a rental car. I think the reason behind my insurance coverrage was something that basically equates to what flood insurance is for your house.......I got out REALLY lucky. Make sure when you file it, you tell them that the water was unavoidable, and that you were doing nothing wrong.


Good luck with it man. I'll IM you when you get on.
Tim

Bummer, man. I'm real sorry for your situation. In the interests of preventing a similar disaster for the rest of us, did you have a stock intake or any kind of free ram air or under-car intake?

Thank you for that info. I wouldn't have thought of saying that.

I have SLP part number 21046 (Cold-Air Package, 1998-99 V8 Camaro/Firebird "FloPac") installed on my car "worth up to 25 horsepower over stock!!!" It was so worth it. Just watch out for water, and that extra 25 horsepower makes this car even more fun to drive. :drive:

i hydrolocked my moms grand prix back in high school. i changed the plugs, changed the oil and it started up. i changed the oil again after letting it run for a few minutes. ran like a champ until she traded it in. i was worried i bent a rod since i hit the water at a high rate of speed.

I'm on motor #2, hydrolock ownz. your MAF is probably gonna be shot also whenever you get your motor situation straight. Try hand cranking it. If you cant then she is locked. Locked as in you've broken a rod or two. I broke 2, and the holes through my block showed it. Just because it wont start now doesnt mean it's locked.

If your motor was spinning, chances are that you didnt fully hydrolock your motor. You may have injested some water, but if you got enough in there, the motor would have locked completely. Like the others have said, pull the plugs, crank the motor over a few times. Grab a new air filter since paper ones dont like to flow well after they get wet. Take off your MAF and dry it with some compressed air just to get any water out of it. Button it all back up and try again. Ill bet it will start. Youll probably throw a code (SES light) so limp it on down to autozone for a free scan. Ill bet its a bad MAF sensor thats causing all the roughness. Yu can find them cheap in the for sale forum or on ebay.

Good Luck,
-Tony

I cracked my block as well due to hyrdolock. Getting water in it did kill it, it was trying to start it after it had injested it. I knew something was wrong so I continued to start it until it broke to make sure the job was done right, as I didnt want some bs dealer guy trying to fix it. Insurance paid for a brand new crate motor and the dealer installed it so it retained the factory warranty since the car was only 6 months old. My rates never went up a dime and when I changed companies a few years later, it never showed up with them either.

We had one in the shop recently. Cracked the #7 cylinder wall all the way down and twisted the #7 rod. Motor was shot but would still run with a knock and lots of coolant in the oil.

:secret: This happened to my friends Z06 this past Aug. and his Insurance wrote him a check for another motor :nod: They even agreed to let RPM build the motor for him" so he installed a 408 iron block stroker instead that now makes 550 rwhp/497rwtq :burn: :cheers:

If you actually hydrauliced your motor you should have a window in the side of your block that would allow you to look inside of a cylinder. You may have gotten some water, but not that much. You should folllow the advice given and pull the plugs before spinning the engine. Change the oil for sure and dry out everything with compressed air. What have you got to lose? You've already done the damgage. You might get lucky. If not your in for a tear down. Don't drive into water in a sports car. I'll bet page one of the owners manual tells your that.

^ we did it to my buddies 323 and then pulled em and turned it over.... ran fine after that

:metoo: :metoo: my buddies 89 slowstang. you may get lucky

I am one those guys you love to hate that works for the insurance company. This is typically covered. It is no different really than running over a rock in the road and busting your oil pan open, and thus killing the motor.

It will be covered, however there may be some options.

They may opt to install a NEW long block in the car. If they do, they will charge back a % of depreciation. In other words, they will balance out the total cost so that you don't end up "better" after the claim, with a new motor. So, they will charge back a portion based upon the age and mileage on the car to put you where you were before the loss.

Or...

They may install a salvage engine and you would only pay your deductible. A salvage engine in theory puts you right back where you were...no better, no worse.

Or...

They will offer to rebuilt/repair what you have with no depreciation either. It would just be a patch job and only address the damaged items.

There is the long and short of it........