LS1 in hydrolock...
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Teching In
Joined: Mar 2002
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From: Miami Fl.
LS1 in hydrolock... I was wondering if any of you have had the unpleasant experience of hydrolocking your motor up. I was driving my '98 Z28 thru an area that I was not to familiar with and it stalled. I tried to crank it up and it just shook real badly so I just called for a tow. What are the chances that I may have damaged something badly when I tried to crank it up? What all may be damaged? The MAF sensor? Valves? I just had it towed to my house and an adjuster is coming out tommorow to look at it. I am thinking of pulling the plugs and seeing if I can get it to dry out some. I hate that this happened. I only have 25,000 on this motor and it is all stock for now.
Any info and help would be great! Thanks.
Derek
Any info and help would be great! Thanks.
Derek
Re: LS1 in hydrolock... How did you get water in the motor? You said that you were driving in an area that you were unfamiliar with??? What does that mean?
If the motor is truly hydrolocked....it is done. You will need a whole new motor. Water doesn't compress as easily as air. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Sad]" src="gr_sad.gif" />
However, if you tried to crank it and it shook, chances are you may be able to salvage it. I ingested water in mine (w/ 2k miles on it!). It stalled completely, and shook violently when I cranked it back up. I immediately turned it off and pop'd the hood. Fortunately I was only idling when I ingested the water, so not a lot got sucked in. I was able dry the water that had puddled in my T-body, dry my MAF and my K&N filter with a hair dryer. I pulled my plugs and dried them off, then I squirted about a tablespoon of oil into each of the sparkplug holes. After replacing everything, it fired up on the 2nd crank. After a bit of rough idling it settled down and has ran fine since then.
Also When you say "adjuster", I'm assuming that you mean Insurance adjuster, correct? If it the motor is toast, your insurance will pay for a replacement. Although if they cut you a check and let you take care of the details....I would spend the money and maybe go with a built engine (from ARE, MTI etc).
Good luck....keep us posted!
If the motor is truly hydrolocked....it is done. You will need a whole new motor. Water doesn't compress as easily as air. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Sad]" src="gr_sad.gif" />
However, if you tried to crank it and it shook, chances are you may be able to salvage it. I ingested water in mine (w/ 2k miles on it!). It stalled completely, and shook violently when I cranked it back up. I immediately turned it off and pop'd the hood. Fortunately I was only idling when I ingested the water, so not a lot got sucked in. I was able dry the water that had puddled in my T-body, dry my MAF and my K&N filter with a hair dryer. I pulled my plugs and dried them off, then I squirted about a tablespoon of oil into each of the sparkplug holes. After replacing everything, it fired up on the 2nd crank. After a bit of rough idling it settled down and has ran fine since then.
Also When you say "adjuster", I'm assuming that you mean Insurance adjuster, correct? If it the motor is toast, your insurance will pay for a replacement. Although if they cut you a check and let you take care of the details....I would spend the money and maybe go with a built engine (from ARE, MTI etc).
Good luck....keep us posted!
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 5
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From: Miami Fl.
Re: LS1 in hydrolock... Sorry I wasn't clear but I was driving thru some water. I was going slowly thru the water in 1st gear and It was going thru just fine. No water coming over the hood as it wasn't too deep. The problem was that thru this intersection the road dips down a little and it got deeper. The car bogged and died. I tried to crank it and it shook like you were saying. I hope it isn't toast but I will soon find out. If I have to get a new motor I will try and get a built one but it depends on what I get from Insurance if it comes to that.
Thanks for your reply.
Derek
Thanks for your reply.
Derek
TECH Apprentice
Joined: Nov 2001
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From: COLORADO SPRINGS, CO
Re: LS1 in hydrolock... I did the exact same thing a year ago when we had a flash flood. If you went through the water at a low RPM your engine should be fine after draining it. My dumbass tried to start the car again after I knew it was flooded. The starter shot off the block but everything else was fine after all the water was removed. The bill was $1400. I just had the started welded (sucks I know) back on and it has been fine since. I think #7 and #8 were full of water. We did a compression check afterwards and they were fine. I have beat on it a lot since that day and it still runs like a champ. Everybody told me that I was going to have to get a whole new engine also. Good luck.
<small>[ July 01, 2002, 10:35 PM: Message edited by: BORN2LOSE ]</small>
<small>[ July 01, 2002, 10:35 PM: Message edited by: BORN2LOSE ]</small>
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Joined: Apr 2002
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From: Lake Charles Louisiana
Re: LS1 in hydrolock... I had a toyota truck that had the same thing happen to it. I took out the air filter, spark plugs and crank it over till it pumped out all of the water. Put plugs back in and fired it up. A lot of white smoke for a few minutes but no problems. I then changed the oil and drove it another 50,000 miles.
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On The Tree
Joined: Mar 2002
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From: Amarillo, Tx
Re: LS1 in hydrolock... I'm in the process of rebuilding a hydrolocked LS1. The guy that owned it ran through a puddle and tried to start the car until the starter finally broke.
To check the car - pull the spark plugs and drain the oil. Put a socket on the crank bolt (24mm?) and try to turn the engine over using a breaker bar. If it won't budge then you probably spun a bearing or broke something. If it turns over then dry everything out and put it back together and try and start it up.
Good luck,
Eric
To check the car - pull the spark plugs and drain the oil. Put a socket on the crank bolt (24mm?) and try to turn the engine over using a breaker bar. If it won't budge then you probably spun a bearing or broke something. If it turns over then dry everything out and put it back together and try and start it up.
Good luck,
Eric
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Teching In
Joined: Jun 2002
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From: Malden, MA
Re: LS1 in hydrolock... Forgive my ignorance but could someone please explain why the engine is "toast" if water gets in it. I mean, its just plain friendly H20. Obviously, I dont know a lot about engines, but I want to learn. Thanks. Details please <img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="gr_stretch.gif" />
Teching In
Joined: Jan 2002
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From: Northern VA
Re: LS1 in hydrolock... </font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by rovster:
<strong>Forgive my ignorance but could someone please explain why the engine is "toast" if water gets in it. I mean, its just plain friendly H20. Obviously, I dont know a lot about engines, but I want to learn. Thanks. Details please <img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="gr_stretch.gif" /> </strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Plain friendly H20 dosen't compress very well <img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="gr_eek2.gif" /> water in the combustion chamber, during the compression stroke, can break rods, bend valves, etc. Or if you try to crank a hydrolocked engine over you may get lucky and just break the starter <img border="0" title="" alt="[Embarrassed]" src="gr_emb.gif" />
<strong>Forgive my ignorance but could someone please explain why the engine is "toast" if water gets in it. I mean, its just plain friendly H20. Obviously, I dont know a lot about engines, but I want to learn. Thanks. Details please <img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="gr_stretch.gif" /> </strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Plain friendly H20 dosen't compress very well <img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="gr_eek2.gif" /> water in the combustion chamber, during the compression stroke, can break rods, bend valves, etc. Or if you try to crank a hydrolocked engine over you may get lucky and just break the starter <img border="0" title="" alt="[Embarrassed]" src="gr_emb.gif" />
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Joined: Nov 2001
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From: COLORADO SPRINGS, CO
Re: LS1 in hydrolock... </font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by 1COOLPC:
<strong>Is this a common problem? How does one get water in the engine? I live in Seattle, it rains a lot. Do I not drive in the rain or what? Now I'm worried.</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Only be afraid of you have Fast Toys Ram Air or an equivalent, your car is lowered, you don't have your block off plate in and you hit a crazy amount of water. Atleast thats what happend to me. I was pretty much caught in a flash flood.
<small>[ July 08, 2002, 08:50 PM: Message edited by: BORN2LOSE ]</small>
<strong>Is this a common problem? How does one get water in the engine? I live in Seattle, it rains a lot. Do I not drive in the rain or what? Now I'm worried.</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Only be afraid of you have Fast Toys Ram Air or an equivalent, your car is lowered, you don't have your block off plate in and you hit a crazy amount of water. Atleast thats what happend to me. I was pretty much caught in a flash flood.
<small>[ July 08, 2002, 08:50 PM: Message edited by: BORN2LOSE ]</small>
