Engine flooded with water, can it be fixed?

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wolf_06

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one of my friend did some offroad, quite bad actually, tons of water was sucked up in the air intake, he didnt think it was that deep and he just dive into it...

Its a 2007 Jeep commander V8, 4.7 I think.

He got it towed at OK Tire, they told him he needed to replace the engine and everything was seized... is this possible? with water?

When he trys to start it, nothings is turning, not even the starter. battery is good apparently, but its from the guys from OK tires....

Do you guys have any experience with that kind of situtation? I would like to help him out, if there's anything possible to do with this.

Thanks!
 
First thing to do would be to pull the spark plugs and see if it turns over. If the starter won't do it, put a wrench on the crank pulley and try that. (Could just be an electrical problem.)

Stock jeeps are okay for fording rivers, within reason, but if you start messing with the airbox at all, you can have massive problems in shallow water.
 
This seems to be a pretty common for Submarine Jeep Commanders. They don't breath very well under water without a snorkel. Mother Mopar didn't bless them with a MAF (which would usually stall a Ford or GM engine in time to prevent severe damage) so sometimes they break.

Start by doing as eljefino has instructed. If taking the plugs out allows it to crank it's probably just hydrolocked and can probably be saved.
 
Water does not compress.

When you try to compress water things bend or break usually rods.

Pull the air filter, if it is wet, pull the plugs and try to manually (starter is BAD idea, they are powerful enough to do more damage) turn it, if it won't turn 360+ degrees, pull the pan and see how bad it is, assuming that there aren't obvious rods hanging out of the block.

Make sure you get the water out of the entire intake tract, including the manifold.
 
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The real question is weather any thing like one or more of the connecting rods between the crank and the king-pin on the pistons have bent when it filled the cylinders with water.

As other have posted, remove the plugs, and crank it to get the water out of the cylinders. You could probably heat the plugs in a kitchen oven to dry them out. Wet spark plugs will not fire. Replace plugs and if you are religious at all say a whole lot of prayers, and try to start it.

BTW did water also get into the gas tank?
 
as all ways my friends have the best ideas. but i would drop the oil pan. and run LOTS of WD-40, or mmo through the engine by turning the crank over. then get the oil out and try to start it. then change the oil, a couple of times.
 
Originally Posted By: JimPghPA
The real question is weather any thing like one or more of the connecting rods between the crank and the king-pin on the pistons have bent when it filled the cylinders with water.

As other have posted, remove the plugs, and crank it to get the water out of the cylinders. You could probably heat the plugs in a kitchen oven to dry them out. Wet spark plugs will not fire. Replace plugs and if you are religious at all say a whole lot of prayers, and try to start it.

BTW did water also get into the gas tank?


No I dont think he mention anything about that. they told him it was around 4000$ to get a new engine... he can get one from the US for 2000 $..delivered...
 
Yupyupyup. Going to have to pull the plugs and blow that water out at the least. IF he is lucky it will be okay, but if he was bombing this water hole one or more rods are probably bent. I have also heard of pistons cracking too.
 
Also, water can damage electrical components and connectors on modern cars. It doesn't affect them at first, but with time corrosion causes a lot of problems. That is why most insurance companies total flood cars.
 
For the most part, the vehicle is toast.

*IF* he keeps it and *IF* the engine is all that is bad, you're going to have a ton of electrical problems. More than that, you're going to have to flush everything - trasnmission, differentials, transfer case and trasmission. Depending on whether ornot it was above the drain plug for the automatic transmission - you might be looking at one of those too.

THe differentials and trasnfer case can take a bit of moisture ... trasnmissions can't.

Depending on how fast the engine was spinning when it sucked in the water, it probably bent a rod or two.
 
Originally Posted By: Miller88
For the most part, the vehicle is toast.

*IF* he keeps it and *IF* the engine is all that is bad, you're going to have a ton of electrical problems. More than that, you're going to have to flush everything - trasnmission, differentials, transfer case and trasmission. Depending on whether ornot it was above the drain plug for the automatic transmission - you might be looking at one of those too.

THe differentials and trasnfer case can take a bit of moisture ... trasnmissions can't.

Depending on how fast the engine was spinning when it sucked in the water, it probably bent a rod or two.



^^^^^^^ This... If it has bent rods it probably won't turn over even with the plugs removed... If it doesn't and is forced it's possible to bust the cylinder walls...
 
Fresh water has little effect on the electrical system....after stuff dries out it works fine. The battery should -of course- be unhooked until things are dry to avoid galvanic corrosion.

The Motor: Cedar Rapids had lots of cars/motors under water in the flood of 2008,and many turned out just fine.... if cared for. I personally has a Fairmont go under in a 1993 flash flood ---- not running---- pulled plugs, dried it out and started it within a few hours, this car was kept for 10 more years with no issues.

Now the bad news: if the motor was running, and the driver was stepping on the gas hard....... throttle plate open and large quantities of water flowed into the cylinders at medium rpm....... bam, things are likely broken badly.
Many people reported that they had let off on the gas to slow as they found the water deeper than expected.... it seems that a closed throttle does not let in water fast enough to hydrolock the engine, and their cars stalled but were fine after being dried out.

Previous posters have given the correct sequence to troubleshoot further. If the engine is fine, then also check or change the fluids in the transmission and differentials
 
Originally Posted By: bullwinkle
Pull the plugs, then the heads-you have nothing to lose! Have to admit-I never looked at a Commander and thought "extreme off-reading"!!


So are you saying the map lights and reading lights aren't good? I've never driven one at night.
 
Originally Posted By: bullwinkle
...then the heads-you have nothing to lose! ...


What you have to lose by pulling the heads is a lot of work for something that will not tell you much. It is much easier to figure what is going on by pulling THE OIL PAN.

The reality of it is that if it is locked up, it is probably most cost effective to replace the engine unless you can do the work yourself.

If the Jeep has comprehensive coverage, it is probably covered.
 
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