Sienna - Hydrolock ed?

[stockrex]

Wife went out just after the rain stopped this afternoon in Grand Rapids MI,
Most intersections where flooded few inched to about a foot. She drove through one with about a foot of water. the engine died, She cranked it once (she claims) and it would not start. she called police, the police chief drove her and the brat home and had the Van towed back home.

Is the engine done?

Van sitting in front of the house, I am going to call insurance and have them tow it Plain Field Toyota, I don't trust the jerks at Grand Rapids Toyota, when I get home.
just received a call from the wife,
the streets are flooding again. arr..

 

[ChiTDI]

Why would the engine be done?
Water will conduct the electricity that you want to go to the right places, but once it's dried, you can start looking and checking. Water in the engine won't hurt, just burn off. It is a decent lubricant. Check the fluid levels, filters for dampness, etc. and see what you have.
Flood damage in the wiring loom/ ECU/interior/ different story.

 

[sunfire]

I'd take a look at the car first before calling the insurance. It might not be very severe. Where is the air intake on the Sienna? Does it look like water could have gotten in there?

I hose down my 05 Corolla's engine all the time with the battery and alternator covered with plastic bags. And I've never had problems. My father does the same with his 06 Camry.

 

[bdcardinal]

pull all the plugs and crank the motor. that will shoot the water out. ive had to do that a bunch of times when icing down the blower on a mustang.

 

[MrCritical]

I think he's talking about sucking water in the engine from driving in high water. And yes, that's very bad.

Take the air filter out. Is it soaking wet?

 

[odessit]

Probably electrical components are wet. Dry them.
Check air filter. If it is wet - pull the plugs like bdcardinal suggested.

Very remote possibility - engine block is cracked due to rapid temperature drop (like cold glass & boiling water). Need new engine.

 

[CITYSLICKER]

As mentioned , if the intake sucked up water you will need to pull the plugs to get the water out .

Change the oil and get it started ASAP .

WD40 actually does help displace water on electrical stuff .

If it sucked up very much water at much above idle there may be other problems , like bent rods , etc. I don't want to sound like doom and gloom is the only outcome , but water won't compress even a little bit .

Pretty good idea to change the fluids of anything that may have been under water , transaxles , transmission , etc . grease job might be a good idea too .

If the motor turned over and just wouldnt start after there is a good possibility there is no permanent damage , on the other hand if it would not turn over with the starter it probably took a drink of water ( not good ).

Good luck !

 

[swalve]

Yeah, hydrolock is super bad, but I doubt it happened unless she drove up to the wheel wells. If it cranks, it's probably not locked. (For those who don't know, hydrolock is when an engine sucks in enough water so that on the compression stroke, the combustion chamber is full of water. Liquids are nearly incompressible, and the engine is designed to compress, so that's bad. If it happens when the engine is running, the engine usually destroys itself.)

 

[PT1]

Originally Posted By: stockrex
the police chief drove her and the brat home


Ever considered changing your login name to "Ike Turner"?

 

[JohnBrowning]

Toyota's are usualy water proof in terms of the wireing. I have always pressure washed mine at the car wash or with commercial pressure washer! Not once I have a had a problem with water in the wireing and such like I did with my Fords! Now if it is hydro locked ie water int he combustion chamber under pressure then the egine will need to be replaced or rebuilt at the least! Normal a rod comes out of the block when this happens. If nothing was damaged like no hole or crack in piston and no bent rod you will be a lucky lucky camper! SO if they do clear water out of the CC's and it runs ok change the oil right away. Then after about 3000 miles on the fresh oil do a UOA so you can see if the wear is good.

 

[ThirdeYe]

That was some crazy rain we got yesterday, I drove out in the thick of the storm and I could barely keep on the road because the sides were all flooded. If she sucked water into the intake she could've cracked the block (water doesn't compress) or it could've messed up some of the electrical system like others have said. When you say Plainfield Toyota, do you mean Kool Toyota on Plainfield? Never been there, only to Kool Chevrolet (with pretty bad experiences in the service department).

 

[asiancivicmaniac]

Shouldn't the intake on that van be higher than 1ft? Or is there some where else that water could have been sucked in?

 

[brianl703]

Originally Posted By: JohnBrowning
Toyota's are usualy water proof in terms of the wireing.


All modern cars are waterproof in terms of the wiring.

I include my 1988 Ford Mustang GT in that category.

 

[Donald]

I would agree that its wiring. Open the hood and let the sun bake it.

 

[stockrex]

Came back from the lake this afternoon and per the advise from you folks:

1. took out the air filter, WOW, soaking stinky wet. tossed it, cleaned the air box and put in a fresh filter.

2. then took out the front bank of plugs ( it is a v6 and the bleeping rear plugs a [censored] to get to)

3. the first plug nearest to the battery had some kind of black chunky residue, never seen anything like it before, I have pics I will later.

4. left the plugs open and cranked her. it actually started up. Wow on 3 plugs,

5. shut it off quickly and put in rest of the plugs, button it up and checked the oil for water, no visible water drophets.

6. started it up. it started after 3 cranks, some water came out of the tail pipe. it kept running.

7. the dash had the following lights on: CEL, VSC and one more can't remember,
8. put in gear and went in reverse for 20 ft.
9. put in fwd and went fwd 20 ft. all worked fine.

So the dash it still has the warning lights. I am going to call the insurance in the morning and take it into GR toyota I guess.
folks are nice there, except for the service mgr. he needs to have a little bit more patience and willingness to resolve an issue.

ThirdeYe: good see that you were not affect by the crazy rains.

Ike Tuner , luv the lil one and the wife, just adding some spice....

 

[ChiTDI]

Good thing you didn't panic and have the tow truck bring it to them. They would have done exactly as you did, and charge you six hundred bucks.

Next step is to have those codes read and then cleared.After that, I'd drive it for a while and see if any return. Getting water away from those sensors is going to give you a clean slate and the new info will be believable. Then you can analyze and get the needed repairs , if any.

 

[MrCritical]

Sounds like you may have gotten off easy. Congrats!

If you have those rains often, I'd consider relocating the air intake to a higher place a la short ram intake.

 

[MysticGold04]

CEL light could be a misfire because of the dirty plug you found... Not sure on the others (VSC is Stability control)

Sounds to me like you dodged a major bullet. I'm willing to bet that the Air filter stopped most of the water. I'd also check the intake system... look for a "J" elbow in there and make sure its not full of water. Other than that, I'd say some water got to the sensors and they just need to dry out!

 

[Eddie]

Train wife to drive sloooow in water over 5 inches deep. Next time you may loose an engine. You should also check the differental just incase water got into the unit.

 

[sunfire]

You should change your oil/oil filter as well since your air filter was soaked.