fhuici

I loaned my car to my roommate and she went through a 5" to 7" puddle of water and the call turned off. She was actually at a gas station and had someone push the car out of the puddle for her. When she called, she said that car wouldn't start. By the time I got there, which was about 15 minutes, that car started and idled a bit rough for a second and then it cleared itself out.

Does anyone know why this could have happened? I've gone over small puddles before, definitely not more then 1 or 2 inches of water and this has never happened to me. While I always try to avoid them, living in south Florida, they are hard to avoid sometime.

Anyway, the car is running strong now but I'm wondering what could have made it turn off then not start for about 5 minutes. By the way, when I got to the gas station, I opened to hood but I didn't see any signs of water anywhere.

Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

PS. that was the last time I lean her my car!!!

Thanks

dpigguy

do a quick search - there was a recent thread on this. cause is water in the air intake which draws air from under the car.

sav426

Geez man unless its your wife dont loan her your car!! Let her drive her own!

Im glad it all turned out ok!

phileaglesfan

Maybe some water in the intake. Did the air filter look moist?

Walkthedog

let me be the first to tell you to thank your lucky stars. The condition is called Hydrolock. Or soon to be bent rod syndrome or blown engine blah blah blah. There was an interesting thread last week on this. Bottom line get it to the shop via flat bed.
I bet you are the only one on this forum that would have lent their car to your room mate and now there are none.

CMY SIX

since when is 5 to 7 inches of water a puddle? how fast was she going when she hit the "puddle", and what does it matter? when you just "loan" this kind of car out

Walkthedog

Gawd, your roomate must be good looking. Would you mind loaning her out while your car is in the shop.

GigaHz

Stock or aftermarket intake?

fhuici

After market intake..

GigaHz

Vararam?

Jimbeaux

My 05 manual says to let it dry out. Seriously.

talon90

5" to 7", that is not a little body of water. Depending upon what speed she took the water at, the car could have ingested some water. A large portion of the Corvette intake air comes from the bottom. Hence the nickname it's a "bottom breather".

If you ingest enough water and it makes it past the intake and in to the combustion chamber you can cause the motor to hydro lock. Water is not compressible so when it gets in to where the pistons travel it can actually retard the motion of the piston hence stopping the combustion process. If it is enough water and the force is enough it can actually damage the block.

fhuici

OK, since the car started after a few minutes and is running good, should I assume everything is OK and I should count my blessings? Or should I still take it to the shop? And what will the shop do for that?

Thanks

08C6Z51

This was your punishment from on-high for breaking a Vette commandment. "Thy shalt not loan a Vette."

Hope it is okay. Good luck.

fhuici

Yeah, believe me that is absolutely the last time. I should have learned from another incident I had with her when she took the top off and didn't know how to properly place it and placed it upside. Needless to say, she scratched the crap out of the top. Luckily it came out with a little buffing. I can't believe I was that stupid to lend her the car again. I'm freaking out!!!

F#$#$^$&$))$(%

talon90

You should in fact count your blessings. If the car is running and running well you likely don't have anything to worry about. It is possible that the engine was warm enough and that the amount of water was small enough that it evaporated and exited with the exhaust gas during the next ignition cycle. You didn't note what intake you have but you might consider removal and checking inside of the intake coupling and MAF to make sure you don't have any pooled water. If so, just dry it out. If you are running a filter element that can't be cleaned you should consider replacing it.

Walkthedog

years ago I was involved with a race baot group. They used to add isopropanol alcohol to the fuel tank to absorb stray water. Talon, what do you think?

walker3

you need to supply a picture of your room mate to see what would make you loan her your car - must be special

calemasters

Frank,

A lot of after market engine air intake systems have little if any, testing and validation, or resistance to water ingestion. The OEM air intake system is designed to properly filter the air and to help prevent water ingestion (within limits). It is not a U Boat.

However, 5 to 7 inches of water is a little much for the C6.

Marc V.

You did not learn from the 1st mistake. Damn! She must be really HOT. Post some pics of her.