Possible Hydrolock, first steps?

I have a PRL Cobra CAI, so the filter sits pretty low.

Got caught out in a flash flood, water was about a feet or so deep. Tried to idle through the puddle and the car cut off.

I got all sorts of warning lights and had a hard time getting the car to release the parking brake to push it.

I let it sit and I'm going to go back in the AM to check it out when the raining stops. All most 20+ year running a CAI on all my cars and I've never had this issue. I am hoping it is something else.

If not, what should my first steps be? Pull the plugs? Change the oil?

Pull the spark plugs out and use a vacuum sucker to suck out. Or crank it over with the spark plugs out. But if possible sucking it out would be the preferred method.

I am going to pull the fuel pump fuse then try that. Its still storming here so I'm going to have to wait until tomorrow to get it home.

Hoping it's just the MAF that got wet or something.

If not, I'll have to install the stock intake and take it to the dealer.

The MAF being wet is a good possibility, but also, if water did get into the cylinders, from sitting there's the possibility of the water seeping past the rings and getting in the oil also

OP, I hope it turns out to be just a wet MAF or something. Good luck. This is the exact reason I stay away from CAI's. Unless you live in a totally dry climate there's always a possibility (fluky as it may be) of a flash flood and potential disaster.

Unfortunately, if it is hydrolocked, switching to your stock intake for the dealer visit most likely won't help because it wouldn't be covered under warranty. Maybe an insurance claim?

Oh man sorry to hear that. First step is to find a K20C....

Just kidding man. You are correct about pulling out the plugs and cranking the engine over. For extra measure, I have heard from other folks that they do a full oil drain, fill with oil, start up, let it cycle, then drain and fill again.

Best of luck to you man.

I'll have to file an insurance claim if the dealer won't cover it, if it happens to be major damage.

If this is the case I'll also be trading it in as soon as it's repaired.

Do not crank the engine until you pull the plugs and change the oil. If there is water in the crankcase it won't have anywhere to go if you crank it over. Go get some cheap oil and a filter, drain it and put fresh stuff in. At least you have the assurance no water is in there. I would also disconnect the air filter before the MAF to make sure you don't suck up any residual water from the filter. Pull and dry the filter and any tubing out.

I had this happen to my 01 Civic years ago. Like everybody said, pull the plugs, change the oil, get new dry plugs in, and get it home. Should be fine. Hell, I ran mine about 15 miles home on watery oil after shooting as much as I could out of the spark plug channels, changed it when I got home, and it still ran like a champ after.

This is exactly the reason I became leery of CAI's on my cars, though.

Had this happen on my old car.. gave me an excuse to upgrade some internals

But yeah this kind of stuff happens around me a lot so I went with the 27won cai for that exact reason. Change plugs and oil and you should be fine.

Pretty much in line what others have said. I changed my oil following recovering and starting the engine... not before, because I was away from home. I wouldn't wait a long time on it... and if you can change it following getting all the water to pump out, great. If not (shrug) so be it. You can always check it, but it'll probably be about the level it's supposed to be and still clear. If it's milky, then there's a lot of water emulsified in it. I've never seen that in a car motor... only in other things.

One thing to add: you're still going to have water in the intake path... settled in the low spots especially (intercooler). I'd break a hose loose low... drain what you can if there's a *lot* of water. Once you do your restart, watch your exhaust. It'll likely be white from residual water steaming off. I'd let it idle until the steam clears. You figure that water flashing to steam is raising cylinder pressures a bit and I wouldn't go blasting down the road until it's settled. It'll take a bit.

Been there. Done that. You're in good company. Hopefully the engine is not unhappy. We have had a it happen to a person or two than managed to do an insurance claim for it. There's probably a better chance of the engine being ok than not, but it's always a possibility your rods were made unhappy trying to compress water.

I see threads like this and think to myself... why the hell would anyone run a CAI anymore. Lol

Civic17siYAY said:

I see threads like these and think to myself... why the hell would anyone run a CAI anymore. Lol

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Here in Cali, we still have our seasons. I would maybe do CAI during summer and stock during rainy season.

I ran something called a K&N Apollo CIS (closed intake system) years ago. Basically a SRI, but the filter was enclosed in a plastic housing with an opening on top. A flexble / expandable hose attached to the open end of the filter enclosure and then was routed down in the low fender or fog light area making it a more of a CAI. The cool part was that if rain was forecast, the hose detached from the filter housing in seconds, reverting it back to a short ram.

Civic17siYAY said:

I see threads like these and think to myself... why the hell would anyone run a CAI anymore. Lol

Click to expand...

I've been running a CAI in my cars for 20 years here in GA. This is the first issue I've had and I've had cars that were way lower to this ground that this one.