Help! When it rains it pours..Hydrolocked???

[ATL-GT]

It finally happened....I was driving in the rain, and it was really bad. I have an AEM CAI and the car in front of me went through a really big spot of water and it all hit my car like I had just driven under a waterfall......it bogged really bad, and wouldn't go above 3500 rpms.....and then I looked out back to see the dreaded white smoke!!!....I pulled off and got towed to the dealership that I work at.....here are my questions....1) the car is not seizing, turns over and has no mechanical pinging or knocking like I messed up internals...just the white smoke.....2)what the hell is the white smoke....it smells very faintly like burning oil.....3)they are saying that if it is not seizing that all I have to do is remove the spark plugs and turn the car over and allow the water to come out!!!! is this even plausible? is it safe???

HELLLLPPPP!!!!

also, does anyone know where I can get the injen heatshield to protect the filter from some of the water when I drive in the rain next time???.....I am trying to avoid having to go with a short ram because I would need a new hood (I have tater's supra style hood), and I don't feel like buying an injen cai either......funds are really REALLY tight right now....

[booyaolian]

switch to a short ram or put back your stock airbox.

[ATL-GT]

yeah, maybe so......but that still doesn't help me with the question about removing the spark plugs and turning it over to clean the water out of the cylinders

[MicaCeli]

yeah, maybe so......but that still doesn't help me with the question about removing the spark plugs and turning it over to clean the water out of the cylinders


Yes....that is what you do. White smoke could just be water.

[ATL-GT]

hopefully.......but I still think I am going to change intakes or try to find the heatshield piece at the very least.......

[Whitey]

get a by-pass valve for your cai

[StevesGTS]

alright this just happened to me after prom april 22nd, the removing or spark plugs is what they did to mine, they remove them and turn the car over, ask them to check for throttle body damage, ignition coil, and MAFS. The water shoots out the spark plug area and then they have to replace the spark plugs because the water probably closed the gaps and corrided them. It cost me around like 136 and some change to get it done plus new spark plugs

[BHam00GT-S]

get a by-pass valve for your cai

I thought the general concensus was that these don't work on our cars very well

[StevesGTS]

^^^^ ya thats what i thought to, i asked people about getting a bypass valve and people have told me they do not work on our cars and to get a SRI or make some kind of sheet metal sheld

[Mistrimeat]

is this even plausible? is it safe???

Yes. Yes.

[GT-S Caliente]

They do not work because the length of tube for the intake on our cars is short, thus the bypass valve does not allow the water to slow down enough to prevent it from entering the throttlebody and IM.

[ATL-GT]

The service tech just got back to me......says that the water bleached my plugs and that I'll be ok with just a new filter and at worst new plugs...he said that I might not even need the new plugs because the car appears to be perfectly ok....but I'll probably get them anyway just to be safe......that and an injen short ram intake with the heat shield will probably make it to my car within the next 2 weeks.......I thought for damn sure I was in trouble though

[iflabs]

I hit a deep pothole filled with water on the right front wheels and for a short moment, white smoke started spewing. Never really got it checked out. Not sure if it has any relevance to your situation.

[Blue Bomber]

Shouldn't need to replace the filter at all, unless it was damaged somehow. It's reusable, so you can clean any dirt off that may have accumulated.

[RGT]

A lesson to all the dumbasses on the board that say never to worry about hydrolocking. I've had to many friends who have had this problem that i will never put a CAI on my car.

[ATL-GT]

^^^ yeah, I've known that it was a possibility, and I've always been careful.....but it still happened

[BHam00GT-S]

I hit a deep pothole filled with water on the right front wheels and for a short moment, white smoke started spewing. Never really got it checked out. Not sure if it has any relevance to your situation.

Uh, CAI filters are on the left side of the car..

[po9i]

A lesson to all the dumbasses on the board that say never to worry about hydrolocking. I've had to many friends who have had this problem that i will never put a CAI on my car.

maybe you just have retarded friends

[BLUENUBIAN]

I had the same thing happen to me last fall. Hit a puddle and car would stumble when I went over 3500. No white smoke though becasue the stumbling was due to the water hitting the MAFS and I kept it well below 3000 until I got home. Removed CAI, drained water out and had no problems for a couple of days then CEL came on. Checked it out and random misfire and faulty o2 sensor came up. Replaced all four spark plugs and that worked for a bit, then the the car began to bog at certain RPMs. Cleaned MAFS and replaced cone filter (old one was black with crud and bent) with a spare TRD. Worked great for a bit, bogging started up again and same CEL came up with same codes. In the end I said fvck it and stuck the stock intake back in and removed the plastic trim from in front of the intake to allow more flow. Now I have no bogging/ hesitation and more low-end power, water did ruin one of my sensors though. Lost a bit of the high end, but with all the bogging that came with it negated any high-end gains from the CAI.

In conclusion, go back to stock or try Bb mod.

[2zzswapped]

if your car is cutting off at 3500 RPMs, its because you shorted out your MAF. the white smoke is probably water thats leftover somewhere that is burning up. if your car runs fine with exception to the problems that you mentioned above, the problem is most likely something to do with your MAF getting wet. this is NOT hydrolocking. people need to learn this.

i had a shop install my first 2ZZ and they hooked the coolant lines wrong and directed the coolant straight to the intake manifold. the result: a HUGE hole in the bottom of my block in which the pieces of the block flew threw my oil pan. THAT is hydrolocking.

[ragingpaseo]

damn dude, i'm glad your car is okay...and didn't know you work for a dealership now...

[RGT]

maybe you just have retarded friends

There is some truth to this...one of them did it twice.