Alot of water went down my carb and when I tried to start it and I just got one big clunk and no start. I tried again and it wouldn't turn over at all, after I waited a few mins and tried again it started but it was running like crap got out and walked around it and was checking it out and it had shot some oil out of each tail pipe. No more has came out but what exactly happened?

 

You hydro-locked the engine. Air is compressible. Water is not. Too much water getting in the engine and it will simply stop it from turning when the filled-up cylinder tries to come up on the compression stroke.

You need to change your oil/filter immediately (there's plenty of water in it now that it's leaked past the rings as it was sitting there unstarted). Change the plugs, too. They're probably plenty messed up as well.

 

And hydro-locking can do extreme damage. I've seen con-rods bent like a pretzel by this...no kidding. Even if a cylinder does not fire, the starter motor has enough toque to easily bend a rod. If even one cylinder fires there is enough force to bend a rod so badly that the piston will hit the crank. I've even seen cylinder walls split in half by hydo locking. It is a very,very bad thing

I would immedialtely do a compression test. If you find the that cylinder that had the water in it has a lower compresion than all of the others ( by more than 15lbs ) then it is likely that the rod is bent and the piston is sitting further down in the bore. If compression shows up weak on that cylinder, then pull the head and compare the deck height of that piston to the rest.

If that piston is sitting lower than the rest ( use a dial indicator if it's not obvious ) then it's time to pull the motor apart. A new rod and psiton will be the minimum that you should replace.

 

Well I just checked the oil and it seemed normal, ill check the plugs tomarrow.

 

Don't just check the oil.... drain it! And change the oil filter while you are at it.

 

What Damon & chickenman said...

I don't hold out high hopes for that motor. I've seen way too many of them with bent or twisted rods. That's usually what gives, is the rod.... especially weenie stock ones.

Definitely do change the oil and give it a try, you might have got lucky, maybe. But don't spend alot of money on the oil you put in it. If it runs but has a new vibration, don't expect it to live long.

 

Just curious .
How did you drown it before it was even running?

 

I am gonna change to oil too. How it happened, well I have the stock fiberglass hood that had the functional scoops but were sealed up by the previous owner to be nonfunctional cause he changed it from CFI to carb. But they leak like crazy and it ran right down through the open element cleaner.

 

There you go. If it rained for a while, dripping right in there like that.....well.....good luck!

 

My parents have a 1998 pontiac bonneville, and these creatures are known for a faulty intake design on the 3.8. Well,when the intake gave out, it filled a couple cylinders full of water, and locked her up tight. After taking everything apart, replacing the intake and puting it all back together it was alright. Put about 40K more on it, and still running fine. Of course not everyone is that lucky.

 

and take that air cleaner you have on that engine remove it look at it really good then throw it away and go buy a good one because not only does it let water leak into your engine but if your carb backfires once that aircleaner will melt right down into your carb then youve got something else to rebuild or buy just a heads up i had one of those and it destroyed a carb so watch it

 

Don't they like to catch on fire as well?? JUNK IT..

 

exactly

 

Well I changed the oil today and the plugs too even though they seemed normal. Theres no new engine noises and everything seems the same. But I have a new power stearing fluid leak ill have to check out. So you think I just got real lucky or will something pop up after awhile?

 

well its more of a game of chance at this point just dont get on it for a while act like its a new engine and you will find out how its gonna do for ya ......hopefully fine

 

belive the stuff that came out tailpipe was carbon dislodged by the water...

 

Very likely. At least you cleaned your chambers

 

id cleaned em well the only thing your missing is a brillo pad and them chambers would have been like new..lol...but glad it started okay for ya

 

I should be running a compresion test on thursday, hopfully it will be good. I have no idea how many miles are on it after the last owner rebuilt it or what any of the internals are, I hope there pretty strong.

 

definatly hope they are...

 

i remember this ladies husband who i work with tried telling me once that if my friend wanted to clean the carbon out of his car a old school trick was to run the engine and dump a cup of water down the intake, i laughed at him and walked away

 

Actually that is kind of an old school trick. The idea is to get the engine running and warm, then give it a little throttle so that it doesnt die when you do it. Then you pour very little amounts of water at a time into the carb. IT will stutter a little bit, but you dont dump enough to kill it. And yes, it does what it is intended to do.

 

had a hydro lock problem on my boat, has a 305, and if any of you know the exhaust manifolds are water cooled. one of the cylinders ahd got a crack in it causing major problems till i put on new heads. def be careful

 

take out the plugs and crank it, if you ever flood it with water again, that will get rid off all the water, we did that to my cuz integra after he ran it in a puddle with a cold air that was scraping the ground go figure...but it works...

 

and man please i warn you just like they did dont wait to get a new air cleaner!!! i had the same one.its in a dump somewere. they dont filter at all(sand in an engine) and they melt as others said. dont wait it could mean your engine too!!