I drove over a low water crossing and now my car is driving funny did i ruin it???

Question

I drove over a water covered bridge and water came up over the front of my hood, it seemed that it was like this for about one second, I made it through but 1 to 2 seconds later my car died. I was able to restart it after 3 tries. I removed the air filter which was soaked in water. I have driven on the highway today. Initiallly it was very slow to accelerate but the more I drive it the more it seems to accelerate easier and drives fairly well at 80 mph (with fair acceleration), however when I am stopped it is idling very rough. did I ruin the engine???

Answer 1

Water in the ignition system. check your spark/spark plugs

Answer 2

No, you did not ruin the engine.

a Key piece of information would be the year make and model of your vehicle. This would reveal the type of ignition, spark, and charging system employed by the car's manufacturer.

Likely, the immersion disrupted the flow of electricity to the spark plugs. If you are not comfortable working on the electrical system i.e., removing the distributor cleaning the connnectors, drying the wires, then replacing them in the correct order ( label each wire as you remove it and before removing the next one), then have a shop clean thing up for you. Should be less than one hour and no parts charge.

Answer 3

Well,since cars aren't made to run underwater (save for James Bond,but this isn't the case) you can be pretty sure something went wrong.Now since you can still start and drive the car,i'm guessing it's nothing serious.I'm thinking 2 possibilities:1- the water was kind of dirty and some dirt or something got in the carb or in the air intake. 2 - If it's a newer car,there is the chance that the water shorted out one of the electronic modules in the car.If it's the first case,you can fix it yourself with a couple of wrenches,a lil elbow grease and some spare time.If it's a second,seek a professional.

Answer 4

This sort of problem is very common, I would recommend you the following instructions;

You should replace air filter;
Clean the spark plugs attached to the engine block and electric cables connected to them, how can u do it? u may use an air compressor, however, if this doesnt work, you could try to open the electric distributer- it's quite easy, but u should be careful because sometimes the electric distributor is located on tricky positions, u should do it, only if u can reach it and can take out the screws with the appropiate screw driver- 1 last thing if u take out the electric distributer be careful not to drop the small piece of cabon located inside of it I guess logic says hold it with ur fingers while u're cleaning

Answer 5

You may have gotten what's know as "hydrolock." This is when water (which obviously won't compress the same as air does) gets into your engine and fills up the cylinders, which results in bent rods, etc. when the engine attempts to compress the water. You may have one or two cylinders out, causing rough driving.

However, in a better scenario, you may also just have some dampness in the engine that needs to dry out. One of your engine's cylinders may have just a little water in it, and that's causing it to misfire or not fire at all (same situation as above) and is causing rough idling. You might want to take your engine apart (or let a professional if you don't know how) and have it drained and repaired if the engine continues to run rough.

Answer 6

Water in the engine has the potential to "hydro-lock" the engine, making the valves sieze and the engine worthless. It sounds like this didn't happen to you, at least not completely.

Rough idle suggests the fuel isn't getting to the engine in the right amount on a newer car. I'm thinking you may have gotten water in some electronic component, you'll need a mechanic to diagnose the problem.

Answer 7

arms crossed that's in uncomplicated terms shorting out a pair of spark plug wires. raise the hood and blow out all electric connectors with compressed air. in case you have instruction manual trans, attempt utilizing 4th kit from 25 to 60 mph with finished throttle. in case you get a wierd vibration at from 1500 to 3000 rpm you have got "hydraulic locked" the engine, and bent a conrod or broken the crankshaft. Air compresses, water would not. The piston hits the water and actually smashes decrease back on the conrod - inflicting harm. you may attempt the above with the engine under load, loose revving would not take place lots except that's somewhat badly broken.