Hi.

I went wheelin' on monday....there was a puddle of which was un-avoidable, and I went through it. At the end of the 100'-150' hole, the truck died...sucked in water through the intake. The K&N fipk filter (WORST choice I could have ever made) was sucked in/kinked. I'll post pics later. I ended up pulling the filter, drained out the water out of it, and ran without it. I was stupid. I didn't pull the plugs before I started it back up again. Cranked her over, and peddled the throttle til she cleared out a little bit and started running normal....kinda. Drove her home (40mi), drove her to work and back (75mi) and parked her. She drives like a dog...no high end torque anymore, and throttle response is severly sluggish. This is before any cleaning and driving w/o an air filter.

Anyway...the damage is done. I cleaned the exterior asengine. Pulled the intake tube, maf, iac, tps, and will probably be pulling the intake manifold. Replace plugs. Everything has dried dirt on it. Including the inside of the intake manifold.

What steps should I take??

What do you guys suggest I do???

I'm so freaking scared.

I need some help.


Thanks everyone in advance.

Shane

 

I'm sure someone more knowledgeable will respond but I just wanted to say you can start checking craigslist for another 4.0 engine!

 

I would say to do what you are doing. Replace your plugs, check iac and tps. Maybe try seafoam?

Check you transmission as well. I ruined mine by sucking in water through the "breather" that is stock on it.

I woudl reccomend searching for another 4.0 b/c if you sucked enough water to have it die, it's probably about to (if not already) do some serious damage

 

everytime ive seen this happen (i know you dont want to hear this), they had to replace the engine

 

Talk to L2en

 

Yeah he has some not to pleasant experiences with this...

 

did some research, plain and simply, ur F-ed. If you ingest water, also known as hydrolocked, ur first reaction is to see if it starts back up. This is BAD, dont start it, if you do the starter is what does all the damage. It's fixable if you didnt start it, but your definitly gonne need a new engine

 

Well its not hydrolocked completely... if it was it wouldnt even turn on. Like you said take it all apart and clean it out. New plugs, etc is a start. Someone with better knowledge of the engine block itself should chime in about internal damage

 

Something is dirty. I think you are ok, only thing you shouldnt have done was pulled the filter.

I have killed my engine in the water many times... I'm still on the same engine.

Good Luck! Make sure you do what you said you were going to do very soon. You really should have done that as soon as you got home.

 

Knowing you sucked in water, I have no idea while you tried to start it without pulling the plugs. The damage is done. Start a project to either rebuild or replace the motor.

 

v8...

 

If it still runs, the motor has life left in it. At the most, you severely damaged the cylinder walls due to a lack of lubrication. If you have any ticking or knocking as a result, it may be a worn bearing in the crank or valve train noise. Either of these are signs of a bad problem and cannot be overlooked!

I'd start by running some seafoam through the intake manifold and peddling the throttle to keep it spitting and sputtering.

After that, drain and change the oil, filter, and pcv valve.

Pull the plugs, inspect (post pics on here?), and replace.
(LUBRICATE the threads and spark plug boots before completing installation!)

Check the transmission fluid using the dipstick. If it is discolored or dirty, change it immediately!!!

Check the differential fluid. If water made it over the frame rail, you likely took in water through the vent tube. Water is death to all bearings, including all the way back there.

 

hey I think your good. I hydrolocked my ranger 4.0 a while back wheeling. (I had to leave my rig and come back the next day). Here is what I did.
Pulled plugs
cranked starter to get any water out
dryed with shop towel
put new plugs in
pulled air filter
put new air filter in
drained oil
pulled oil filter
replaced oil& filter
started it-(miraculously) and ran it at like 2500rpm for 6 min as water poured out of my cat and tail pipe and steam and nasty smoke everywhere
3/4 can seafoam in brake booster


other stuff from water
dif fluids
tranny fluid
tcase fluid
pulled carpets..

I also heard that if you stick a shop vac in your tail pipe and suck a bunch of crap out it helps.. but I don't know that for sure.

and ironically enough your in Boring and Im in Corvallis. where were you wheeling?

 

remember kids, water doesnt compress.

 

yep. Right now I'm borrowing a friends escort to work and back. She runs fine, just not as good as before, which is expected. My trans is already f*ked....lost 2nd gear also during this wheelin trip, but the trans was already acting up. I found a 4.0L nearby just in case....or.....I found about 10 5.0L engines which is really tempting me.

iain - I went wheelin' in Washougal washington.

Thanks everyone for the helping. I'm off to pull a trans this weekend and really tear into her.

 

Shane that really sucks. I hope all works out for you. Before you drop the tranny, drain the fluid and inspect it for signs of water or trash. You may be able to get it running again with just a fluid flush.

Either way, I think it's time to change your avatar to "STUPID WATER!"

 

i did this, kinda, does your engine make a nice clicking noise?

im waiting for mine to die.. its coming up on 2 years since it happened, its got to go soon
i was in a hole and didnt think to pull the hose off the box before trying to start it over and over..

 

also replace the o2 sensor, it most def. got knocked out by the water, usually causing the engine to run really rich

 

when i Hydrolocked my truck, I drained the oil replaced it ran it for a few minutes, then drained and replaced the oil again. then sea foamed the motor and replaced the plugs make sure to flush the diffs and trans and transfercase if you sunk the breather tubes under like i did.

 

What do yall suggest for the dried dirt all up in the intake manifold?? I'm already going to go back to stock intake tube and filter, and i'm already going to clean the throttle body. I have an extra intake manifold I could put on. What to do about the dried dirt??

btw....Thanks everyone who have post suggestions.


The "sunday after work" mod: Pull off intake tube, maf, iac, tps, throttle body and throughly clean them. Change engine oil. Put stock intake tube setup back on. Put in my new cheapo autolite coppers, run sea foam or the Motorcraft stuff, then throw in my "friend that works for a ford dealership" score of Motorcraft plugs. check trans fluid, rear end fluid, tcase fluid. And see how she drives.

Later sunday night....time to take apart the truck and drop the trans and let 'her sit. Might buy a cheap subaru or escort to get me around. Bringing the busted trans to a ford tech who does stuff on the side. Hopefully the trans problem will be okay..maybe just a bent/broke shift rail or syncro. I found a trans with 7,000 miles on it for $900....so that's the worst it's going to get. So needless to say, I think my next couple paychecks are already drained.

 

Does it sound like a sewing machine when it runs? I remember when travis hyrolocked the motor and it sounded horrible.

 

mine does lol

kinda
its a clicking noise

 

i had this happen and it wasent good, down at the dunes and drove in some water, long story short and a lot of yelling later from dad, i have a new truck. it cost me 6,000 grand in the long run. good luck

 

6grand?

a new engine is only 3 lol