Had a bit of a flood and drove through about three feet of water in my 97 3.0 ..It sucked water in through the air intake in the wheel well and into the intake manifold and it quit..I did not make any further attempts to crank it.. I got it home and I've pulled the plugs and and tried to turn over the crank manually to push the water out but am having no luck getting it to move.. any suggestions?

 

If it doesn't turn with spark plugs out then it isn't hydro locked now

Will it turn a little one way and then back the other way?

Or will it not turn at all in either direction?

Vulcan 3.0l is a non-interference motor, this means the valves and pistons never occupy the same space in the cylinder, so no bent valves if timing chain breaks, and bent valve shouldn't hit the piston

If it won't turn at all in either direction then, make sure it is neutral, and try the starter motor, any damage is done.

If no joy then either a piston is frozen or a main bearing is seized

 

Thanks RonD for your reply..do I need to take off the top of the motor and free something up or am I totally screwed?

 

If its seized then theres not much you can do short of rebuild/swap. But if it hydrolocked that tends to do crazy damage inside since the water won't burn it makes the pistons move in weird ways sometimes making the block unrepairable. So if its seized id suggest a long block instead of rebuild if you chose to fix it. For the money its probably the cheaper option these days.

 

Thanks for the info.. this is my first time having an experience with this.. i guess im gonna start pulling off the top of the motor and see if i cant get to the root of the problem...

 

I guess it depends on your definition of "totally screwed".

Yes, pulling off the heads would be first step, but I don't think it will be the last step.

When crankshaft won't move it is usually a major issue involving pistons and/or main bearings, in either case block will need to be pulled out and crankshaft removed, to replace piston(s) and/or bearings.


One "good" thing is that the Vulcan 3.0l engine is very common so finding a rebuilt or used Long Block won't be hard or too expensive.
Short Block = crank and pistons installed in block(your heads could be damaged so..........)
Long Block = crank, pistons and heads installed, in/on block(you have the intake and the rest of the stuff so this is the best bet)
Complete engine = intake and most brackets and accessories included(unless price is right, and having back up parts seems like a good idea, you don't need all this)