Alright I was driving around yesterday after it had been raining a lot but still decided to go out. I got to the end of a road and it was totally flooded out but I still drove through it and when i got the the end of the puddle my car died. I could not start it again after repeated trying. I pushed it back to my house and there dried some things off and then got it jumped and it started up fine. After turning it off and trying to start it again I had nothing but i decided to hook the battery up to a charger and then tackle the problem today. Today i go out and there isn't anything. The car will not even turn over but the battery does have enough juice that it should be able to turn over. The only thing i could think of is that perhaps the starter froze because it was so cold last night and it was still wet. Could this happen? I've had it in the garage with a torpedo heater on it for almost 2 hours and nothing has changed. Please give me any thoughts you guys have.

 

How deep was the water? How low does your car sit?

 

In fact, do not try starting your car again after you have pulled every single spark plug out to see if you have water in your car's cylinders. I doubt that there is water in your cylinders but, you may have sucked up some water through the bottom of the air filter assembly and into your engine. Check to see if your filter is wet. If you have water in your cylinders, you have caused a hydraulic lock up. Water doesn't compress but metal does bend.

 

Thanks a lot wardhog. The other thing I was thinking is I think this was deep enough for my exhaust to go under, is it possible some water could have gotten up into the engine or turbo somehow from that?

 

the air intakes on the TT are very high aren't they? Hydrolock woulld be hard

 

Should this be a warranty covered issue???

 

I don't think it would go up through the exhaust. If the water was that high, it might have been sucked up like I explained earlier. Remeber, DO NOT TRY TO START YOUR CAR until you have checked for water in all cylinders.

 

Wardhog your like my savior(haha did I even spell that right) right now. But here's the thing. Before knowing about hydrolock yesterday when we jumped my car it did start. This was about 5 hours after the even took place. We let it run for quit a while to make sure everything looked smelled and sounded ok which it did. It was only until we shut it off to then change the oil that we could not get it refired. So if it was hydrolocked would we have been able to start it? Is the possibility of the starter being froze at all considerable. Because it has major condensation on it since we've tried to heat it up. What do you think?

 

Well then, the hydro-lock is out of the picture. That's very good and hows was the oil? Did it look normal or have any discoloring to it? It sound like maybe you may have some soaked coil packs and needs drying out. Try jumping it again and if it does jump start, the leaves the coil packs out of the scene too. If it does start, check your starter like you have suggested.
In the future, stay out of water in any car and it does occur, do not try to start until resolved. You're lucky it wasn't a H/Lock this time.

 

Alright we checked the packs and they seemed to be absolutly fine. We tried to jump it again but absolutly nothing happened so we do think the starter is just frozen. It got to about 20 degrees last night and is now only about 31 so it is very cold. Thanks for all the help I owe you huge.

 

Talked to an emergency services guy reguarding getting stuck in water with your car. He said once you go into the puddle you have to keep going and keep giving it gas. Because when you stop giving it gas your engine sucks up some water and stalls out. He said everyone makes this mistake. They charge into the water and then let up on the gas when they are in the middle.

 

Why don't you try jump starting it (have a few buddies push the car, put in 2nd and drop the clutch)? You will know if the problem is starter related or not. If it's a Tip ... forget what I just said.

To "unjam" the starter, a common trick to tap on it with a hammer. Worked for me more than once, although it was not a frozen starter matter ... still worth a try.

It may be your wiring (had this problem too!), or sucking enough water in to stall but not lock the engine.

My solution was to drive the heck out of it (ie flat out) ... worked great to "flush" the water out (I could hear it gurgling through). But the car was a truck, a crappy Ford Ranger, not a P-Car with a sophisticated engine ... so you may want to wait on second opinions about this.

 

Let us know the results of your car. Hope your car is alright.

 

I hope you solve your problem, happened to a friend of mine and because he went through water that was too deep, the manufacturer determined the cause was beyond normal wear and tear and the engine had to be replace at HIS COST.

Lou