That's the thing, I know never to take a puddle at speed for that exact reason. I literally inched my way through most of it. As for the no knock, I'm told depending on how badly a connecting rod is bent, it may not necessarily knock so I don't believe I'm 100% in the clear just yet.

Just changed the oil yesterday, no milky consistency or anything even remotely resembling that. It looked like normal used engine oil which I guess means water, if any, did not make it past the rings.

My car is 100% stock, never installed an aftermarket IC or piping.

My oil came out normal, looked like typical used engine oil. Unlike you though, I did throw some codes. I cleared them however and they have yet to come back.

Yeah, this was the theory that my buddy who is a bit more mechanically inclined than me had. He thinks I probably wet the MAF enough to cause it to stall out and throw erratic codes. After driving it for awhile, it dried out and things normalized (this is best case scenario and I'm not holding my breath). Did you get any CELs through it all? I threw 3, cleared them, and they've yet to come back. So far I've driven about 150-200 miles since the incident and no issues. But, from my research it would seem a bent connecting rod, depending on how severly it's bent, may not manifest itself to be a problem right away.

My compression tester should arrive tomorrow, so I'll run that over the weekend. Though again, if a connecting rod isn't bent too heavily, a compression test might not show anything at all.

 

I got a CEL initially when it happened but once drying the the MAF they all went away... literally instantly... I was worried about the bent connecting rod too ;( but from everyone that I told they told me it takes a lot of water to have that happen... and I know there wasnt a LOT that got in there...

I've driven almost 400 miles since it happened and haven't noticed any differences... I should probably get my car compression tested just to be safe.... if a rods bent... I'm doing a forged bottom end for sure Looking forward to hearing your results since your situation sounds exactly the same as mine.

 

I would change all the oils, motor, diffs, ayc everything then all have breathers that can leek water into the system. It might be 3000miles before it shows the damage.
I would pull the intake and excaust and see how far the water made it in but its proberley to late for that to show.
Very lucky tho in many ways

 

Thinking about it, you would have to suck in a LOT of water for large amounts to make it into the engine. You'd have to fill the IC and all the piping, unlike a NA engine with a relatively short and direct intake pipe. You guys might want to take your intercoolers off and make sure they aren't half full of water or anything

 

Once upon a time, my gf at the time was driving her rsx through ocean city MD and it stated to downpour. as a side note, she had a aem cai, and no bypass filter (supposed to keep water out of engine), the filter sits in the fender well about a foot off the ground. if you have ever had the privilidge of being on the city streets of ocean city MD during a heavy rain, you know that the streets do not drain. They just kinda flood. anyway my gf went drove through a big puddle not even a foot deep and the car sputtered and stalled. totally dead, it wouldnt turn over and needed to be towed.

long story short, the next morning a mechanic pulled the plugs, wiped them dry, changed the oil, put a new oil filter on, and it fired up.

so it should be obvious from my comment and other posts that if your car reacted negatively, you can assume that at some point water got into the engine. you got super lucky that it wasnt enough water to douse the plugs or dilute the gas.

at the very least, change the oil, and use a new filter. also, i would take off the intake filter and look into the intake track and make sure that there is no water residue hanging out

 

sounds like you got very lucky sir! now go buy some lotto tickets and dont EVER do this again

 

Didn't read everyones post, I'd change the oil to be safe.

 

If I were you I would head to the nearest conrner store and scoop up some lotto tickets. Cuz you got luck on your side.

Edit: didnt see 2 posts above me....FAIL. lol

 

Did all of that, I know water can creep in through the diff/xfer case breather holes and the car was for sure submerged at their heigh for awhile. To reiterate what I said in an earlier post, engine oil came back clean - as in no milky consistency indicating water contamination. The diff fluids were fine, with the xfer case one being dirtier than the rear, but that's always the case. Also, no signs of water contamination.

I'm not completely sure that's true...

What your gf experienced was true hydrolock. In that situation, the car will never turn over until you pull the plugs and remove all the water from the cylinders. Often times when it is that severe, a connecting rod and other internals have almost positively been damaged. Just out of curiosity, how long ago was that and is her RSX still on the road with no problems?




Also for those of you who have been waiting in anticipation of my compression test results (/sarcasm) they came out to be:

140-150-150-140

At first I thought that was low, until I realized the compression test FAQ/How-To is from the VIII service manual. And that's when I found...

"From Evo 9 service manual:

Cylinder Compression:

Crank the engine with the throttle valve fully open and measure the compression pressure.
Standard value (at engine speed of 250 r/min): 1,000 kPa (145 psi)
Minimum limit (at engine speed of 250 r/min): 637 kPa (92 psi)

Measure the compression pressure for all the cylinders, and check that the pressure differences of the cylinders are below the limit.
Limit: 98 kPa (14 psi)

Evo 8 standard from the manual is 164 psi, but I have done a ton of them and they are usually 170+

Most of the 9's I have done are 135-145"

That was a quote I copy and pasted, but forgot to get the author's name. If someone knows who this is please tell me and I'll credit you. Further investigation showed that the IXs indeed do run a lower compression than the VIIIs so for anyone with a IX that thinks their compression is low, STOP REFERENCING VIII motor specs! But anyhow looks like the motor is actually in tip top shape, at least compression wise! So my hopes are a little higher.

 

well, after the mechanic pull plugs wiped them down, changed oil and filter, it turned over no prob and smoked for like 15 minutes.

car never had any further problems. i was super surprised that nothing cracked in the block. considering engine internals being a nice warm 200+ deg. F, and then getting a nice cool drink of 60 deg. water, i was amazed nothing cracked.

that said, she is no longer my gf, so maybe the rsx had a short life after that

 

sounds like you got lucky

 

glad to hear you made it out safe.

 

The smoke could have been carbon buildup. If she only sucked in a very very minor amount it would have the equivalent effect of seafoaming your engine to get the carbon buildup out. And I know firsthand coming from a 1G DSM that seafoaming a dirty motor will seriously top any tire burnout haha.

That being said, thanks to all the well wishers in the thread! If everything holds, this should be my last bump to this thread (fingers crossed).

As a side note, if anyone were to have the misfortune of having this happen to them, the best advice I can give is....CALL YOUR INSURANCE COMPANY! Hydrolock or damage as a result of it is covered if you have comprehensive in your policy. It is considered flood damage. I've read a few stories where some 'street brand' carriers try to weasel their way out of it, but if you're with one of the Big 5 you shouldn't have a problem. I have Progressive and they not only assured me it was covered, the claim is valid for SIX YEARS.

 

I've actually heard of people using a power washer to spray a very small stream of water into a vacuum tube to clean similar to Seafoaming. The water instantly boiling breaks down the buildup. The claim was that it was actually better than Seafoaming because it isn't a caustic solvent like Seafoam. How true that is, idk...

 

Wow lol