flooded vette...engine damage?
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From: virginia beach va
flooded vette...engine damage?
My vette flooded a few nites ago. Backed up storm drains. I didnt notice my car had water in it til a few days later when I noticed my windows fogged. Carpets soaking wet. Water stains 3 inches up my door. I checked the oil for water and it looked fine. So I started it and water just poured out the exhaust pipes. Now theres some kind of knocking in my engine while cold but goes away when it warms up. Car runs fine. Great oil pressure. No water in oil. Radiator level is fine. Any ideas what the knocking may be? Luckily its insured. Thanks!
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From: Panhandle FL
Re: flooded vette...engine damage? (Ron84Vette)
I would change the oil just to be on the safe side.Kinda surprised it started up.You might have had the knock before, but after the incident its natural to look for any flaws and be hypersensitive. :chevy
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Re: flooded vette...engine damage? (Ron84Vette)
:cry Sorry to hear of your experience
Water three inches up the door means it came pretty close to being up into the exhaust mainifold (or at least close).
Pumping that volume of water out, using exhaust gases, puts a lot more load on it than just normal exhaust back pressure.
Chances are the knocking sound you are hearing is new, I hope I am wrong!
Try to identify wether it is valve train knock or piston/bearing knock
If it is insured, get it checked by areputable shop. There are several on your side of the water
:seeya
Water three inches up the door means it came pretty close to being up into the exhaust mainifold (or at least close).
Pumping that volume of water out, using exhaust gases, puts a lot more load on it than just normal exhaust back pressure.
Chances are the knocking sound you are hearing is new, I hope I am wrong!
Try to identify wether it is valve train knock or piston/bearing knock
If it is insured, get it checked by areputable shop. There are several on your side of the water
:seeya
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From: virginia beach va
Re: flooded vette...engine damage? (SPEED750)
definately a new knock. Was almost embarrased when I took it to the corner store yesterday it was knocking so loud. Knock seems to go away when the engine warms up though.
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Re: flooded vette...engine damage? (Ron84Vette)
definately a new knock. Was almost embarrased when I took it to the corner store yesterday it was knocking so loud. Knock seems to go away when the engine warms up though.
I am over in Gloucester...I had a somewhat but not exactly the same experience on an I/O marine engine...I am not going to quess here, but I would be pleasantly surprised if you didn't have problems.
Hope i am wrong
:seeya
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Re: flooded vette...engine damage? (Ron84Vette)
If one of the cylinders got water in it and it was on an intake stroke, then you could have bent a rod.
H2O will not compress like air, and when that happens bad things are the result.
You may have a rebuild coming from the insurance as well as new interior...don't go for a long-block replacement as it will not be a numbers-matching car anymore. Make them aware of that point and they should get you the money to have a machine shop fix it...just make the machine shop give you a fair estimate first so the insurance knows what they are in for.
And MAYBE upgrade a few things while it is apart :yesnod:
H2O will not compress like air, and when that happens bad things are the result.
You may have a rebuild coming from the insurance as well as new interior...don't go for a long-block replacement as it will not be a numbers-matching car anymore. Make them aware of that point and they should get you the money to have a machine shop fix it...just make the machine shop give you a fair estimate first so the insurance knows what they are in for.
And MAYBE upgrade a few things while it is apart :yesnod:
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From: Tavernier Fl
Re: flooded vette...engine damage? (Ron84Vette)
Be careful with insurace, due to your car being an 84' they will be very prone to total it if it needs much work because of the low "book" value these cars have, on the plus side if they do you may be able to buy it back cheap and fix it yourself
Good Luck
Ben
Good Luck
Ben
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Re: flooded vette...engine damage? (Ron84Vette)
Sorry to hear about this Ron. It sounds like what I ended up with. Quick re-cap: raining cats and dogs and I'm trying to get home and there's water covering the whole street, but it's not too deep - 3 or 4 inches? As I crawl through the water the engine dies - 2 doors from my driveway. I push it into my drive with the help of the neighbor and then I get it started. There's a loud knocking. The insurance replaced the short block for about $4000. While the motor was out I had them replace the clutch too (and a leaking water pump and plug wires). An extra $1000 out of my pocket. They saw that the alternator wasn't charging too well, so they added that to the insurance bill too.
They never did tell me what was wrong, but they had the car for 1 month. Good luck.
They never did tell me what was wrong, but they had the car for 1 month. Good luck.
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Re: flooded vette...engine damage? (Joe90)
:rolleyes: It doesn't take much water to do the damage. And actually, it can be just a few drops sucked in at start up.
Water expands rapidly to steam! That's very high pressure! and steam doesn't compress. Cylinder only has to fire once to make steam!
Good luck
:seeya
Water expands rapidly to steam! That's very high pressure! and steam doesn't compress. Cylinder only has to fire once to make steam!
Good luck
:seeya
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Re: flooded vette...engine damage? (Ron84Vette)
This may be a long shot, but are you sure you don't have an exhaust leak? It can sound like something internal. Maybe you damaged a manifold gasket when you first started it up due to excessive back pressure. After everything warms up and expands, the leak may go away. Good luck, and let us know how it turns out.
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Re: flooded vette...engine damage? (Ron84Vette)
That's what happened to my Vette. I bought a Vette small knock, thinking it was a bent valve. Wel, it turns out he left the gas cap off, and the fuel tank filled up with water. The water sat on top of the pistons till I started it up, then the knock was extrmely loud. Turns out the piston busted and the connecting rod bent. Needed a whole new motor.
Good luck!
Good luck!
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From: Houston TX
Re: flooded vette...engine damage? (1990dtgL98)
Just went through the same thing in my 85. Houston flood!
Pulled the plugs, ran some Marvel Mystery oil, cranked her over. Tried to start it! Now I have a hole in the side of the oil pan. Hope you have better luck.
Of course the insurance company gave me the car back and $$$$$$! Here comes the 383!
Best of luck.
RAC
Pulled the plugs, ran some Marvel Mystery oil, cranked her over. Tried to start it! Now I have a hole in the side of the oil pan. Hope you have better luck.
Of course the insurance company gave me the car back and $$$$$$! Here comes the 383!
Best of luck.
RAC
