I dont Get Hydro locking
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 1,651
Likes: 0
From: Ocean County NJ
I dont Get Hydro locking
I just drove the vette home an hour in the rain (sorry guys had date and didnt know it was gonna rain overnight..lol) I have the Vortex Ram Air....I did encounter some heavy rain and a lil mild flooding.....When I got home I took apart the power duct/TB......no water at all.....there were a few drops in the vortex box......so in conclusion why would one worry about driving in the heavy rain with a vortex??? I would guess you would have to drive thru some fairly deep water at an ignorant speed to get H20 up the duct into engine....am I wrong???? What am I missing???? Isnt hydrolocking getting water up the air duct into TB/Intake down into heads???
Team Owner
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 21,374
Likes: 1,004
From: Various places in Southern California.
Re: I dont Get Hydro locking (skidmarc)
A motor will hydrolock when it consumes enough water (or other incompressible fluid--motors have hydrolocked from gas leaking from the carb overnight) to allow more liquid in the combustion chamber than the combustion chamber can hold at TDC. If you had 55cc combustion chambers and 60 ccs of water was in the cylinder when the intake valve closed, well, hello bent rod.
I think it's pretty well established that you're only gonna risk hydrolocking if you drive through a very deep puddle with a bottom breather intake. Heavy rain alone won't do it.
I think it's pretty well established that you're only gonna risk hydrolocking if you drive through a very deep puddle with a bottom breather intake. Heavy rain alone won't do it.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 2,743
Likes: 3
From: Davie Florida
Re: I dont Get Hydro locking (skidmarc)
When it is raining hard pot holes can get filled with water and can create deep puddles that you can't see as you are driving along. If you hit one of them and your Vortex sucks up the water good bye engine :( . Forum member Redgar hydro locked his engine while driving slowly thru a parking lot. You don't have to be driving like a maniac to hydro lock your engine.
[Modified by Mitch C, 2:33 PM 6/18/2003]
[Modified by Mitch C, 2:33 PM 6/18/2003]
Instructor
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 119
Likes: 0
From: Austin
Re: I dont Get Hydro locking (skidmarc)
I hydrolocked my last car which was a turbo 300zx. It was at night and I was driving home on a road that I knew very well. Well all these cars slowed down in front of me and I was behind an SUV. I didn't see the deep water, estimating less than 12 inches of water, but the splashing from the stop and the cars around me must have made it suck it up. This bent some rods and cracked my block. The dealership wanted $11 grand to fix it. So I sold it to my mechanic for $4 grand and got a vette. Point is that I didn't expect it at that area and I got stuck behind an SUV. Now, I wait for the storm to pass because I have a vortex. :D
Race Director
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 16,477
Likes: 26
From: Gone
CI 6-7-8-9-10 Veteran
St. Jude Donor '03
Re: I dont Get Hydro locking (skidmarc)
I would guess you would have to drive thru some fairly deep water at an ignorant speed to get H20 up the duct into engine....am I wrong???? What am I missing???? Isnt hydrolocking getting water up the air duct into TB/Intake down into heads???
Taking apart your intake ducting to check for water after the fact doesn't do a bit of good, other than tell you you were damn lucky if you found water inside and your engine still runs. A couple drops of water ingested here 'n there won't hurt...you would have to get into some pretty deep water to really suck up enough to do damage.
The Halltech TRIC was one of the worst for this situation, as the intake filter resided just inches off the ground. Your Vortex is much safer in that respect, but as always, your best defense is to not drive through any standing water.
:cheers:
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Melting Slicks
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 2,855
Likes: 0
Re: I dont Get Hydro locking (r1hooligan)
I had the same thing happen at night behind an suv got caught in a downpour going very slow could only see the tail lights of the suv and I was running an MTI bottom feeder at the time, we're talking a major road as well, brand new heads cam engine gone in a instant, rods through the block etc, no bottom feeders for me but the one I had had a large scoop between the car and the airdam under the front so it was like a big scoop 3 or 4 inches off the ground, the vortex rammer should not be a prob compared to this.
Safety Car
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 3,704
Likes: 70
From: Davie Florida
Re: I dont Get Hydro locking (NEPTUNEBILL)
The Vortex should not be a problem but watch out for the Halltech!! I know, driving on a replacement motor now!! Wife got caught in a deluge and motor went bye, bye.. I would also have some concern with the VRamm setup as it uses the opening by the fog lights.
Luckily our car insurance picked up the bill. There were about 6 Vettes hyrdo'd during that storm, including one Z06. I was hoping they would screw up and put his block in our C5.. Just glad they fixed. Needless to say I am running a different air intake now..
:steering: :party: :steering:
Luckily our car insurance picked up the bill. There were about 6 Vettes hyrdo'd during that storm, including one Z06. I was hoping they would screw up and put his block in our C5.. Just glad they fixed. Needless to say I am running a different air intake now..
:steering: :party: :steering:
Advanced
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 70
Likes: 0
From: Birmingham AL
Re: I dont Get Hydro locking (fredl11)
Water isn't the thing you have to worry about...
Being a firefighter, I can tell you that when water converts to steam, it expands 1700 times it's initial volume... so,
take for example, 10 drops of water make it into your combustion chamber... When those 10 drops get hot enough to convert to steam, they become the size of 17,000 drops of water, which is enough pressure to do SERIOUS damage to a motor that already has high compression inside the combustion chamber.
It is a known rule in firefighting that you can put out a room and contents fire confined to one room by opening the door to the room, spraying a short burst of water in a fog pattern into the top of the room, then close the door behind you, and the steam conversion will put out everything in the room via steam conversion smothering the fire, and depriving it of oxygen....
[Modified by 911ing, 11:18 AM 6/19/2003]
Being a firefighter, I can tell you that when water converts to steam, it expands 1700 times it's initial volume... so,
take for example, 10 drops of water make it into your combustion chamber... When those 10 drops get hot enough to convert to steam, they become the size of 17,000 drops of water, which is enough pressure to do SERIOUS damage to a motor that already has high compression inside the combustion chamber.
It is a known rule in firefighting that you can put out a room and contents fire confined to one room by opening the door to the room, spraying a short burst of water in a fog pattern into the top of the room, then close the door behind you, and the steam conversion will put out everything in the room via steam conversion smothering the fire, and depriving it of oxygen....
[Modified by 911ing, 11:18 AM 6/19/2003]
Le Mans Master
Joined: Nov 1999
Posts: 7,695
Likes: 51
From: Imperial Beach CA
Re: I dont Get Hydro locking (911ing)
It's with the bottom feeder intakes and it's at slow speed. Mine was less than 5mph and the two others that I personally know it was the same slow speed. 11K and change and don't count on your insurance all the time.
