close call - hydrolock

[JaxJeff]

Had a close call today when going through a huge puddle today about 6 inches deep, CAI.. BTW didnt even see it coming. Car stalled....... I DID NOT attempt to restart it. I called my buddy who always helps me with my car. We pulled the intercooler off ...... water ran out........Opened the throttle ..water came out ! turned it over without plugs no real water just a liitle mist. We dryed everthing out. Started it up after a little hesitation she fired up ran it for about 15 min at idle.... got a little white smoke at 1st drove it gently ran a little rough for like 5 mins but seems fine now.
I just wanted to share that with anybody who has a CAI. I had a pre -filter on also. If this ever happens to anyone DO NOT try to restart your car until you follow these steps. I'm pretty sure that If I would attempted to restart my car with the about half cup of water I found it would have been a classic zoom zoom boom.

 

[2.0t03speed]

i wonder if you got any of that there water into your oil

 

[VRMS6]

I wonder why people dont use this more with CAI in areas where hydrolocking is a problem....
http://www.tirerack.com/intake/aem/air_bypass_valve.jsp

 

[mysleeper6]

I think I read somewhere on this forum that you shouldn't use that on turbo-charged engines. The link you provided notes that it is not for use on forced-induction engines.

 

[Igve2shtz]

I wonder why people dont use this more with CAI in areas where hydrolocking is a problem....
http://www.tirerack.com/intake/aem/air_bypass_valve.jsp

http://aempower.com/ViewCategory.aspx?CategoryID=20
"The AEM Air Bypass Valve is C.A.R.B. exempt on AEM Cold Air induction systems only and is NOT for use on forced induction vehicles. Patent #6,394,128."

Those things do work on NA cars .. I had one on a Civic and it saved my ass many times

 

[TX Speed 6]

They don't work on Turbo cars because the center part of that bypass filter is foam.. the suction from the turbo has been known to rip chunks off and go straight to the engine. I use the Injen pre-filter condom things and they work pretty good.

 

[VRMS6]

learn new things every day i suppose....

 

[JaxJeff]

i wonder if you got any of that there water into your oil

I checked it no signs of it..... I think from what we seen little to no water made it to the cylinders. If it was a small amount it would evaporate in the hot oil woudnt it ?

 

[TX Speed 6]

I checked it no signs of it..... I think from what we seen little to no water made it to the cylinders. If it was a small amount it would evaporate in the hot oil woudnt it ?

It should burn off or evaporate, I don't think you will have any problems if its not bogging down or stalling now

 

[Killer]

SRI + Turbo Car = > CAI

 

[bova80]

no, not necessarily. with colder air coming in which is more dense, more air can be compressed by the turbo. the differences may not be hugely different but i noticed about 20-30 degree differences between sri and cai when logging with my dashhawk. this also has an affect on the boost temperature.

 

[Shagate]

Had a close call today when going through a huge puddle today about 6 inches deep, CAI..

(flame)
Okay, this REALLY bugs me, so I have to pick on you.
People scream HYDROLOCK and cause CAI panic for the n00bs way to easily around here. (no)

Unless your Mazda was plowing a trough while you were driving there is no way you hit a 6" puddle and hydrolocked. The bottom (painted) edge of your car sits 8.5" off the ground (stock). The CAI filter starts about 12-13" off the ground (stock), which puts the water over your bottom door sill. Obviously you under-estimated the depth of the puddle, or it was simply ninja water and attacked your poor unsuspecting CAI?

(Yes, I was actually geeky enough to go out with a tape measure and double check the height.)

BTW didnt even see it coming.

Ahh, yes... It really was Ninja water. (rlaugh)

I like the advice otherwise, thanks for the post!
Glad to hear it turned out good in the end. (yippy)

 

[Igve2shtz]

Shagate, By the numbers, yes, you idea makes sense.

But ask everyone who has had this problem happen to them (me included) and YES, IT CAN HAPPEN!

I hit a puddle so hard that it actually knocked the filter right off the inlet pipe. How do you ask? Beats me, because the filter sits behind the bumper, and there were no dents on the bumper, but yes, my car stalled out in the middle of the puddle, and I had to coast out of it, and I sat on the side of the highway for 45 minutes until I could get it to start again.

Obviously if there was water in the intercooler, water in the throttle and white smoke on start up, then yes there was water in the engine. Hydrolock it didnt (I have a theory based on the MAF sensor why the engine stalled), but if the car didnt shut off, then hydrolock is an extreme possibility.

 

[JaxJeff]

(flame)
Okay, this REALLY bugs me, so I have to pick on you.
People scream HYDROLOCK and cause CAI panic for the n00bs way to easily around here. (no)

Unless your Mazda was plowing a trough while you were driving there is no way you hit a 6" puddle and hydrolocked. The bottom (painted) edge of your car sits 8.5" off the ground (stock). The CAI filter starts about 12-13" off the ground (stock), which puts the water over your bottom door sill. Obviously you under-estimated the depth of the puddle, or it was simply ninja water and attacked your poor unsuspecting CAI?

(Yes, I was actually geeky enough to go out with a tape measure and double check the height.)



Ahh, yes... It really was Ninja water. (rlaugh)

I like the advice otherwise, thanks for the post!
Glad to hear it turned out good in the end. (yippy)

Well thats my fault I should have explained my mods I also have H&R springs so my front is more like 5 inches off the ground at best.
I dont deny I should have been more careful. I was just stressing the importance of checking everything out before attempting to restart.

 

[JaxJeff]

Shagate, By the numbers, yes, you idea makes sense.

But ask everyone who has had this problem happen to them (me included) and YES, IT CAN HAPPEN!

I hit a puddle so hard that it actually knocked the filter right off the inlet pipe. How do you ask? Beats me, because the filter sits behind the bumper, and there were no dents on the bumper, but yes, my car stalled out in the middle of the puddle, and I had to coast out of it, and I sat on the side of the highway for 45 minutes until I could get it to start again.

Obviously if there was water in the intercooler, water in the throttle and white smoke on start up, then yes there was water in the engine. Hydrolock it didnt (I have a theory based on the MAF sensor why the engine stalled), but if the car didnt shut off, then hydrolock is an extreme possibility.

Your theroy is correct cause I had a CEL after this checked it right away it was a low voltage on the maf. I'm guessing that might have caused the stall.
Had it reset its fine since. BTW that was the only code that came up

I plan on either going back to stock intake, covering those vents......or hopefully getting the corksport FMIC soon !!!! Then i can RAM water into the intake. Hopefully not ! Anybody with this setup notice any problems with water sucking through the vents on the top mount intake ?????

 

[Shagate]

Shagate, By the numbers, yes, you idea makes sense.
But ask everyone who has had this problem happen to them (me included) and YES, IT CAN HAPPEN!

Not denying it CAN happen, and probably HAS happened. I'm just getting tired of telling n00bs looking at CAI about hyrdroshields and other options after they have read threads about "hydrolocking ninja puddles". (lol2) It's easy to misjudge the depth of water, and I've done it plenty of times myself.

The rest of the article was spot on, and sound advice.

BTW: If your front end was completely submerged, the hole UNDER the filter most likely acted like a hose while you were moving and sprayed water all over it. Just a thought...

 

[BoostedSpd6]

tell the florida and new jersey state DOT to get on the drainage issues, how the hell do u guys get 6 inch puddles on the highways down there..we see that on back roads in the sticks in new england but ive never seen a 6 inch ninja puddle on the highway without that lane being closed for excessive water on road.

 

[Igve2shtz]

Our back roads here in Jersey suck, but the worst part of it is that I was on I-95 when I ran into my hydrolock issue ... Granted, it F*&^%$% poured for about 15 minutes, so there were flash floods all over the place. NJ roads all suck cause they are just paved over cow paths that were some of the first paved roads during the turn of the century, so no actual drainage was ever though about .. not like the Interstates/freeways/major roads of the West that had time to take advantage of our mistakes