Technical Me Vs. The Flood...guess who won? Help needed!

[ChrisMClark]

OK, first a little history:

Last Saturday (Nov 28th) I went through a flood in my 1.2. The car cut out and flagged up EBD and ABS faults, and wouldn't turn over. A passing motorist offered me a tow home (was only 5 minutes away, didn't fancy waiting an hour or more for green flag). I left the car until Saturday just gone in the hope it may dry out. I tried starting it again, and again, wouldn't turn over, although the ABS and EBD faults have now cleared, and goes through the check sequence fine, pinging up 'Check OK'. I disconnected the battery and have tried again this morning, but with the same result. There is a loud 'click' from the engine bay, a familiar high-pitched whine for a few seconds, but then nothing, the starter motor doesn't kick in, and the car sounds dead. I held the key at the start position for several seconds this morning, and whilst no other of the older faults came up (ABS, EBD etc) it did show the little spanner with a 'loose connection' message. Helful...not...as it doesn't tell me where :bang:

Can anybody suggest where I go next. I can't afford to take it to a garage right now, especially as it may be something I can fix at home! Any takers? :worship:

 

[Davren]

Does the engine turn over by hand? Depending on the depth of the flood or height of the bow wave, water may have been sucked into the engine and hydo-locked it. Not good news.

Dave.

 

[ChrisMClark]

Sorry Dave, you'll have to bear with me...turn over by hand? How would I go about trying?

EDIT: I crawled through the flood very slowly, I wasn't even on the throttle, just letting the clutch pull me through. Apologies for not saying that in the first place :lol:

 

[Ffoxy]

Remove the spark plugs, put the car in a high gear and see if the engine turns when the car is pushed, if it does, try cranking the engine on the starter, see if that displaces water from one or more cylinders, the car may be hydrolocked by a cylinder full of water as water wont compress on an ignition stroke... or worst case the whole lot has jammed up with bentbits in the engine. If you are lucky & the water in a cylinder is the problem the water will now have contaminated the oil so a full service would be in order.

I wish you good luck... fingers crossed...

 

[PNL]

Remove the spark plugs, put the car in a high gear and see if the engine turns when the car is pushed, if it does, try cranking the engine on the starter, see if that displaces water from one or more cylinders, the car may be hydrolocked by a cylinder full of water as water wont compress on an ignition stroke... or worst case the whole lot has jammed up with bentbits in the engine. If you are lucky & the water in a cylinder is the problem the water will now have contaminated the oil so a full service would be in order.

I wish you good luck... fingers crossed...

..the joys of having a GSR induction fitted..:bang:

 

[ChrisMClark]

Cool, one last question...for now :lol: : How would I crank the engine from the starter? Is it as simple as just turning the key again?

 

[ChrisMClark]

..the joys of having a GSR induction fitted..:bang:

The freaking thing's coming off Phil...just waiting on a couple of parts.

 

[Davren]

You would need to get access to the pulleys on the front of the engine and try turning the engine by holding and turnung the pulleys. Be careful not to get your fingers caught between the drive belt and pulleys.

Alternatively, if it's easier for you, take the spark plugs out and look for water inside the engine through the holes where the spark plugs were.

Dave.

 

[PNL]

The freaking thing's coming off Phil...just waiting on a couple of parts.

So if it wasnt on when this happened what was on the car at the time..?

 

[Argonought]

Going through a flood with oem induction should be serviceable even if you do push the bow wave over the bonnet

The flooded air-box should stop the engine dead before water destroys the filter (and the engine )

You'll need to replace the filter and empty air-box of water to fix it. Not sure about 1.2 but very important to check the oil/vapour trap is NOT full of water!

 

[ChrisMClark]

You would need to get access to the pulleys on the front of the engine and try turning the engine by holding and turnung the pulleys. Be careful not to get your fingers caught between the drive belt and pulleys.

Alternatively, if it's easier for you, take the spark plugs out and look for water inside the engine through the holes where the spark plugs were.

Dave.

The end of the spark plugs had black moisture on them, not sure what it was, either way I'm sure it's not good.

Phil, the GSR was on there, but it's coming off very soon.

Time to ring a garage for a quote :'(

 

[Morty Mort]

..the joys of having a GSR induction fitted..:bang:

Works very well if you have an undertray and full speed through floods! I've tested it many times. Dry as a baby's powdered butt. Stopping or driving slowly through water kind of f*cks (eh...sucks) it up.

But then again. I ordered the KN filtercharger as soon as I got the GSR kit. I can actually dip it in water. Been on for 3 years now hasn't it Phil? And I've been driving in some seriously different climates going from freaking snowy -25 to rather hot +35, huge floods, storms and pouring rain.

Works like a dream.

 

[ChrisMClark]

Works very well if you have an undertray and full speed through floods! I've tested it many times. Dry as a baby's powdered butt. Stopping or driving slowly through water kind of f*cks (eh...sucks) it up.

Only the remnants of the under tray are there...God knows where the rest of it is...it was there a couple of weeks ago :bang:

 

[Ffoxy]

Only the remnants of the under tray are there...God knows where the rest of it is...it was there a couple of weeks ago :bang:

Try what I said in Post #4 Chris, gotta be worth a try, you never know...

Get any water out, see if it turns over on the key, if it tries to run do a full service on it & see what happens. Probably worth checking the air filter to make sure its not waterlogged too...

 

[Argonought]

Chris, before you do anything else read this thread as then you'll know what NOT to do

https://www.fiatforum.com/stilo/199700-water-engine.html

 

[PNL]

Going through a flood with oem induction should be serviceable even if you do push the bow wave over the bonnet

The flooded air-box should stop the engine dead before water destroys the filter (and the engine )

You'll need to replace the filter and empty air-box of water to fix it. Not sure about 1.2 but very important to check the oil/vapour trap is NOT full of water!

Already been proven as you say OEM filter box does help in this situation as one member already found out..he got swamped by a wave from a 4x4 and survived to tell the tale ..:slayer: must have been a sight though climbing out of the window wearing waders ..all his car needed after that experience was a new filter.. maf.. and service ..1.2 air box is located on top of the engine Argo so if Chris's car did suck up water from the under tray region there must have been some form induction fitted or the wave was that big it has sucked it up from the bonnet area and if thats the case he really needed to be out in a boat and not his car :devil:

 

[Morty Mort]

Can't imagine anyone been in more water than I have. Still going strong with the GSR.

But I think I know what is the rescue: The KN filter charger and an undertray.

 

[Oldschool]

Can't imagine anyone been in more water than I have. Still going strong with the GSR.

You are preaching to the wrong people. They are on a frenzy and they will always be right. It doesn't matter whether thousands of cars every year suffer the same fate and the funny thing is that those didn't have an induction other then the OE one.

What they also forget is that many Alfa Romeos, BMWs, some Japanese and some other car amongst others. But that obviously would be different.

Also it was frequently stated that the induction should only be used in connection with the undertray where the models were fitted with one. But this doesn't seem to count either.

To ignore this and to drive with due care and attention, which includes assessing the road is not the fault of an induction system, nor is it the ignorance of the ones are acting like a damaged record.

 

[Argonought]

..1.2 air box is located on top of the engine Argo so if Chris's car did suck up water from the under tray region there must have been some form induction fitted or the wave was that big it has sucked it up from the bonnet area and if thats the case he really needed to be out in a boat and not his car :devil:

I stand corrected Phil In that position, the 1.2 should be superb for going through floods Even with a bow wave washing over the bonnet you should be OK as long as you can maintain the bow wave (water level behind radiator will then be much lower). I came unstuck doing this once as the water was so deep the car started floating, which meant it lost forward drive, and then it sank (managed to float into even deeper water before sinking )

Can't imagine anyone been in more water than I have. Still going strong with the GSR.

Issues with GSR induction and floods is beyond dispute Mortern. I've never heard of a single Stilo engine being destroyed with oem induction (other than in major floods). You're either just very lucky or you've managed to tie the filter up high like with the 1.2 :chin: As you say, a different filter plus undertray may have helped too

 

[adamcot]

Issues with GSR induction and floods is beyond dispute Mortern. I've never heard of a single Stilo engine being destroyed with oem induction (other than in major floods). You're either just very lucky or you've managed to tie the filter up high like with the 1.2 :chin: As you say, a different filter plus undertray may have helped too

But think of the amount of people who run the kits.... there is only a small percentage of people who have problems. Ive run 2 GSR kits, and never had any problem with water. If its too deep, dont bother driving through it.