Light water damage

HANNAH CHRISTINE PITRE

MEMBER
2005 FORD FOCUS
4 CYL
AUTOMATIC
100,000 MILES

Driveway flooded from a lot of rain, went to move the car out of driveway because it is very low to the ground. As I was backing up, the end of my driveway has a small incline that put the front of my car lower and apparently it got some water into it. The engine shut off immediately and I did not try to start it after. We parked it on higher ground, then a few hours later tried to start it up and it made a weird noise and was not starting. So we waited a little longer to let it "dry out". Few hours later tried again and now it sounds like the engine is spinning and trying to turn over but it is like something just is not getting fire power to it. I can hear the starter trying to start it. The water was about six to seven Inches deep and my car barely a couple inches higher. My question is, since the car barely came in contact with the water could there really be a significant amount of damage? What could I do to try and help the car start up? Help!

1 Reply

STEVE W.

MECHANIC
13,494 POSTS

The "shut off immediately" and the starter not being able to turn over the engine the first time both suggest it may have pulled water into the engine This is not a good thing as water does not compress, It can do a lot of damage to an engine very rapidly.
Things like a bent connecting rod, blown head gaskets, even broken pistons, heads or blocks are possible depending on how much water and how fast the engine was turning.

First you will want to drain the oil and see if any water comes out with it, remove the filter and change it as well.

Next you need to pull the spark plugs and turn the engine over slowly by hand (you should be able to use the belt to turn it) and watch where the plugs came out. If water comes out keep turning it over until you get it to the point the water starts going back down the plug. Stop and use something like a turkey baster to remove as much water as possible. Now turn it some more to check each cylinder. If you find more water complete the same process to remove it. Once you have checked all four you can now see if the engine will turn over with the key. If it will you will want to run a compression check to see if the cylinder(s) the water came out of were damaged.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-test-engine-compression

If all four read the same or very close to the same you can spin the engine over a few times to help blow any water out. Now install the spark plugs and see if the engine will turn over and start.

In the event one or more cylinders read very low on compression you will want to decide how far you want to go to save this car.

I am crossing my fingers that things go well.