By the way, I was reading another post right now of a guy in the same exact situation as I am in.Which reminds me of a few things I want to add in:

*the puddle was like 3 to 5 inches ( no big deal)
*the mechanic tried turning the engine over manualy with a long socket and it wouldn't budge
*he also put it in 5th gear and rocked the car back and forth and then did the same in 2nd gear to see if the engine would even begin to budge a turn at al.l No success there either.
*the guy who this happened to in another post says that his insurance is paying for it. How realistic is that? I have full coverage, but why would they cover this?

Please help me out with some feedback. Thanks

 

Did he try pulling out the sparkplugs and then cranking it? That would be a lot more of a definative test for hydrolock than just torqueing on the crankshaft with a braker bar. Then again, if the engine is siezed, it wouldn't matter much what the cause was.

To my knowledge, the main thing that could be worth doing is installing forged internals, as long as you're going to have an engine block sitting on the garage floor. That way you'll be ready for some healthy boost once you get done paying for the new engine If you're talking about doing a complete swap with a different engine.... well, i'm out of my league there.

 

One more thing: When we tried to PUSH START it in 2nd gear, the car would stop on a dime as soon as I popped the clutch. Call it hydrolocked or whatever you want, is that enough evidence to say that the engine will refuse to turn over and is therefore locked??? Please help me out...

 

Does the engine crank over at all? with the starter etc? If not try a visual inspection of the chambers through the spark plug hole. If it has a few drops of water or more in one it's probably done... You could always try and air it out or remove the water too. Chances are you have water built up in your intake manifold as well... There's a lot more stuff you can look at first to see if your engine really is toast.


BTW 3-5 inches isn't nothing that's a lot of water at normal speeds IE:25+. You should be going through water that deep at 5-10 mph any faster you risk your engine if you have a CAI.

 

3-5" will not hydrolock the engine.

It is an insurance matter. This is one of the reasons you pay for insurance to cover yours and others mistakes.

I would start with removing the spark plugs as stated and you can even remove the intake manifold. If you hydrolocked it there should be a good amount of water in there.

 

Not really any choices for a better performing engine. The 2.0 and 2.3 MZR engines work without a problem. If you have time and money you could maybe import a mazda JDM 2.0, if memory serves there is a version of the 2.0 engine that puts out around 170hp in Japan.
-Matt

 

Hey guys,

Thanks for the feedback. I'll ask the mechanic to take out the spark plugs and look down into the chamber for water. What should he be looking for? Water?

Lets say that my starter got wet and it is actually the starter that locked...will that keep the engine from turning over when he tried to manually turn it over with a long socket??? I'm thinking if maybe it is just the starter that locked. Please let me know if this makes sense.

 

If the starter is/was wet it could have blown a fuse or if it is still wet you should take it off and air dry it. Chances are it will work again. You want to make SURE you need a new engine or rebuilt engine before you shell out that kind of cash or more...

 

mazdaspeed 3 engine adn tranny swap up in hurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

 

[quote author=blam link=topic=48357.msg755875#msg755875 date=1149632314]
mazdaspeed 3 engine adn tranny swap up in hurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
[/quote]

haha.... now you're talking! Talking serious cash, that is :shock:

 

I say it all the time, but hey... get a Focus 2.3, give the money you saved to Marcy motorsports or to Cosworth, and beat everybody on this forum, except the boostnuts at a drag race, and then laugh at the boost nuts at a road race while they struggle with the torque steer.

 

SR20 swap RWD conversion y00!!!1111

thatn you can DORIFTO!!!!! FnF STYLEZZZZZZZZZ

 

It could happen in theory, but not likely. The starter soleniod has to have a current applied to it to engage the starter to the flywheel teeth, so if it fried the soleniod would not be able to engage (it can't stay in the engage position if there is no power to it). You could always try disconnecting the battery and turning the motor over. However, a short circuited soleniod being open would quickly drain the battery (check it out sometime, that sucker is pretty beefy, I would suspect it draws 1-2 amps).
-Matt

 

exacly what danger said. In any aftermarket part you put on the car, if a problem occurs and it was acually caused by that aftermarket part, Mazda wont cover it. this intake just doesnt void warranty to any engine problems, only if caused by intake

 

Jusdeb,
I have an AEM CAI which I installed myself and I live in NW where it rains a lot. SO it concerns me and seems inportant how did the water really got into your cylinders.

So you hit a 5" puddle and how fast were you going? More importantly, where did the water got in from? Bottom is covered with plastic, cant be from front, so did it got to the filter from the wheel well? During installation, it appeared to be as if you really have to submerge the filter to get the water in. Was your trottle wide open when you hit the puddle?

Sorry, it isnt really helping your question, but may be help others avoiding such incident. When I installed mine, I closed the gap around the fog lights, and I also covered 2/3rd of the slit openings in the wheel well. I noticed that its possible to cut the aluminum pipe as much as 2" from bottom (AEM CAI) and still fit the filter perfectly without affecting the support. So that gains at least another 1" from ground, without being to close to motor. But since it rains so much here, I'm still not sure.

 

5" puddle is fairly deep he m ust have been travelling pretty quick to splash the amount of water needed to lock his engine.

 

is you have the money i would look at Cosworth.. you can get a good engine from them, it may cost you a bit more but you will get a better engine and more power.


check it out

 

Ok, so I went to the shop today to find out what exactly happened. It apparently DID hydrolock and there is at least 1 bent rod. He was able to start the engine up in front of me and I can hear the heavy knocking noise. I was told that he took the spark plugs out, got a more powerfull battery and tried starting it a few times as the water shot straight up out of the air through the holes where he removed the spark plugs from. Once there was enough water out the engine would remain on BUT with the knocking noise. I guess based on the intensity of the knocking noise he was able to determine that I have one rod bent and he recommended me to swap the whole engine.

He found a 2005 (mine is a 2004) 2.3L with 16,000 miles for $1,950+ 7% tax. I'm still waiting for a call from my insurance to see if they cover. What do you guys think? Does all this sound right? Is there a way to get a cheaper engine if my insurance doesn't end up covering the damages? Please give me your feedback. I really appeciate it.

By the way I was going about 8-10 mph in about 4-5 inches of long puddle.

 

Damn I am sorry to hear about this. It would be great if you could use this as an opportunity to swap in a more powerful engine and have you insurance pay for it at the same time. Anyways I now know for sure that I am not getting a CAI, because the state of Oregon is one big 5" puddle 9 months of the year. LOL

 

[quote author=blam link=topic=48357.msg756610#msg756610 date=1149702623]
SR20 swap RWD conversion y00!!!1111

thatn you can DORIFTO!!!!! FnF STYLEZZZZZZZZZ
[/quote]

nonononoon
STi engine and add AWD

than you can RALALALLYO!


do something weird. like...an LS1 or something.

 

LS1 is not that weird... some RX7 has LS1 motor in... and everyone hates it.

ROTARY BABY! GET A COSMO AND A RWD CONVERSION! MAZDA PRIDE! ZOOM ZOOM!

 

im just saying, who'd expect an LS1 in a Mazda 3?


My friend had a old Ford Station Wagon, the ones with the seats in the back, and his dad put a 95 corvette engine in it.

thing was ridonkulously fast

 

this would be a sweet motor to swap in now:
http://www.cosworth.com/shop_item.php?productid=102

 

[quote author=small town king link=topic=48357.msg758088#msg758088 date=1149773372]
im just saying, who'd expect an LS1 in a Mazda 3?


My friend had a old Ford Station Wagon, the ones with the seats in the back, and his dad put a 95 corvette engine in it.

thing was ridonkulously fast
[/quote]

you are talking about something that would not be too easy and would cost more money that a normal swap.... he may not be down to spend that much money..


i would go with a cosworth, something strong

 

Go for the COSMO and convert it to a RWD... oh, who'd expect that?? A RWD hatchback... and a rotary engine which its even lighter than any other high performance engines.