Post hydrolock experiences

IronFist · 08-21-2002

Some people are all "if you get a CAI make sure you get a bypass filter" and other people are like "they're a waste of money, they only work if the entire thing gets submerged, which can only happen if you're in 10" deep water and then you've got a lot worse problems anyway."

Is hydrolock really a possibility? How much water does it take? I'm only asking cuz I'm thinking about getting a CAI.

So, if anyone has any experience with it, please share it. I want ACTUAL EXPERIENCE. Not things like "I heard it happened to my friend's brother's friend."

IronFist

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B390LU · 08-21-2002

Well, this happened to a friend of mine who actually hydrolocked his Lancer when he was driving through a big puddle of water. He had a repair worth of AUD$500. He had a custom CAI with Simota pod.

mattskav · 08-21-2002

think about it, your engine is nothing more than a pump.

if you input water instead of air - water fills the cylinders.

water is not compressible (or barely compressible to be more exact)

so on the compression stroke (valves closed) you get a locked engine.

best thing to fix it is to take the plugs out, suck the water out. drain and refil the crank (w/ filter) and fog the intake (and pray).

also now would be a good time to trade the car in if it runs....

nbpEMCivic · 08-21-2002

No hydrolock experiances here. I've had the AEM CAI on since Oct of last year. I live in Houston where at times it will rain like hell, and I've drivien through some pretty rough weather. My thought is that the AEM filter is located to high to suck up any water, but the Injen one could.

pbfoot · 08-21-2002

since this is a thread concerning hydrolock, and not necessarilly with CAI, im wondering if you have a turbo what do you do then? i mean the intercooler is about the same height as the CAI filter would be, so if you can hydrolock that, a turbo would too. so how do you get around that?
dont flame me, i dont know all that much about turbos besides the general principle, so im not sure even if an intercooler sucks in air.

i dont have a turbo BTW, just curious.

AFlyer · 08-21-2002

the air filter on a turbo is generally not low at all, it doesn't have to be. you don't get hydrolock from an intercooler cause there is no way for the water to get into it. the intercooler is a radiator for your intake charge. it works the same way as a radiator, just think of pressurized air going through it instead of coolant/antifreeze. now, if you got a big old rock smashed into the intercooler from a dumba$$ truck then you would have two problems. first, you would lose all your boost cause there's a hole in the intercooler, and you might get water in there. that would be the only way i see for you to get hydrolock from the intercooler.

supYO · 08-21-2002

knocks on wood

SEE no personal experiences
all friends of a friend of a brother

JJF · 08-21-2002

Does the bypass filter make you lose any power? If not, for $40, it is probably worth it just in case.

NBPCivic · 08-21-2002

On superhonda a while back I saw a post that showed some dyno results. I forget what car(s) they were done on but normally the car with the bypass valve lost 1-2 HP on average. Which is quite a bit on our cars and will even the CAI w/ BV with the SRI. In the end it is a personal choice, but unless I lived somewhere with a monsoon season, I wouldn't put a BV on my car.