hydrolocked - i think, what are my options Options

[bman]

Ok so anyone who lives on or near long island knows we got some extreme rain last night. Driving home from work my block was flooded as usual and I never had a problem. I have a CAI but it is situated where I never had a problem with the water.

Last night was different.

Upon fording the river my car stalled out and in fear of hydro lock I didn't bother trying to start it. Instead I took off my work shoes, socks, rolled my pants up and simply pushed the car into the front of the house where the water wasn't so deep (2 inches)

I tried to start the car but all i heard was clicking. I can't go into details beyond what I say because it was cold and dark and the amount of troubleshooting i was able to do was limited.

I'm pretty savvy with mechanical things, so I pushed the car into the driveway and pulled the spark plugs thinking if would give the water some place to go. I tried to crank it and I still heard click click click as i turned the key to start it. I inspected the spark plugs and they weren't even wet! It was always my assumption that a hydro locked motor was waterlogged and you'd have, at the least, web spark plugs. Hell, they were still hot when I pulled them. It was too dark to see inside the cylinder(s) to look for water.

I had the g/f drive me to work, and with Valentines day today and work again on Friday I won't be able to sink any time into repairing it until Saturday.

In thinking about it, I'm thinking i may have just stalled the car out, and water-logged the starter. I may be mechanically inclined but I lack experience.

So... what do you guys think?

In addition, here are my specs
94 Celica 1.8 manual w/ CAI
147K (used to) run mint.

Thanks for your time everyone!!

[bman]

Well here is the update -

I rented a tow dolly and brought it into the shop and got a proper diagnostic.

I didn't seem to notice the hole in the motor! For $1400 they can get me a used engine (with 80k on it) and swap it out for me. While its out I'm having the clutch (and the appropriate bearings) replaced for $150

they showed me the hole and i took a picture of it -



I was a bit optimistic going into this, but I wasn't surprised when I needed a new motor. At least I'm getting a new clutch out of it

Thanks again for all the help guys

P.S - What the heck caused the hole to be made right by the alternator? No piston there, and no connecting rod, correct?

[hurley97]

P.S - What the heck caused the hole to be made right by the alternator? No piston there, and no connecting rod, correct?

there are oil and coolant channels before you would get to the cylinder and the piston but yes, the cyl #1 piston and rod are right behind there. I'm not sure why it blew the hole through but thats why it wouldn't start, not enough oil and/or coolant pressure.