Hydro Locked

[Armygsx]

2013 S4.
Was driving home the other evening and was going through water that was roughly 6 inches deep max at about 5mph. Car died and wouldn't turn over. Once out of the road I popped the hood to see the small rubber grommet above the passenger side wheel popped out of place.
Removed the intake (injen cai) and noticed water in the TB. Pulled the coils and plugs and turned it over a few times. Water came out but battery died so I had it towed home.
Fast forward to yesterday (been about 4 days). Used a pump to check for water in the cylinders, one had about a teaspoon in it. Used the same pump in the dip stick tube and pulled about a gallon of, what smelled like coolant from the oil pan. Coolant rez is empty? Today i got the battery charged and it will not turn over now.

Figure it has rusted and not allowing the engine to turn over?

When it did turn over to push the water out it sounded normal. No bangs or otherwise. When it died rpms were 1500 max.

Is it dead? Head gasket blown, cracked block? Bent rods?

Thanks in advance for any help!

[Phil Dammit]

Sounds like you killed her. Sucking water direct into the TB is not the way in which to make hp. Whats perplexing is that your coolant is empty and you pulled water from the pan as well. Did the oil/water have a coolantesque smell to it?

Edit: no crank on a fully charged batt. tends to mean you either A)cooked the batt or B) cooked the motor aka bent rods and dhe is seized. Im runming with option B. Doesn take but an ounce of H2O to hydrolock.

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[Armygsx]

Yeah, smelled like coolant.. the res was full until i turned it over to pump the water out.
I just thought with moving the res around it may have just emptied from the lower hose leaking while i pulled the plugs..

It did turn over after it happened (with no abnormal noises), so at that point I assumed nothing catastrophic happened?

PS: Water in the intake cools the incoming air! Its like a budget meth kit!

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[audigsr]

Curious how you got a true cai? Only intakes I've seen for our cars are the short ram style.

[hilmar2k]

Curious how you got a true cai? Only intakes I've seen for our cars are the short ram style.

Assuming it's this intake, it's not a true CAI.

https://www.injen.com/sp3081p.html.html

[Armygsx]

That's is the intake on the car.
It is not a true CAI but its how its listed.

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[joediesel]

How the heck could you suck up that much water from a 6" puddle going 5 MPH?? Sorry to hear bud, but if that's the case than a lot of us should be worried...

[Armygsx]

I believe the water shot up and blew out the grommet above the wheel. Once the water pushed the grommet up it shot over the top of the filter.
If you have a intake I would suggest using some type of sealant to make sure that grommet can't be pressed out of place by water. Not 100% sure why the car even has them tbh. If you pull the wheel off you can inspect the upper ball joints easy enough..

[hilmar2k]

This is why I run the stock airbox with a high flow filter and a silicone intake tube. Closest I can get to an intake without a risk of sucking up water (or sucking in hot engine compartment air...).

[Solarsuplex]

Something does not add up with this story. 5mph is not enough speed to cause pressure that would blow a grommet out of the hole. Even if it was, 6" puddle would hardly touch the underside of the vehicle unless you are absolutely slammed on the ground. Can you get a tool on the crank pulley and spin it by hand when the car is out of gear?

My initial thought was you cracked the shit out of your SC core when water hit them from the wrong direction (TB side) and then they dumped coolant into the cylinders. Perhaps caused the head gasket to blow out and allow the gallon of coolant into your oil?

[hilmar2k]

Something does not add up with this story. 5mph is not enough speed to cause pressure that would blow a grommet out of the hole. Even if it was, 6" puddle would hardly touch the underside of the vehicle unless you are absolutely slammed on the ground. Can you get a tool on the crank pulley and spin it by hand when the car is out of gear?

My initial thought was you cracked the shit out of your SC core when water hit them from the wrong direction (TB side) and then they dumped coolant into the cylinders. Perhaps caused the head gasket to blow out and allow the gallon of coolant into your oil?

There was a guy in the FB group that hydrolocked his car under similar conditions.

[Corradobrit]

This is why I run the stock airbox with a high flow filter and a silicone intake tube. Closest I can get to an intake without a risk of sucking up water (or sucking in hot engine compartment air...).

You copied my setup

[Corradobrit]

OP Did you have the engine protection panels installed? Seems odd that driving through 6" water at 5mph would be this catastrophic.

[MrFunk]

OP Did you have the engine protection panels installed? Seems odd that driving through 6" water at 5mph would be this catastrophic.

Agreed. That makes no sense unless somehow you were scooping water up? Do you have panels hanging below the vehicle?

[Armygsx]

Trust, I have no reason to fabricate a story. It was pouring down rain to the point where I (and many others) had the hazards on due to visibility. There was a car in the right lane that also hydro locked his engine (s2000 slammed with a true CAI). I came to a stop behind him and went to switch lanes to go around him, Left lane with less water on it also. Was crawling along at no more then 5 mph in first gear when it died. Mind you a 1/2 a mile up the road from this location I hit some water at around 15 mph and heard the water hit the wheel well. Water could have came from that moment, not 100% sure.

Engine panels were not on the car, was getting ready to order the aluminum ECS ones as my car did not have them when I bought it. I thought about them not being installed causing the issue but the only thing water would deflect off of in that section of the car would be the fender liner. I did not think its ridged enough to force that amount of water that high.

Been trying to locate the tool required to turn it by hand but no luck. I want to try to break it loose and turn it by hand to feel for any binding. if none I will do a compression test to check for bent rods.
I thought head gasket also but from what i have read, it seems the stock gaskets are tough. Quick google searches shows no stories of head gaskets going bad in the 3.0t engine.

[MSq5]

Something does not add up with this story. 5mph is not enough speed to cause pressure that would blow a grommet out of the hole. Even if it was, 6" puddle would hardly touch the underside of the vehicle unless you are absolutely slammed on the ground. Can you get a tool on the crank pulley and spin it by hand when the car is out of gear?

My initial thought was you cracked the shit out of your SC core when water hit them from the wrong direction (TB side) and then they dumped coolant into the cylinders. Perhaps caused the head gasket to blow out and allow the gallon of coolant into your oil?

This is far more likely scenario. That much coolant got into the engine from some other source/event that may or may not be linked to driving through 6" of water at 5 mph.

[BucDan]

I'm confused how this can happen at 6" of water. Is your intake moved to the underside of the car near the skid plate? If so, I can understand it, kinda. If 6" of water at 5mph gets you, then driving in regular rain water on the ground would ruin you as well, especially if you're crossing an intersection where water has puddled up. Sounds more like something else happened under the hood at the moment.

[Armygsx]

This is the grommet that was pushed out. The entire engine was covered in water and the filter was soaked on the side facing this grommet.
https://ibb.co/SKdF4sd

[Corradobrit]

Is the car lowered from stock?

We're not questioning your story but trying to understand how something as innocuous as driving 5mph could generate enough water movement into the engine bay to soak the air filter. The filter sits pretty high in the engine bay. I would say the 15mph hit is more likely the culprit. I imagine pulling that much water into the TB would have stopped the engine almost immediately.

[Armygsx]

Sitting on H&R sport springs.
I thought the same thing as I was telling my 14yo son I needed to be careful not to hydro lock the engine. I was driving cautiously knowing that an open filter like that is an issue.

It died instantly with no sounds. Just died.. I didn't think it would cause catastrophic damage with the engine rpms being so low.

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[adkmooserider]

Being a total jerk, many men have trouble recognizing what 6 inches looks like? Good luck with getting a new motor

[Solarsuplex]

I havent pulled that grommet. But now considering its location im curious if your windshield wiper drainage tube was clogged and water overflowed into the intake area from the outside of the vehicle. Curious to see the outcome of your investigation.

[StreetWolf]

Check for spark first if you have spark then you need to do a compression test pull the spark plugs and see what the compression is should be around 140 to 180 on each cyl , if you did lock up the motor you won't have compression due to the rods bending so start with that first you can get a compression gauge at any parts store. If you do end up needing any parts you gotta this new place i found www.audipartsprime.com they can save you a good chunk of cash. Best of luck hoping it's not bent rods.

[ElectroMike]

2013 S4.
Was driving home the other evening and was going through water that was roughly 6 inches deep max at about 5mph. Car died and wouldn't turn over. Thanks in advance for any help!

About 15 years ago, I had a VW and on my commute to work, while driving thru about 6" of water at about the same 5mph, there was a truck on the opposite side of the road which caused a wave of water, which went up to cause my car and about 4 others to stall (head light level water). After a tow to my local mechanic, on their receipt, they wrote that water was sucked up into the engine. I towed it again to a VW dealer and was given an estimate of either $10k or $12k for a new engine with parts and labor.

Now here is the important part, VW suggested I contact my car insurance provider, since damage from road hazard such as this should be covered. Well, they were correct, I put in a claim and the date of the heavy rain, tow receipt and initial mechanic receipt all lined up to get me a nice check back for a new block from the insurance carrier.

[Armygsx]

I contacted my insurance and when i had my s4 added to my policy they didn't add the comprehensive coverage that was on my other audi. When i spoke to them they acknowledged that it should have had the same coverage but because I was not paying for it they would not cover it.. needless to say i have new insurance on both of my Audi's because of it.

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[Gkit19986]

There’s always light at the end of the tunnel man. Unfortunate bunch of events then the insurance policy .. hopefully everything works out for you ..

[Armygsx]

Has anyone done a full engine swap on a b8? Searching around the web has not resulted in a ton of info on it. Seems the entire sub frame has to come out with the engine assembly? Or, can i unbolt the engine from the trans and pull it that way?

I have done multiple engine swaps on 4g63 equipped cars in the past so I am sure I can pull it off. Just looking for extra info on the matter. If anyone can point me in the right direction I would appreciate it!

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[nunya]

You sure you didnt just fry the MAF? The coolant thing adds a bit of a curveball.

Other Comment: I run a stock airbox with a highflow filter and straight throttle body hose. The whine was mind numbing with those "CAI's"

--dillon

[theweebabyseamus]

You sure you didnt just fry the MAF? The coolant thing adds a bit of a curveball.

Other Comment: I run a stock airbox with a highflow filter and straight throttle body hose. The whine was mind numbing with those "CAI's"

--dillon

We don’t have a MAF.

[nunya]

We don’t have a MAF.

Sorry, maybe its a MAP.

https://www.ecstuning.com/Audi-B8_S4...ch/map_sensor/

[bhvrdr]

Sorry, maybe its a MAP.

https://www.ecstuning.com/Audi-B8_S4...ch/map_sensor/

The cars run with dead maps and youd get a code for that sensor.

Op its a total long shot but soak the cylinders in marvel mystery oil overnight. Its an old trick that has worked if no other secondary damage

[Phil Dammit]

This is why I run the stock airbox with a high flow filter and a silicone intake tube. Closest I can get to an intake without a risk of sucking up water (or sucking in hot engine compartment air...).

That last sentence is why I have the same setup :) and this crappy scenario the OP is in. Im boggled how enough pressure was created to pop the upper grom. Have you put it in service mode and checked ur intercooler core and radiator for any damage as well as suggested in previous postmim perplexed by how coolant also got in thw block. Unless when it rain, it poured, on your motor. Sorry I had to pun it.

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[ElectroMike]

In re-reading this, I'm still trying to figure out how 6" of standing water would come up over 2' high, because that's what is needed to fully submerge a short ram CAI.

OP, do you by any chance have the one with the extension on it, where it brings the filter housing down, like this one:

[Armygsx]

No, my filter is in the stock location. I am just as dumbfounded as you all are as to how this happened.

In the end, the only thing that matters to me is I will get it back on the road and she will never be driven in the rain again lol

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[ElectroMike]

I wish you luck with the work that will follow.

I just wonder if this was a coincidence and it was engine coolant which entered the cylinders through maybe a blown head gasket. When you start ripping thru it, if its a true hydrolock, I'm sure you will see bent or broken connecting rod, fractured crank or head, maybe some crankcase or bearings damage.

When my VW Hydrolocked, initially my local mechanic was able to suck the water out, replace plugs, dry it all out and get it running but a month or so later the fractured connecting rod snapped, spun and blew a baseball size hole thru the case. In your case, there is still a mystery factor.

[LordMagnet]

I hydrolocked the motor in my old S2000 from it just sitting in the rain. Freak things happen. My mechanic buddy got it to run for a couple more years before the whole thing blew up one day, but it never performed the same.

[Armygsx]

At this point I am more then likely going to pick up a wrecked S5 or S4 from copart and do a swap. Figure with parting out the copart car i should be able to recoup most of the cost!

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[Morritse]

At this point I am more then likely going to pick up a wrecked S5 or S4 from copart and do a swap. Figure with parting out the copart car i should be able to recoup most of the cost!

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This sucks man. So sorry you're having to deal with this. Best of luck. Hopefully you can do something with the old engine.