96 Five speed, 180k
Went threw a puddle too fast and my car cut off half way, it sat in the water for a couple of mins till some guys from the national guard towed my out. The problem that I have is that right when it cut off I tried to start it up, and it didnt turn on, the battery light and oil light came on. I didnt know if i sucked water in so I have not tried to turn it on since it was sitting in the water. I have to work so I cant work on for about a day, while it sits should I take some things off to insure proper drying? I figure I would remove the sparkplugs and the tow truck driver said to check if the air filter is wet, if it is wet what should I do? Do I mess with anything with the carb? Im hoping the water just choked it out and nothing too bad happened. Also the oil from the dip stick seemed good and not milky. Any help is apperciated, I know I shouldnt have gone through the puddle and am trying not to pay a lot to get it fixed being on a college budget, thanks.

 

Well your accord isn’t carbureted. Try starting the car after the few days you let sit see what happens. If you already hydro locked you can’t hurt it anymore.
You can take apart the intake manifold to see if there is any water in the intake. But check your filter 1st if it isn’t wet then you prob. didn’t suck water into the engine. Do you have stock air box or do you have a cold air intake?

 

How high was the water?

When you tried to start the car, did the starter start spinning the engine? You may have gotten water into the starter.

I would check the air filter. If it is wet, replace it.

Also remove the black air intake tube and clean out any water. The air intake box (under the air filter) should be remove and drained of any water. I think that you will have to take the plastic wheel well splash guard off to remove it.

I would also would drain the oil to remove any water trapped in the the oil pan. If you don't see much water, then I would add fresh oil with a new oil filter.

If there is water in the oil, you may want to add 4.5qts of the cheap autozone oil, then add some seafoam to the crankcase (as in the instructions) to clean it out. Then drain again, add new oil + a filter.

 

PAhonda got your back...he take care of you!

 

It was raining so hard I could not hear if it spun or not, the water was up the bottom of the door, I know I should have not gone in but it is what it is, should I drain the oil and all before I try cranking it? Would pulling the plugs and cranking it to try to get water out be bad for it in any way? This is my only car and I'm on a college budget and dont want to screw it up any more than I have. How do I know now if water got in the starter, will it just spin and not turn the motor over or will it just make that click sound and not ingage?

 

If you have water in the air filter box then you may have sucked water into the engine. If so take out the spark plugs out and crank it over. Water can do engine damage but let’s hope you just have a no spark condition or the starter isn’t cranking the motor. What state so you live in. My wife coming home from work was dodging falling trees and in a heavy rain in MI this late evening. I have seen a Honda Civic suck water up in the intake system and did some bad stuff, but I think it had an aftermarket low restriction air filter system on it.

 

What you need to do right now is to figure out if you got water into your engine, before you attempt to start the car.

Does your accord have a cold air intake, or is everything stock?

Inspect the air filter/intake tube/and remove the u-shaped part of the intake under the filter for signs of water.

Any water in the engine will make its way down to the oil pan, so I definitely would drain the oil to see if you have a lot of water mixed with the oil in the oil pan. You may have none at all, but you should drain to see.

Do this before you attempt to start the car.

 

i just took the air filter out, and its wet, i pulled what looks like the goose neck black intake tube that runs from the air box to the throttle body, that did have water in it, it seems to have two parts underneath to catch water in case this does happen. It has sat for about six hours but not in the sun yet, how long should i let it sit before I crank it? I am about to pull the plugs and crank it so if there is any water it can spit it out. Oh and It was in Wilmington NC, when it rains it pours here and the road ways can flood pretty bad, I saw a box truck with water above its hood once, and my roommates car got flooded. My honda is stock, no cold air intakes or anything, bone stock, dont have the money for that stuff.

 

I would get the water out as soon as you can. Let us know if there was water in the cylinders.

 

When I pulled the plugs out they had oil that looked like milky coffee so Im assuming that water did get in the cylinders, have not tried to crank it while the plugs are out. So to recap:

Huge puddle
Car sat in it for a min or so
Wet air filter
Water in the intake tube from air box to throttle
And milky coffee looking oil on the spark plugs when i pulled them
Have not tried cranking it yet, just been air drying at night

Should that be my next move or should I drain the oil and putting that seafoam stuff in it before? What is that by the way.