Water in engine? Car wash accident

[miltapher]

I have only had my 4runner 3 days and I have done something pretty stupid.

I opened the hood and thought I closed it. It was not shut all the way.

I washed the truck. Water got under the hood. Now water leaks onto my floorboard when I go up hills. The truck makes an funny sound when i drive it. Seems to do it when I let of the gas.

Did I ruin it? What should I do? I am really scared I ruined my 4runner.

Other than the weird noise it seems to be running fine.

 

[the_dingman]

First and foremost, stop driving it until you check the oil!

There's really only one way you can ruin your engine with water, and that's if it gets in the oil. From a car wash, this is HIGHLY unlikely. Check the dipstick, and check the oil filler cap. If you find your oil looks like creamy chocolate milk, or that there's a ton of white goop in the oil filler cap, you're pretty screwed. If your oil is ok, then there's no major damage.

My guess is that there's water in the electrical system, probably in the distributor. Remove the distributor cap and see if there's any water in there, if so, dry it. If there is no water in there, wait a few days and see if the problem goes away as the water dries.

As far as the water coming out on the floorboard, it probably got in through a rusthole (these trucks came pre-rusted from the factory) or a loose seal. Issues like this are far from uncommon. Let it dry out, and it should go away.

 

[miltapher]

Hey thankyou. I will check the oil in the morning. It's too dark now.

It really sucks to think I could of ruined my 4runner.

I am not a mechanic or someone who knows anything about cars. What is the distributor cap and what does it look like? I have a 1992 4runner. Can I drive it if it's wet? My lights don't look as bright as they should. I have to work in the morning.

It's been raining here a lot. There has not been much of a chance for it to dry out.

I am so worried about this.

 

[dudeguesswhat]

This is where your distributor cap is on a 22re, although yours might be black or brown. It's the thing that all of your spark plug wires plug into. Remove the two screws holding it in place and it should come right off.

 

[ToyTech99]

There's really only one way you can ruin your engine with water, and that's if it gets in the oil. .

There's another way that's an even bigger problem:

If your engine sucks water in through the air intake and it gets into the combustion chamber, it's toast instantly. Water does not compress.

 

[Spencer]

but water in engine would not let water into cab. stop your worrying, if the hood was anywhere but up its almost impossible that you got water in anything important much less the egine itsself.. Does it idle ruff? check spark plug wells if you must

 

[the_dingman]

There's another way that's an even bigger problem:

If your engine sucks water in through the air intake and it gets into the combustion chamber, it's toast instantly. Water does not compress.

Yes and no. First off, his engine still runs, an engine ruined by water in the air intake will seize in the compression stage and not turn over. Second, it takes quite a bit of water to do this.

I suppose there is a possibility of a small amount of water pooled in the intake somewhere, and it's sucking a small amount in, that could cause it to run rough, but isn't something that will ruin the engine unless it sits long enough to cause rust or corrosion.

I think you're dealing with a small issue here, might not be easy to pin down, but probably minor. My guess is that it's an electrical issue, most likely the distributor, and once dried, it'll be fine.

 

[ToyTech99]

Yes and no. First off, his engine still runs, an engine ruined by water in the air intake will seize in the compression stage and not turn over. Second, it takes quite a bit of water to do this.

I suppose there is a possibility of a small amount of water pooled in the intake somewhere, and it's sucking a small amount in, that could cause it to run rough, but isn't something that will ruin the engine unless it sits long enough to cause rust or corrosion.

I think you're dealing with a small issue here, might not be easy to pin down, but probably minor. My guess is that it's an electrical issue, most likely the distributor, and once dried, it'll be fine.

I wasn't talking about his engine, I was just making a general statement as a response to anyone believing that oil contamination is the only way that water can damage an engine. Obviously he didn't get water into his combustion chamber, because if he did, the engine would be scrap metal right now.

BTW, it does not take a lot of water to seize an engine. Like I said, water does not compress. If you can picture the amount of space between the top of the piston at the top of it's stroke in the compression stroke (all valves closed), it's a very small space. Ingesting enough water to fill that space on just one cylinder is all it would take to cause sever damage to the engine.

 

[miltapher]

Thankyou for ya'lls replies.

Here's an update:

The truck as been running great. The noise went away. There was water that would gush onto my passenger side floor. It's now dripping. I parked my truck on a hill last night hoping the water would dain out. Instead of pouring out it drips now. A new problem occured today. I rolled all my electric windows down to dry it out. It freakin started raining again. I rolled them all back up, but my passenger side window would not come back up. It's stuck inside the door. It's on the side were the water was coming out.

I think something shorted because of the water. I think that's what that noise was. Maybe when I was slowing down I could just hear it.

What could that be?

I put the truck in my mom's garage, so it can dry more and rain won't get in through that window.

I have a warrenty on this truck, would this be covered?

 

[94Beast4Runner]

You could check to see if it is covered by warrenty.

i dont think water getting in the door would short the window motor.

but if you got water in the fuse box it could short there.

 

[miltapher]

I am taking it in on monday.

This is giving me a big headache. Last night I left the garage door open. I went back out to put it down and a cat jumped out of my window. The bas**** cat pissed in my car and now it stinks. If I see it again, I am going to sick all 4 of my dogs on it's ***** ass.

Now the speedometer is giving me grief. It will not work for 10 minutes and then will start working again. Could this been caused by the water fusing the box?

I feel so bad for causing all these problems to my 4runner.

 

[alaskaman]

Is this thread for real? I have never heard of such bad luck and in so fast. Next thing we hear, a wild boar killed the cat in the tail section and a hunter killed it spraying blood over the interior. Seriously ? :hungry:

 

[the_dingman]

The wiring for the window switch is up pretty high, but I'm not sure where the motor sits if there was water in the door. If your weatherstripping on the outside of the window is going bad, it's very likely that you got a LOT of water in the door. Have you tried both the drivers and passengers side controls and the lock switch?

For the speedo, it's fairly common to have issues... Mine just started giving me trouble on the way back from my wedding (kept bouncing)... The speedo is mechanical, so fuses are not the problem. Most likely the cable needs to be lubed (search the forums for instructions). Otherwise it may be loose on the back of the cluster or where it attaches to the transfer case.

(replied @ 36,000 feet over the Gulf of Mexico :surfer: )

 

[gizmopt2002]

There's really only one way you can ruin your engine with water,

Ever hear of hydro-locking?

But really like he said, it was most likely just water in the dist.