dead neon

dub2333 · Post by **dub2333** » Mon Apr 26, 2010 9:51 pm

so i was driving from the movies and it was raining SUPER hard.. i went into a deep puddle and somehow the piece attached to the bumper right in front of the tire broke off and my cai sucked in tons of water..my car shut off..its been 3days now and it wont start and my headlights no longer work and inside lights are getting dimmer as the days come and go...any help??

heydockyle · Post by **heydockyle** » Mon Apr 26, 2010 9:54 pm

Okay so first things first.

I take it you've been cranking it trying to get it to start. Well more then likely you drained the battery, which is why the lights aren't working.

Second, get the battery charged or get a jump pack and take the spark plugs out. Try cranking it over.
Being you've already tried to start it since then it's probably bent a rod though.

Neon4Life · Post by **Neon4Life** » Mon Apr 26, 2010 9:56 pm

in addition to what he said.

drop your oil pan and see if there is a bent or snapped ROD.

esfan · Post by **esfan** » Mon Apr 26, 2010 9:56 pm

LOL hydrolock most likely. I guess rods bent make the engine die forever...

You are looking into a engine rebuilt or a 2.4 or srt4 swap.

Mat00ES · Post by **Mat00ES** » Mon Apr 26, 2010 10:22 pm

Pull the plugs, put a few drops of marvel mystery oil in there and crank it over a few times without the plugs. Then, put in some new plugs and give it a go, you might need to use some spray start through the TB to get it going. Mine didn't want to start and fired a few fire balls out. But, after my puddle incident I only killed my TPS sensor.

Post by **occasional demons** » Mon Apr 26, 2010 10:41 pm

Drain the oil. At least pull the plug just long enough to see if water comes out, or the oil looks milky. You don't want to be running it, if it will start, with water in the oil.

Even with a bent rod, it should start. If it will turn over via the starter motor, it should run. It may not be pretty sounding tho.

If there is still moisture in the cylinders, spark plug tubes, that may be the main reason it is not firing. Pull the plugs like previously suggested.

You definitely want to charge the battery. The longer it sits, the worse it is for it. Jump starting will work, but putting it on a charger for 8 hour on slow charge, would be the better method.

If it makes evil noises once you do get it started, then you would need to pull the pan, and check for damage, or have someone that knows what to look for have a look.

OB · Post by OB » Mon Apr 26, 2010 11:59 pm

heydockyle wrote:Okay so first things first.

I take it you've been cranking it trying to get it to start. Well more then likely you drained the battery, which is why the lights aren't working.

Second, get the battery charged or get a jump pack and take the spark plugs out. Try cranking it over.
Being you've already tried to start it since then it's probably bent a rod though.

Almost certainly hydrolocked it and destroyed the engine. NEVER try to crank an engine that has sucked in water.

ZeroChad · Post by **ZeroChad** » Tue Apr 27, 2010 12:13 am

I doubt the starter motor has enough power to bend a rod. If anything it would skip teeth on the flywheel.

Here's a thread for reference.
viewtopic.php?t=42802

esfan · Post by **esfan** » Tue Apr 27, 2010 1:03 am

If there is still water in the cylinder wells, i doubt if start the engine by force will put too much pressure and damage the rods again.

Post by **occasional demons** » Tue Apr 27, 2010 7:07 am

I know from experience, the starter will come to a dead stop if there is too much liquid in the cylinder. On 2.2's anyways. Cracked heads will do that.