locked motor

[MBGT02]

i have a 02 gt and it flooded here a little bit and i went through some water, dumb idea i know lol, not as deep as it looked. i assume i sucked too much water up through my air filter, i have the cai down in the fender well. wouldnt start, had towed home, then pulled the plugs and tried to crank over to get the water out and all it does is click. it was salt water that got in the motor. i know a few mechanics they tell me to replace it with another 4.6 or have it rebuilt and i should be fine. thats fine with me however i just wanna make sure there is no electrical issues. my dash, lights, door locks, radio, everything works fine just want to make sure before i dish out 4 grand. the water was about 1/2 up my wheel. i dont have it lowered or anything. any help would be great. is there anyway to check to make sure?

 

[deftsound]

If all it does is click instead of turn over it sounds like the battery is dead or you have a bad connection to the starter, however since you said you drove through water who knows what could have happened. I doubt unless you drove through a LOT of water that any of the electrical components are bad but its definitely a possibility. See if you can get someone to jump start you and then see if it will turn over. If not, id say your problem is more serious...

BTW if you do decide to put a new motor in, and your budget is 4k, go ahead and drop in a forged block or atleast get some ported heads and cams or something...

 

[bhuff30]

Can you rotate the crank by hand? Make sure it isn't in gear when you try.

 

[MBGT02]

the battery is fully charged, been charging all day lol. is there anyway to check electrical stuff?

 

[MBGT02]

it doesnt wanna rotate by hand either lol

 

[bhuff30]

If the engine won't turn by hand, then you can be pretty sure that there is no electrical issue involved. The engine will need to be openned or replaced. I don't see much to laugh about though?

 

[patman0911]

How long had it been sitting before you tried to crank it and how long a ratchet/breaker bar were you using to turn it by hand? Put a cheater bar on there and get some more leverage (don't snap the crank bolt off though!) - you may be fighting against a bit of rust in a cylinder or two. Bare iron/steel can develop a layer of surface rust overnight when exposed to water and air - salt water rusts even faster.

If you can't rotate it by hand with the plugs out, then you've got internal problems.

 

[wmburns]

Reminder to ONLY rotate the motor in a clockwise direction as viewed from the front crankshaft damper. Never rotate a modular motor backwards. The nut is 19mm.

On a normal engine, I can rotate the motor with a medium length breaker bar (18-24"). Obviously, there will be some additional resistance getting through the compression stroke.

As stated before, if it takes more effort than what can be done with a breaker bar, there is something wrong. The cylinders could be hydro locked. That is why it is important to remove the spark plugs as this will give the water someplace to go.

Once the spark plugs have been removed, the turning effort should be smooth and relatively low. Otherwise, there is internal damage.

Time is not on your side here if the motor is to be saved.

 

[patman0911]

Oh, there is a slight possibility your engine could be covered by insurance if this was a flash flood situation. My mother nuked a motor once when she got caught in a flash flood and it was covered by insurance - the set of circumstances that they would cover was narrow (and I don't remember what they were, and your insurance may be different) but her situation fit so they picked up the tab for a new engine.


Today's lesson: Don't go driving through flooded roads, especially if you have a fender-well mounted air filter.

 

[MBGT02]

insurance totalled it gave me 9700 for it. i took my bullits off and parted ways with her. Now on the hunt for another. looking to spend about 10 or under if anybody knows one. 99-04 5 spd

 

[RedDaemon]

wow. insurance gave you a really good deal haha. Mach 1s can be had for about 11-13 and a Cobra slightly more. id recommend either of these. if you can.

otherwise, staying in your limit it should be extremely easy to find a 99-04 GT