my engine took a drink
 

hey i was driving through a puddle and my car started smoking when i got out of it. i have a cai on it and i guess i took in some water. it wouldnt start for about 10 mins, then it did but smoked for a few mins and ran at a lower rpm then usual by 200. so i drove it downt he road to my brothers shop and we looked over it, ended up replacing the plugs and doing an oil change adding in lucas motor oil bc its thicker.....everything seems ok but it has a tap now, that i was told by a few people, that sounds like its a bent rod possibly. is that usually what happens when it takes in water? and also what should i do? the car is a 96 del sol i have fro sale for 4500 i was just thinking i would just see if i could sell it for like 4 or 3500 as it is but i dont know if anyone would want to buy it so i'm checking into what i can do to fix it cheaply. let me know
thanx
parker

well, if it sounds like you did do some engine damage. water doesn't compress, so something else has to give if your intake did take on water.

and if you did bend a rod, which is likely, you'll need to find a new bottom end...and i'd say the car is probably worth about 3000 with a blown motor.

maybe less, so i'd have it fixed and or put a new bottom end in once you diagnose the problem and it turns out to be the rods.

well i would hit up the bone yard for a set of ZC pistons and B18 rods take them to nelsons have the put the rods in and put the pistons and rods in problem fixed you out around 80-100 bucks and just uped the value of the car I was looking at your delsol I was intersted in it but I desided to keep the grape ape.
good luck man
art

art, thats assuming the cylinder walls aren't mangled...many times its just easier to replace one bottom end with another...if it worked and ran prior to the swap.

hey the compression from left to right was 140-160-160-140 . does that mean anything?
parker

That is definitely not good numbers but I believe your numbers would be alot lower if you bent a rod. You need to do a leakdown test to find out where the pressure loss is occuring. You might have just a bent/burnt valves.

how do i do a leakdown test ?
thanx
parker

Take your car to someone who has a leakdown tester or buy one. They cost about $75 for a cheap one that will still give reliable results. You could also do a "wet" compression test. In the two cylinders with the really low numbers poor a cap full of oil into the cylinder and redo the compression test. If the numbers go dramatically up then you've got an issue with ring seal. This could be do to a slightly bent rod I assume but more likely to worn rings in general. If the comp numbers don't go up then the problem is more likely in your valves. The water suddenly hitting and cooling your valves could have deformed or cracked them.