Auto advice

how high did the water go?

 

I had the same thing happen. Once it dried out (couple days) I was able t get it going.

 

Thats an insurance claim bro. Call your insurance company. New Van UP!!

 

Unless your ridin dirty... then your beat. I would say you got water in the catalytic converter.

 

Did he drive it off a bridge? How would water get up to the intake on an econoline van? Haha

 

I would imagine he could possibly get water in his intake if he was driving, splashing water around. But I would think it's more likely he just got water in his plugs, he could pull them and check, and dry out the wells if there's water in there.

 

Relax killer. Its obviously not impossible. Just very, very, unlikely. If you replace the nissan and the dodge in those pictures with an econoline.. my point would be made.

 

yea ur intake might be flooded but I doubt the water got that high.try getting a new battery and check ur fuses.if the electrical system got flooded while ur battery was connected then junk it because it will take an entire overhaul and cost way more to fix than get a new ride.my cousins a mechanic he told me a good thing right after sandy even tho it was too late since I lost 3 cars,if u disconnect the negative battery cable before a flood,ur car will live.if its connected and u get flooded its over

 

Chich, try the easy stuff first. Access the distributor cap, pull it off and spray some WD-40 in it and re-install it (to get rid of any water). Sometimes, heavy rain will condensate in certain areas and do wacky stuff. If that doesn't do the trick, we can move forward with some other steps.

Unless your van was in standing water up to the floorboard, I wouldn't worry about catalytic converters and such. Most likely related to water somehow making its way into your engine bay....either spark or fuel related.

 

HAHA. I do, but I'm pretty sure it's flooded as well. Don't need you to tell me that.

Interested to hear what his mechanic says...

 

Sorry to hear about your troubles. I have 30+ years in the auto repair business. My experience is primarily with Dodge and Chrysler vehicle and I have little first hand knowledge of Ford products. However, cars is cars and the basic stuff is all pretty much the same. Wouldn't hurt to know what engine you've got in it. Water is generally not good for cars. It doesn't compress, will not burn and messes with electrical stuff. Living in south Florida, I've dealt with this scenario many times.

Of course, it's difficult to properly diagnose a vehicle long distance, but I'll throw out some things you can try. I assume that you are somewhat mechanically inclined and have some basic tools to work with.

I'm gonna assume that you were driving when this occurred as opposed to a rising water situation. If that's the case, you either ingested a lot of water into the air intake and/or saturated electrical/electronic components.

In the first case (water in intake) there's two possible scenarios depending on how fast you were going and the engine was turning at the time:
- You've got a bunch of water in the intake system and it is just soaking things down and preventing proper firing.
- Or worst case, you got boatloads of water in there and have done mechanical damage to the engine. Water won't compress and if you do try to compress it something has to give, like connecting rods and pistons.

I'd start by checking the engine air filter. If it is wet and/or all wrinkly looking then you've gotten water up in there. Continue checking the ductwork leading up to the engine's throttle body. Dry all this stuff out and give it a try.

If you're still having trouble, pull the spark plugs* and check for presence of water. If there's a lot of water, disable the ignition coils (very important!) and crank the engine over with the plugs removed. This should push out any large amounts of water in the engine. Keep cranking until no more water comes out. Depending on how the intake manifold is configured, there may be water laying in there and that would require either removing the manifold or otherwise getting most of the water out. Clean and dry out the plugs, dry and re-install things and see how it goes.

If it runs OK, then you're good. You're gonna want to change the oil because there's no doubt some water in there. Also check the other vital fluids (trans, P/S, differential) for water and change as needed. You'll probably have a check engine light on due to cranking the engine with stuff disconnected. Disconnect the battery or have your mechanic clear the codes.

If it still runs crappy, you may still have water somewhere in the intake (it can hide in low spots, etc) and you can pull some plugs again to see if they're still getting wet. Repeat above if they are. If not, you've either got mechanical engine damage or some saturated electrical stuff. Electrical diagnosis might require a scan tool but usually can be fixed just by drying things. Carefully disconnecting electrical connectors and drying them may be your fix. Mechanical damage would probably require a compression test and engine teardown to see what's going on. Let's hope this is not the case.

I hope this helps in resolving you problem. Feel free to ask more questions, I'll respond the best I can. If you need to, PM me with your number and we can talk over the phone. Good luck!

*Note: a lot of Ford engine are prone to breaking spark plugs off in the engine. If this happens to you, Stop! Get the van towed to somebody with the proper tools and experience to fix this. You'll probably only make matters worse attempting to fix that on your own.

 

I've also known Fords to have issues with start up when the distributor cap is wet. Thought it was older generations with that though. I have one from the same time frame as the OP and never such a problem. It's definitely a common malady in the previous generations.

 

Happy to hear it ended up simple and in-expensive bro.

 

This^^^

Pull a plug and look for signs of moisture. Running/spraying some methanol/ethanol/IPA in past the MAF sensor could dry things out, but only do it at idle in small amounts. Plugs don't like water.

 

You are lucky! That could have trashed the engine. Time for a snorkel kit!

 

Nah... the lesson is ... read the original post fully before responding.

 

Ive been using amsoil full synthetic for a while now. I use the signature series and change it evry 25k miles. I really like this product. Has any of you used this and if yes can you recommend it in a 4 stroke outboard marine motor?