I was headed to work this morning and had to cross some water that was in the road and it stalled my car out. And now it won't start back. But the reason it won't start is because the starter is messed up. But there is water in the motor. And I want to know what I can do so I don't mess it up. I took the cold air off and drained water out of it. Probably put some water remover in the tank. Should I take all the spark plugs out and dry them off? I took one out and it was wet. Checked the oil and theres no water in the oil. Put a rachet and socket on crank pulley and engine turns easy so I know the engine ain't locked up. Is there anything else I should do? Thanks in advance for any help. This is very frustrating but it was my fault should've just turned around and went back home.

 

Wow, sorry to hear that. I would take all the spark plugs out jack up one side of the car at a time and then manually turn the engine over. Most of the water will come out that way....Don't try to turn it over with the starter with that water in there. You'll be in for major trouble if you aren't already. How big of a puddle was it for the record?

 

Yeah I hope I ain't in major trouble with it. As for how high the water is it come over my ankles I'd say a good 5 inches if not more. I guess it just splashed real good even though I was barely going. Maybe someone can help me solve what happened. When it stalled the headlights got real dim, and I tried to start it and it wouldn't turn. So i turned lights off and everything else and let it sit for bout a minute and then tried it again and the starter made a loud creeking sound. The guy that towed it home for me told me my starter was busted.

 

there was water in your cold air?!?!


sorry bro... your opti is a memory

 

For your sake I hope that it is electrical. It may just need to dry out some and then it'll be fine. You said that you were able to turn it over by hand right? If so then you should be ok. Replace the starter do what I mentioned above and you should be ok. I think your problem is electrical though, even though you found water in your filter.

 

I would change the oil . Pull the plugs and turn the engine by hand to make sure no water is in cylinders . Hopefully your opti isnt trashed .

 

Yeah I turned the engine by hand. Went to parts store to get starter but didn't have any in stock it won't be here to tomorrow. I'll take the plugs out. I'm going to take old starter off and check it out. Hopefully its just the starter. Any other recommendations, and thanks for the comments.

 

Just an update put the new starter on yesterday and the car runs. It ran rough for the first 10 minutes now it seems to run fine. I'll know when I take it for a test drive. Changed the oil in it also. I'm lucky that it didn't do any major damage. Thanks for all the comments.

 

yes you are lucky, you will now learn the art of puddle dodging