89 toyota camry hit flood

ok i have this 4dr 89 camry with a 2.0 4 cyl engine and the body is really rusty..the floorboards even have holes starting to go through.. well anyways i was driving one night and hit a flood...the water came up over the hood and the car died out... i haven't been able to get it started since....i've tried new battery, jump starting, clutch starting, and now it's in my garage, stripped down...i was told to take off the starter and turn the flywheel but i was having trouble gripping it...when i turn the belt it moves but not too much maybe 6 inches or so....when i try to start it..it clicks, then it sounds like the engine is locked or something...it makes a loud thud noise....what should i do...i was also told to take off the distrubutor cap and let it dry out for 3 days....

I would remove the spark plugs and crank engine for few seconds. See if water will exit through spark plug holes. You of course have to disconnect power to the ignition coil so you will not burnt it.

Sam

i also took off the air hose going from the air filter to the fuel injector and it had alot of water in it...the air filter started getting moldy

Do what somick suggested. If the battery/starter won't turn the engine, do it by hand with a wrench on the large bolt/pulley on the crankshaft. It's possible that water got in to the intake and down in to the engine. This could have hydrolocked the engine. This could have completely destroyed the engine. Water can not be compressed like the gas/air mixture that is normally inside the engine. This is a basic principle of hydraulics. When enough water get's inside the engine while the engine is running and the engine tries to compress (squeeze) it, it simply breaks the engine apart. This renders the engine useless. You really need to test for this. Try to get the water out of the engine as described above and then see if the engine will turn and then run once back together.

Good luck.

Mike

ok i will do that

I'll add that all the water needs to be removed as quickly as possible to prevent rust from forming on the interior cylinder walls, which can result in scoring and premature ring failure. As suggested, remove all the plugs, use compressed air to dry them all out. Dry out all the electrical wires too using fans. Disconnect and dry/clean off the spark plugs, wires, cap & rotor. Purge the fuel lines and add a fuel dewatering additive. Blow out all the vacuum lines with compressed air.

Let's just hope that you didn't bend/break a rod. Good luck!

ok well it took almost a month to get it here to the garage, do to lack of transportation...so the water has been sitting inside the engine for awhile...well as of right now i noticed that there was still alot of water in the fuel injectors and the flywheel is rusted...and the distributor cap had a little bit of oil at the bottom of it...is there a chance of still reviving the car...keep in mind it had approx. 221,000 miles on the engine but i did do tune ups on it like ever three weeks but it's mostly because i would put on roughly 400 miles in a day or two with just city driving...p.s sorry i don't reply more just not enought time in a day for work school and working on a car

"is there a chance of still reviving the car"

No one will know; you just have to give it a try.

Mike

A month is a long time. Enough rust can form to seize the crankshaft and camshaft bearings and every other shaft, making it hard if not impossible for the starter to overcome it.

I agree with Mike that it can't hurt to try, but let's use a little forethought to minimize the potential damage, starting with what was suggested before.

Next, I'd change the oil and transmission fluid. Coolant, power steering, and brake fluids are probably okay. You want any water in there out and you want fresh oil and fluid to be able to suspend any rust particles and carry them to the filters.

Then I'd do all I can to lubricate all the sliding surfaces in the engine before attempting to turn it over. That means removing the timing cover and belt and priming the oil pump to circulate oil into all the bearings. You could even remove the valve cover and pour some fresh oil onto each of the camshaft journals and wipe down the lobes. If you haven't reinstalled the timing belt yet, use a large wrench to turn the camshafts slowly, inspecting the lobes for rust. Remove it with very fine grit emery paper, then realign the camshafts and crankshaft. Also spray down all the throttle linkage with WD-40 and work the linkage through the range of motion. Reinstall the timing belt and covers.

Then I'd pour a teaspoon or two of oil into each spark plug hole. It will collect at the piston rings and wipe up along the cylinder walls ahead of the piston to help lubricate it.

If anyone can think of anything else to oil/lube, I'm welcome to it. Otherwise, it's time to turn it over. With the plugs still removed, use a breaker bar to turn the crankshaft through one or two revolutions. If you can't break it loose, then try the starter in short bumps, then repeat the breaker bar. If that doesn't work, then you're hosed. If you can turn it, then use the starter to crank the engine for 15-30 seconds. Listen for any weird noises and stop if you hear any. Have a friend turn the key as you listen for the source of the noise. Hopefully, any noises will fade away quickly. Then you can reinstall the plugs, reconnect the wires and see if she'll start. It'll probably smoke some from the oil in the cylinders. I'd also suggest an oil and filter change after 500 miles.

I don't speak from direct experience but it is my background, so as mentioned before, to all the other gearheads in here, please let me know of any item that I've missed. Hopefully I've used enough logic and knowledge to minimize the damage. It is likely that your engine will consume oil after this due to scored and/or pitted cylinder walls.

Good luck on this and post back to let us know the outcome, good or bad.