Can you jump a car with a wet engine?

A car drove through a flooded road and the engine cut out. I was wondering if juming the battery would work and is it safe?

It should be safe, but I doubt that it will be effective. BTW, what kind of car drives itself though a flooded road? it sounds like an obvious design defect.

EEEESH!! DO NOT try and restart the car. If ya sucked any water into your intake, then it could very well have made its way into the combustion chamber-- and-- in case you’re not aware-- water does not exactly compress or ignite very well. Trying to restart it w/o blowing the water out of there first could cause serious damage… if it’s not already too late.

My father found this out the hard way last year after he drove through a flooded street and his engine got flooded-- He tried to restart it later-- end result: Needed a new engine.

“BTW, what kind of car drives itself though a flooded road?”

A suicidal car?

Seriously, have it checked out before trying to start it to avoid any additional damage.

Definitely, pull the spark plugs, crank the motor for a bit, change the oil, and THEN try to start it.

I have a feeling that what you think is a dead battery is actually a hydrolocked motor. As VelocityBoy said, water tends not to compress like air does (well, it compresses, but it takes a little more force than your connecting rods are willing to deliver) and you have to make sure that water is out of there before you try to run the motor.

Right about the engine but don’t forget the transmission. Pull the dipstick tube and if the fluid loks like “two” fluids- water mixed with the red or brownish automatic transmission fluid- better have it towed and checked out, and of course give them the big picture. It’ll be harder for water to get into the trans than the engine, but…