I drove through like a 10 inch puddle and my car died and didnt start. The air filter was completely drenched so i replaced it. It still didnt start so we tried jumping it and eventually it started. Now when the car starts there is a ticking noise and a ton of white smoke comes out of the exhaust. When i looked in my oil. White smoke was coming out of the dipstick hole. My oil still looks fine the coolant is at its normal level and just not sure what it is. Any ideas? The oil was pretty low but couldnt find any leaks. I was able to get 3 quarts in there and soon after there was even more white exhaust smoke. Nervous to drive it
You might have had a partial hydro-lock situation happen there. Water got sucked into the engine, possibly the engine trying to compress the water in the cylinders did some damage to the piston rings or head gasket, and the water drained into the crankcase. A compression test, cooling system pressure test, and cylinder leak down tests should be considered.
Okay thank you for your input. That will be useful i had no clue how to explain what needed to be checked.
After finding water in the air cleaner the first step should have been to remove the spark plugs to clear the water from the cylinders. It is too late for that now, the damage is done and some intake manifold designs can hold water, then when the engine is started more water enters the cylinders.
When an engine takes in water and hydro-locks the result is usually bent connecting rods, this can be very noisy if the engine still runs. The smoke suggests that you also have a broken piston.
Don’t order a list of diagnostic tests, you will be a few hundred dollars lighter. Just explain that water got into the air cleaner and the shop should know what sort of damage has occurred. After a brief look and listen they should be able to give you a price for a replacement engine.
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