White2000GT

Alright, I need some advice from some of you more seasoned knuckle-busters. A few weeks ago I was driving home from work and got caught in a flash flood. It was a mess! Water was almost mid way up the doors on the outside and got about ankle deep on the inside. Basically, I got caught in traffic at a red light and had no way to escape, and when the light turned green I went and made it just to the other side of the intersection before my car died and would not crank back up. I have an inner-fenderwell CAI, so you guessed it... water sucked into the intake and hydro-locked the engine.
The next day I had it towed home (stupid me had liability only coverage). So, here is what I have done so far:

1) Pulled all 8 coilpacks off and removed all eight sparkplugs
2) With sparkplugs removed, turned engine over several times and had water shoot straight out of two of the cylinders. I did this several more times until no more water came out and then left the plugs out for a few more days to let any residual water/moisture evaporate out of the cylinders.
3) Drained at least a liter of water out of oil pan. Checked tranny fluid and luckily no water came out of it.
4) Replaced all sparkplugs with brand new plugs.
5) Unhooked battery and let it set for about three minutes or so before hooking it back up.
6) Unhooked MAF and then plugged it back in.
7) Removed and cleaned air filter.

Luckily, water did not get deep enough inside the car to get the computer wet. When I turn the ignition to the ON position the gauges go through the normal routine and the fan blower turns on and blows, so I am fairly certain I have no blown fuses. The water never got deep enough to get to the fuse box inside the car or the one under the hood.

Ok, so after replacing the plugs and reinstalling the coilpacks and CAI I attempted to crank the engine. I would turn the ignition to ON and let it sit for about 10 - 15 seconds to let the fuel pump pressurize the fuel line and then attempt to crank her up. The first thing I noticed is that the starter sounds a lot louder than it should and seems to be working a lot harder than normal when trying to turn over the engine. And it would NOT CRANK! I pressed the Schrader valve on the fuel rail and fuel sprayed out, so I have pressure there.

Am I missing anything? Any suggestions on what else I should try? I know I am going to have to get rid of the car (not happy about that at all) and figure I will get a little more money out of a running car than a dead car. Parting out is out of the question because I won't make any money and would still be left with a shell of a car that I would somehow have to get rid of. And I am certain that the Homeowner's Association wouldn't look too kindly on me having a parted out husk of a car on the street in front of my house. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

cliffyk

This likely partially seized the engine, you should have sprayed WD-40 or similar (a bunch of it), and an ounce or so of motor oil, into each cylinder--then cranked it for 10 or 12 turns--and then installed the plugs and fired it up.
Leaving the bores open and wet for a "few" days will have left behind a thin layer of rust on the cylinder walls, like that you see on brake rotors on a car that has not been driven for a few days.

You might try using the WD-40/motor oil treatment to see if it will free up, however most likely the engine will never be the same--then again they can be surprisingly robust sometimes...

school boy

i know thw COPs dont like to get wet so make sure they're properly working too

BraMas

I was thinking the same thing as Cliff. Probably the worst thing you could have done is letting it set with no sparkplugs in it after there was moisture in the cylinder. Ever seen your rotors after setting for a day or 2 after a rain storm. The same thing just happened to your cylinder walls. Pull the plugs back out squirt oil or WD-40 in all 8 crank it over to get the walls clean of rust and try to restart. It will smoke for a minute but once the oil burns off it should be ok providing the walls are not pitted from the rust

White2000GT

You know what? My dad told me to do the exact same thing about spraying WD-40 into the cylinders. But between the stress of the whole situation and trying to work on the car with the limited amount of time I had available, it totally slipped my mind. But hey, none of that matters now because I snapped one of the sparkplugs in half today when I was putting them back in after doing the WD-40 thing. So now I have half a sparkplug stuck in one of the cylinders. I am so ready to just shove that car off a cliff!
Anyways, thanks for the advice.