My 3 Year Old Son Sprayed Water Up The Exhaust?

[callum06]

Yesterday while washing the car my son decided to spray water up the exhaust pipe, i then tried to start the car today and it did start then suddenly stopped again!! i tried re-starting it with no luck has he or myself do any damage to the car?? any tips on how to fix it??

Cheers

[TVmonitor]

It sounds like your 3 year old son knows more about cars than you.

you are much more likely to have got water into something important whilst washing say the engine compartment or around the hood. than squirting a bit of water up the exhaust. - (I take it he didn't spend several hours squirting water up there?).

I'd review what you have been doing with the car lately (Song Kran??!!) and what other factors may be at play.

[callum06]

It sounds like your 3 year old son knows more about cars than you.

you are much more likely to have got water into something important whilst washing say the engine compartment or around the hood. than squirting a bit of water up the exhaust. - (I take it he didn't spend several hours squirting water up there?).

I'd review what you have been doing with the car lately (Song Kran??!!) and what other factors may be at play.

Its a 13 year old VW Vento, so it wasn't used during Songkran i have been away for 2 weeks and when i came back 2 days ago the car started fine and was running great!! I washed it yesterday and then left it in the same place over night, went out today and tried starting it and as i said it started then died there was a large puddle of water from the the exhaust after that....

It sounds like your 3 year old son knows more about cars than you. I will agree with you on that one

[Cuban]

Won't start ?

Does the engine turn over on the starter motor? If no that suggests the battery or related electrics.

If the engine turns but does not fire that suggests that the high voltage electrics might have been soaked - I would assume that in Thai heat it should have dried out inside a few hours at worst.

Please provide some detail of what happens when you turn the key to postion II (dash lights etc?) and then position III.

[callum06]

Won't start ?

Does the engine turn over on the starter motor? If no that suggests the battery or related electrics.

If the engine turns but does not fire that suggests that the high voltage electrics might have been soaked - I would assume that in Thai heat it should have dried out inside a few hours at worst.

Please provide some detail of what happens when you turn the key to postion II (dash lights etc?) and then position III.

Postion 2 = dash lights are on

Postion 3 = the engine is trying to turn (So that would put it down to the battery or starter motor, i guess)

Would the act of spraying a normal garden hose up the exhaust for i guess 30 seconds damage the engine in anyway?? i don't see how that would affect the electrics.....

[T_Dog]

A common prank back home was to shove a potato into the exhaust pipe. The back pressure keeps the engine from starting. So.... There is a chance there is still enough water in a low point of your exhaust, or in your muffler, that is keeping enough back pressure to screw up the mixture and maybe cause flooding. Some cars with fuel injection are very sensitive to this.

Your engine is a big air pump so you might want to just keep cranking to try to push the water out....if that is the problem. Good luck and let us know what works out.

[callum06]

Thanks for your replies and advice!!

Got home today just after lunch and turned the key in the car and it started straight off i would say that with the mixture of my son and the heavy rain in the South of Thailand last night the car wasn't too happy!!

I would say that the air blockage from the water caused the problem but after a bit of this sunny waether the problem dried its self out ...

Thanks to = CUBAN and T_DOG for their replies.....

[Cuban]

Glad it's resolved.

> Would the act of spraying a normal garden hose up the exhaust for i guess 30 seconds damage the engine in anyway??

> i don't see how that would affect the electrics.....

It would be possible with enough water pressure to get some water into at least one of the engine cylinders, (via an exhaust value) that would probably prevent the engine running at all - if not just disable that cylinder for a while (until the water cleared) - engine would run rough similar to running with a faulty HT lead to a spark plug. Water in a cylinder can cause more serious damage.

[callum06]

Thanks Cuban,

The car is running great today and back to normal

Cheers TV ...

[Thanyaburi Mac]

Thanks Cuban,

The car is running great today and back to normal

Cheers TV ...

A few years back I had my Toyota pickup in for it's annual inspection (over 7 years old), the inspector said it wasn't going to pass the emissions check. What to do, sez I. He says take it to the back lot and my guy will take care of the problem.

At the back lot the mech stuck a hose up the exhaust pipe and let it run for about 5 minutes on high. The then said stand back!! Turned on the engine, and difficult to imagine the black cloud and hard parts of gunk that burst out.

Back to the inspector, it passed.

An "auto enema" I guess you'd call it.

Mac

[kenk3z]

There is an emissions check in Thailand?

I never would have imagined such. Does the rule cover the whole country? What vehicles are covered? Diesel engines too?

kenk3z

[BSJ]

Get some of this and spray your ignition system. Twist then pull your plug leads off, spray inside end cap. On older cars you can pull the HT lead off the coil and spray inside. And old style distributors can be sprayed inside. Let the excess drip of then push the leads back on.

Dissy (distributor) caps remember to rag out the inside or you may get a little explosion when you crank it over!

[tete]

There is an emissions check in Thailand?

I never would have imagined such. Does the rule cover the whole country? What vehicles are covered? Diesel engines too?

kenk3z

All cars over 8 years have to be checked when you pay 1 year tax

[TVmonitor]

When looking for a problem witha car, it's very easy to put two events together and decide that's the cause - I think in this case it is unlikely and more likely co-incidental.

When diagnosing a car, work backwards from the basics (and cheapest first).

look at everything that your car went through in the immediate precedence, don't cling to one unsubstantiated idea.

Exhaust pipe? - unlikely from 30 seconds - as said earlier, an engine when turned over is like a big pump and water would be explelled..

To get into the cylinder would require some serious effort.

I think the combination of rain and washing may well have interfered with something.

keep an eye on your gouges and make sure the temp and charging etc is normal.

Does the engine continue to run smoothly? Does it start as quickly as it use to?.

Potatoes - well anyone who's tried that will know that as often as not the potatoe is fired from the exhaust.Its quite possible for a car to submerse it's exhaust and still start up after a few turns.