i heard about the term "hydrolock" many times on this board, regarding CAI.

According to other post, hydrolock is caused by water, which gets into the intake...

So can someone describe what hydrolock is. A DEFINITION IS GOOD.

what is the cause, effect, and how do you prevent it?

thanks!

 

The cause of hydrolock is what you mentioned...water. But it must be enough water to impact combustion. Water is sucked in the intake by driving through high water. The effect isn't a good one. If you're lucky, damage may be repairable, but most of the time the engine is toast.

 

I was curious too, so I googled it.

http://www.pcafcr.org/techtips.htm#Prevent...944%20Hydrolock

"There is no place for the water to go when the piston tries to compress it." If the water won't compress, I guess something else has to give.

 

its when you smoke too much HYDRO and LOCK yourself out of your car!

 

Question:
[QUOTE]what is hydrolock?

 

Cause: Water (as stated above) getting into the engine

Effect: As the piston rises on the compression stroke, air in the cylinder compresses, but water cannot be compressed. If the volume of water ingested is enough, it prevents the piston from rising to the top of the cylinder. When the piston stops, the crank is still turning, the other pistons are still firing, and the connecting rod is still pushing the piston upwards. Something has to give. If you are lucky, the engine simply stalls. But if there's enough speed and momentum, something breaks.

For the nitty gritty details, in our 2L 4 cyl, each cylinder is only .5L in volume. 11:1 compression means that .5L is reduced by a factor of 11 as the piston rises on the compression stroke. If you do the math, you'll see that .045 L (45 mL, or about 1.5 ounces) of water in any one cylinder can be enough to hydrolock.

Prevention: Don't allow water to get through your intake and into the engine.

 

It costs 5k if it happens to you. (Dealer cost of my new short block)

 

jeffbrig-thanks for your in detail input...