p38 sucked in water

My 1997 range rover p38 sucked in water after going through a puddle, it was still running although very noisy, i have taken the top end off and can see no problems although the engine seems to be seized now(may be due to the length of time sat), before i take the engine out and look at the bottom end i was wondering if anyone had any ideas of what it could be.

Hi Rusty1

I'm no Landrover expert but as with most engines that suck in water into the air intake you get whats called an aqualock.

In most cases this is not good news as you have every possible chance of bending a con rod or crank, i know of a chap that done it in an early renault clio, he went thro a ford at speed and sucked a load of water into the intake locking the engine solid and killing the bottom end of the engine.

I'm not saying this has happened to your engine but it's a possibilty.

any way good luck

Roy AKA Plague

hi rusty,

My brother done the same thing in his 300 Defender and switch it of instantly. Basicly the cyclinders fill with water and as the pistons cant compress water its like hiting a brick wall at speed and depending on how many revs you had on will depend on the damage. If you can free it up, I would tern the engine over by hand with the heads off and check to see if the pistons all come to the same hight. In this situation the con rods tend to be the weakest link.

Good luck

Bryan

if its a v8 take the plugs out and try to turn it over. might get rid of any water left. sometimes ur lucky and no major damage has been done.
valves and pistons may be damaged though. poss the conrods.


good luck mate.