Noob Question

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newb_civic

Junior Member
Couple of days ago it rained. I parked my car by a drain and my parking lot is slanted towards the drain. When I was leaving to work, I noticed my car was submerged in water because the drain was flooded. The water was up to my front bumper. When I finally drove off I noticed my battery light was shining on my cluster. I double checked everything under the hood and didn't find anything. It's been 5 days now and it's still shining...damn thing annoys me!

I have a 93 Civic EX w/ 100,000 miles on it. Any help would be appreciated and take it easy on me with the noob slashing.
 
to whom ever was trying to flame on me yesterday
for not helping the n00bs....umm fuck you.



and to newb_civic:

do you have a cai? is it possible that ur filter got wet
and u sucked some water into ur engine?
check under your hood and bumper up to where the water was
and look for any wires that may have gotten wet.


all else fails, try resetting ur ecu.
thats what i would do....

:)
 
if he sucked water into the engine he would have more problems than a battery light.


he probably grounded something and now the battery is toast.
 
It probally isn't sucking water in, other wise you would have heard a big boom a little bit ago. Get a multi meter and test the voltage of the battery when off (should be 12.5) If it is a non Mantance free battery, open up the cells and test the electroltye with a hydrometer (like what you use to test coolant except it is made for the battery acid) If the electroltye is low, go to the store and buy DISTILLED water (anything else will fuck up your battery) and fill up so that there is about an inch or so to the top. Also reset your ecu.
 
reset the ecu and buy a new battery. bah to messing with it, by 100k I could guess you probably need a new one anyhoo, if you haven't bought one recently.
 
Originally posted by asmallsol@Apr 10 2003, 06:43 PM
It probally isn't sucking water in, other wise you would have heard a big boom a little bit ago.
Click to expand...

now its my time to learn.
i got a cai. how much water needs to be sucked in
in order for engine to go bye bye?

my filter got SOAKED during a rainstorm in so. cali.
i had to drive 5 miles to home with it wet...i kept the revs. low and dryed it off when i got home....
 
normally it will only go BOOM when you submerge it in water and it works like a big straw. What I would say is to buy a sheild so the thing does not get all wet (i think injen has one or make your own. Even better, when it is really stroming out, Just run off the upper section of it (if yours is a 2 peicer) The reason why water and CAI's don't mix is because water (alll liquids) are non compressable. When alot of water goes in on the down stroke and puts like 8 parts water in (in terms of compression ratio) when the piston moves up and shrinks the combustion chamber, the water just stays there and does not compress. Your engine best outcome in this situation is to just stop before the engine moves to the upstroke. Then you would have to take the plugs out, turn the engine over to have the pistons pump the water out (very unlikely you would be this lucky) If your not so lucky, your pistons will proceed to move foward but because the water has no place to go, things snap and start to brake. The connection rods can snap, piston and piston pins can get demolished. Basicly if it happens, you will know it. A little water is not going to do any thing/much, other wise on a foggy day, your car would start blowing up (all cars not just CAI's) Basicly on rainy days, try not to go rev crazy.
 
Originally posted by karnash@Apr 10 2003, 07:30 PM


my filter got SOAKED during a rainstorm
Click to expand...

I will guess that you have an aftermarket filter. Water cant be compressed AT ALL! imagine your piston traveling happily up and down and up and down and then comes to a COMPLETE stop. Bent rods, pistons hitting valves, all from like a teaspoon of water, any water in your engine is not good. a teaspoon in there is about the end of that. Keep in mind even if you do keep revs low your engine is still doing 3-4k revs a minute and still is doing full compression
 
back to the original question
check the battery
check for grounded out shit
if your belts got wet there is a good chance you glazed it and its just not spinning the alternator enough now... was it / is it squealing a lot?
 
Okay...I reseted the ecu and my voltage for my battery is fine. Damn thing is still shining! I'll double check the belts and alternator again.

Thanks for replying guys.
 
haha yea, if your lucky (and you don't suck in that much condensed water) it will just immediately evaporate from the heat of the engine compartment. However if you suck up too much water, your all done. Hondas especially work this way, because they make power by having such a tight clearance between the valves and the piston. If you fill that space with a little water - things get ugly real fast. It's like slamming your piston into a solid piece of metal. And of course, things don't have "give" in the engine, so the shockwave continues into the valvetrain and down to the crank, breaking things along the way. Getting your filter wet shouldn't cause this, but it certainly isn't good for the engine by any means. feasably, it would only happen if you submerge the solid end of your CAI in a puddle, then lik sol sai, it works like a straw, and your going to be having a bad day.
 
Figured it out! It was my alternator thats fuked up. When I checked the voltage when the car was idle it was fine but when I checked the voltage when I hit the gas the voltage kicks up all the way to 17.0 even more if I stepped on the gas harder. My lights lit up brighter than New York City.

Thanks for the replies guys.
 
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