So here in "beautiful" socal its been raining pretty heavy the last few days.. the other night i drove through a big puddle and once i got out of it my car was making funny noises im kind of curious if you guys think water got into my popcharger somehow?? my buddy says i need to change my oil (which i really need to do) and that the noise should go away... any thoughts??

 

You need to tell us what the noises are and where they're coming from. It could be anything. Area and the type of noise will narrow it down for us.

 

if you sucked water up into the intake, that could do all sorts of horrible crap to the engine internals.

 

Hence I am freaking out . The noises are coming from the engine bay when I'm driving in 1st and 2nd and then when I start braking..sounds kind of like water circulating somewhere.. its hard to explain but its sunny today so I'm gonna change the oil and take it on the freeway to "air it out" as my pops says to do.

 

NO!!!!!!!

do not push that engine.

if you have water get into the cumbustion chamer, rather than burn like fuel and become a vapor that can be compressed...it will stay a liquid. As the engine tries to send the piston up it will try to compress the water.....something will break at that monment....it will find a way out at the cost of your internals.

 

So... dealership?

 

or take out all the plugs and turn the engine over.

 

First I would pull off the pop charger, check for water in the intake tube, than put the stock air intake back on so the dealer won't void the warrenty.

If it were my car I would pull the plugs, check them, and crank the engine once or twice to see if I get any water out of the chamber, with an old style engine you would turn it over by hand rather than using the electric starter...the starter may be strong and fast enough to kill the engine if the is water in it.

If you have a 6 spd, you could pull the plugs, put it in gear, and push it a bit.

this should slowly squeeze the water out of the plug holes.

 

Ok.. I will give this a shot after the oil change.. sadly I don't have the stock intake . And i take it you mean spark plugs. Thanks much!

 

People should not sell off stock parts. If you take it to the dealer he can say it was the aftermarket part that allowed the water up into the engine.

Yes I mean spark plugs.


The engine can survive some amount of water.... it generaly can split up the intake amount and divide it by 6 basically.

If, after you dry the intake and make sure no water exits the plug hole, you still get an engine noise (and I don't mean a belt squeal or something) than you would need a compression check.

 

Bought it used.. so it didn't come with the stock intake or exhaust .

 

It is an 03, I am assuming the warrenty is expired. So no loss in having the pop on.

 

Extended warranty ftw my friend . Up to 100k.. I'm around 70 I think.

 

Than hurry up with what we told you to do. As you are changing the oil, look for 2 things....a white paste like substance (you could see it if you take off the oil cap most likely) or metal flakes (dip a magnet in your oil drain bucket)

If you see one of these signs, you have to get a stock box and go to the dealer.
I need to go to bed soon, someone else can advise you more if you need it. Good luck.

 

you'll need an inch pound torque wrench to get to the plugs. You have to pull off the plenum, but is definatly a good step when checking for water damage. Be patient, check your angles before you "dry it out" or you'll be sitting on the side of the road. Also, stay away from puddles.

 

So update.. Everything is fine, I was panicing and yet all it was, was a piece of the protective plastic underneath the car that got split in two and was dragging on the ground (whew) but I did get to clean my intake filter and change the oil. lots of progress lol. Thanks again guys!

 

NP, if you need help in the future, may I suggest posting on http://www.az350z.com/

I would be more likely to see it and reply if it's posted there.

 

And stay away from deep puddles of water! I once spent 3 hours driving 5 miles just to avoid 12" (or more) deep water.