So I picked up a 2009 coupe at an auction site for about $7k. The previous owner drove it through a flooded intersection and sucked water into the intake and hydro locked the engine. The insurance company decided to total it out. I was hoping it was just a head gasket or cracked head, something top end.
But when I got it back to Az from Cali and took it to my shop the news was as bad as it could get. 3 cylinders with no compression. We figured bent connecting rods so it’s not reaching tdc. No worries, we were prepared for that. So I did some searching and found a decently priced engine for $1600 shipped.
Well the engine got in yesterday and we had already started taking out the old one. I didn’t do a step by step because I figured two things: 1. Not many people will tackle this. 2. If you’re willing too, then you know what you are doing and don’t need guidance. It’s a straight forward process guys, not big surprises or secrets to reveal.
I’m doing as much maintenance and repair as possible now that the engine is out. All the fluids of course, spark plugs, water pump, thermostat, belt, tensioner, idler, etc.... I did take a few pics to share.

Engine claims to have come from and 09, but there’s a stamp on the passenger side head that states 2006/07/14. My old engine stamp is 2008/04/08. I’m thinking this is an 07 engine.





This is the replacement.

Old engine.

 

The good news is that it's not salt water. The bad news is that it's water and the engine damage could be just the tip of the iceberg. This is going to be an interesting thread to follow because there are so many unknowns, particularly with the electronics. Good luck!

 

The car was actually still running after it hydro locked. It was just misfiring like crazy. But the only engine codes that came up were misfires. Everything else has checked out just fine so far. And on a side note, I’ve edited and saved my signature but it won’t show up for some reason.

 

Thanks for sharing the photos.

How many miles are claimed to be logged on the replacement engine?
What was the condition of the replacement engine's plastic thermostat housing? Did you reuse that or replace the housing when you replaced the thermostat?
If you haven't already done so you may want to consider replacing the valley coolant hose which runs from behind the engine coolant pump, up to the throttle body. Leaks from that hose are hard to see and the intake manifold has to be removed for access.

 

I've had this exact same thing happen on a injected pushrod 5l , the valves and connecting rods were bent found myself a $650 replacement motor and fitted it up

 

SO an N/A engine will come out the top. Man, I don't think a blown one will. Keep posting pics and what pitfalls you've come up against. Looks like it's been pretty painless so far.

 

Not a large issue compared to the scale of your project but, now would be a great time to perform surgery on the "duck bill" drain. It's located in the transmission tunnel and would take only 30sec. to trim off now vs the PIA approach with the engine in place. There are numerous threads on the forum about it and will certainly save a headache for you later on.
This is a thread that is going to be a thrill to watch here for sure.
Wishing you great luck and keep us posted on progress!

 

The plastic housing for the thermostat is in good condition on both my old engine and the replacement. The junk yard mechanics cut all the old hoses in order to remove the engine as expediently as possible which resulted in forcing me to remove the intake in order to replace that coolant hose that was mentioned a couple posts above. The old engine supposedly has 45k on it, but looking at it closely it looks like 80k+. I’m trying to get a VIN from the donor vehicle, and then do a Carfax on that VIN to get a more accurate number.
I’ve seen a few mentions of this duck bill fix but had no clue what it was referring to, thanks for the heads up, I’ll definitely do that now that we are here. Yeah so far it’s been pretty easy, but keep in mind this is a a fully outfitted mechanic shop. It would be a pain as a shade tree project. Not impossible, but the lift makes it loads easier. I’ll keep posting updates and pics.
In case the part supplier ( junk yard) can’t get me a VIN, Anyone know how to get one through the engine ID number?

 

Thanks for posting this. I never took the time to think driving through a flooded intersection would be a catastrophic event. Will have to tell the wife even though we don't get all that much precipitation here in Cali.

 

I drove through a lot of deep water last week. Luckily it seems no worse for wear.

 

I'm pretty sure there was a VIN on the back of the block by the intake on my spare blower motor.

 

No kidding! Man, it cost me $1600 to just get the water pump and coolant hoses replaced last week.

 

Agreed. Note that this will also require a new set of intake manifold gaskets.

 

So I ran into a little issue which required me to order parts and that’s why I had not posted any updates. It turns out that the tranny fluid cooler lines have aluminum fittings and they stripped on their way out



$300 dollars later I got a new set of lines from the dealer, I searched online but after shipping most other suppliers were similarly priced. It was a lot easier to install the lines with the engine out so I just waited for them to come in before proceeding with the swap. One of the holes for the fittings on the radiator side also got stripped, so I went ahead and ordered a new radiator as well. I did find some used ones for about $150-$200 but I figured I’d start with a fresh pump, thermostat, and radiator to make sure I don’t run into cooling issues.







Not sure why some of the pics are coming out fuzzy guys. I went ahead and also installed new valve cover gaskets and intake gasket. While I was in there everything looked super clean and smooth. I’ll look for those pics and upload them. Tomorrow we will button it all up and then resume with the tranny, diff, brake, power steering flush.

 

This is a great thread, keep it up.
It is hard to tell from the pictures and I'm curious. Did you have a set of "lifting eyes" to lift the engine, if not, how did you attach the chain? Eyes usually attach to the heads or block BTW.

 

I did not use the factory specified lift brackets we just used a chain with some bolts. But I did follow the advice on this pdf.

With this info I made sure to use the same length bolt.

 

Oh, that's nice. The lifting mount is going into an oil gallery with a cup plug in place. Just asking for bad things to happen to non dealer shops...

 

I was thinking the same thing. They at least could have threaded to only a certain depth the save the cap.....

 

A couple of updates guys. The engine was succesfully mated on Wednesday, and we got it fired up yesterday. She sounds really smooth and healthy. No ticks, knocks, clicks, or pings. Quiet as could be. One of the new valve cover gaskets has a small leak right around one of the spots that require a dab of silicone. So I'll have to redo that one. We have a lean condition reporting on the scantool, it sounds like my PCV valve has an air leak. I have to change it anyways but have any of you guys had a loud hissing sound come from your PCV? when we remove the hose to the PCV the fuel trims go right to spec. ill swap it out and then smoke it if that doesnt resolve the vacuum leak.
On a side note, if any of you ever lift or remove your engine for whatever reason, go ahead and change the stabilizer link bushings. mine were still good , but in hindsight I should have replaced them. you cant get the stabilizer out without lifting the engine. i should be done sometime next week as im taking a nice 3 day weekend.

 

I had to replace a new aftermarket valve cover gasket since it was leaking. We couldnt see any reason or cause for the leak, and that made me worry about the quality of the gasket. I decided to go with OEM gaskets. So I oredered them and 5 days later received them and swapped them out. Same procedure as before, but now I have no leaks!



we didnt see any pitting, scoring, or unusual wear on the lobes and it looks really clean overall.

I also replaced te PCV Valve and the lean code went away. I fired it up yesterday and the idle was s super smooth and quiet. I took it for a test drive and I was getting a misfire on acceleration. Check engine light came on and it showed a code for an O2 sensor on bank 1 and misfire on bank one. Im thinking the sensor might be covered in oil from the previous blown engine. ill check it Monday and see what O find