I ran my 07 chevy cobalt ss through a fairly deep flooded road in the attempts at moving it to high ground during bad weather and a flash flood warning. i had determined that the engine was hydro-locked and it was accompanied by the started and its infamous clicking noise. after the rain cleared abit i removed all the plugs and flushed the water out of my engine. i than dried the plugs and put them back in thankfully i witnessed that all 4 cylinders were pumping. note: i had to push the car in neutral and drop the gear to first to turn the engine over because the car would not start just by turning the key. after all the plugs were re-installed and the battery hooked up to some jumper cables and another car we tried to turn it over with no sucsess, the clicking noise was all i got. i than hit the starter with a metal rod and had someone hit turn the car over while hooked up to a jump and the car started very laggish and kept turning right off with a brilliant white smoke displau out of the exhaust. after about 10 mins of this it started and stayed idle and i cintinued to let the car run for 30 min statisfied that i didnt hear any mettalic clanking in the engine. i did not hook back up the air filter because i feared it was wet. the next day i came out to startit again with no luck just a clicking noise so i again jumped it and hit the starter with a metal rod and it started up and went right to idle. later that day i killed the engine and installed a cold air intake system to completely bypass the old intake and give the car a lil extra goodness for all the bad it had just been through. after installation of the intake i tried to turn the car over again with no luck so again i hooked it up to jump and hit the starter with the rod but this time with no sucsess just the same clicking noise and an occasional i wanna start turn but no fire. can i be safe to say that this starter is completely fried and its time to change it or is it possible that the engine has hydro-locked again and i need to redo the whole process?
You've said a lot there.
1) you need to change the oil and filter if you got that much water in the engine. And I would change it a couple of times.
2) Your starter problem is very likely your battery cables or the starter solenoid on the starter. It might be easier to replace the starter than it would be to just to tear into the starter to see if it's full of water or has other issues.
3) You need to replace the air duct and put a new filter in where the old one was. Be sure any signs of water in the ducting have been soaked up with paper towels or rags.
4) I would be suspect of the battery if it is the original.
Let us know what you find.
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I am betting you've got a bad battery. How old is the battery, and what warranty does it have (not that warranty is a guarantee of battery condition. Even batteries in warranty fail.)?
A meter as you describe will only read volts, and does not read the cranking power of the battery. Starting and engine takes far more power than headlights or other items, and, the key clue to me is that when you turn the headlights on while trying to start, everything dims.
The only way one could use a test instrument to check a battery is to have a current meter, and, they must remove one of the battery cables and connect the meter in series with the cable and battery. Most people don't have this type of equipment as it is rarely used.
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oil and oil filter are going to be my first do, also in reguards to the airfilter the entire system was removed after the flooding and replaced with a brand new out of the box injen cold air intake system with all new piping and after market cone filter is that what you mean when you say air duct and new filter replacment? is possible for a complete starter failure i mean for two days after i cleared the water out of my cars engine the motor ran just fine or at least what sounded to be just fine but i had to hit the starter to turn it over, now the starter wont even work when i hit on it.... i am worried of a re seized engine
battery was tested with a metter by a mechanic friend and i was told was sitting just where she needed to be also all electronics come on dome lights headlights tail lights radio dash lights etc... but when the car is turned over with the key all i get is steady clicking followed by all the interior dome lights and dash lights flickering on and off along with that little security light of the car superimposed under the lock flickering on and off....could that also be an issue that secuirty light?
so i went out today to just randomly try and start the car because its had a few days now to dry out and warm up a bit. i turned the key over and the same thing happened the wonderful click followed by theflickering ofmy instrument panel lighst and interior lights, i accepted thefact that i shouldprobily replace not only the starter but my battery as well, than i tried one last time and all the lights secured except that security light and the engine didnt click and all of a sudden the car turned over and started up. theweird part is the security light stayed on even while the car was running it hasnever done this before.... i turned the car off waited a second and tried to turn the car back over and it just clicked again... i than turned it off and turned it right back on waiting for all the instrument panel lightsto finish its cycle of turning on andshowing the mileage and everything than i turned it over no clicking and the car turned over it seems to turn over every other time i turn itoff and on.... so what do you think now...faulty security anti theft system or soon to be dead battery and starter? do you think i should just go ahead and replace the starter and battery just to beon the safe side?
note that besides the water obviously playing apart on what happened to my electrical system thistime, this has not been the only time i have had electrical problems before i have already had to change the battery once and had this starter clicking problem before at random but never lasting this long..... these problems in past times have been due to the few different sound systems i had installed in the car amps, speakers, and subwoofers.
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