Orangetang Posted May 15, 2007 Share Posted May 15, 2007 First day of offroad fun in my Pathfinder, and I destroy it. Well, the shop will let me know how bad it is tomorrow, but I'm fairly confident I'm about to buy a used engine. I must stress how much fun I was having before this happened though. The inclines these things can climb is unreal! Not to mention the manueverability around and between trees and stumps in the woods. Maybe I should be more upset about this, but I figure it's a good lesson learned. I'll post some pics, and I bet all of you will wonder HOW THE HELL I managed to hydrolock an engine in such little water. On the brightside, the winch works fantastic, even with the engine off. This is a long shot, but can I drop the diesel out of the Patrol into this pathy? What about the 3.5 G35 or 350z engine? Should I stick with a stock 3.5? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OBXbeachpathy Posted May 15, 2007 Share Posted May 15, 2007 ha, I did the exact same thing last month. You sure you hydrolocked it though? Thats what I thought, but it turned out it was over-revved and blew the head gaskets and piston rods. I only ask because that doesn't look a lot of water/mud that would hydrolock it. It was completely fuc#ed. Good luck with that, I swapped out with another 3.3 with a lot less miles. A few thousand dollars later it runs like new. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmorgan4 Posted May 15, 2007 Share Posted May 15, 2007 Damn!!! That's some bad luck. The 350Z engines are a little bit different and it may end up being a lot more work to swap one in. They're tuned differently as well since HP is more important than TQ. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichiganAve Posted May 15, 2007 Share Posted May 15, 2007 I was about to say obx just toasted his 3.3L recently. Sorry man. See what is found with that engine. If it comes out or you are swapping in a new one, you could add some cams or other mods. Stick with an R50 3.5L, doesn't seem worth the trouble to me to swap something else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orangetang Posted May 15, 2007 Author Share Posted May 15, 2007 I didn't really consider over-revving it until now, but that is possible. I was in 4L afterall. There was no noise or bad smells. Basically I drove in and out, but it stalled on the way out. I tried to restart it and it wouldn't turn over. Popped the hood and the airfilter was soaked completely through and the airbox was full of water. Nuff said I guess... Maybe it also blew a headgasketa nd blew rods haha. I wouldn't be suprised.] How about a diesel or 350z swap? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orangetang Posted May 15, 2007 Author Share Posted May 15, 2007 missed your post. my internet is brutal today... i'll stick with an R50 engine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OBXbeachpathy Posted May 15, 2007 Share Posted May 15, 2007 Basically I drove in and out, but it stalled on the way out. I tried to restart it and it wouldn't turn over. Popped the hood and the airfilter was soaked completely through and the airbox was full of water. Dude, that is EXACTLY what mine did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nissandoms47 Posted May 15, 2007 Share Posted May 15, 2007 Thats so weird. Would the starter turn or even engage the flywheel or was everything dead? Ive soaked my air filter and even past that and it never hydrolocked. I filled my entire air box up with water last year in moab and it stalled because lack of oxygen, put in a new dry filter and drained the airbox and it was good to go. Maybe something is wrong with your electrical system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XPLORx4 Posted May 15, 2007 Share Posted May 15, 2007 I hope that tow truck didn't need to tow you very far. The transmission and transfer case lubrication design requires that the truck be towed with all 4 wheels off the ground (i.e. on a flatbed) if the engine isn't running, or the transmission could be damaged. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orangetang Posted May 15, 2007 Author Share Posted May 15, 2007 It would turn just a tiny bit then lock up immediately. Electrical system seems fine. But tis out of my hands now... rusting away overnight at the auto shop. Towed it on the rear wheels in neutral for 29Km at $2.50 a Km plus $75 to hook up. Not bad considering the $106/Hr shop rate here in town. This is not goign to be cheap Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OBXbeachpathy Posted May 15, 2007 Share Posted May 15, 2007 Yeah blowin my engine was always pretty much the worst case damage scenario for me. It does indeed suck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orangetang Posted May 15, 2007 Author Share Posted May 15, 2007 On the bright side, my tax refund came in last week and tonight is payday so I'm fine to buy a new engine... Though I would have rather invested in PRADO and new wheels. Cashed in some days-owed too, so I'm officially on paid vacation for the next couple of weeks. I can ride my bike anywhere I NEED to go without trouble. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nissandoms47 Posted May 15, 2007 Share Posted May 15, 2007 I blew my engine up 100 miles from home, now that sucked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
navygz19 Posted May 15, 2007 Share Posted May 15, 2007 (edited) How fast were you going when you hit that water? Did you go WOT when you were in the middle of the hole or something? I don't get it...I've had water over my headlights before and hadn't had a problem (going very slow, however) That water hole is tiny...me thinks I need to start avoiding water altogether Edited May 15, 2007 by navygz19 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
denisb Posted May 15, 2007 Share Posted May 15, 2007 Sorry to hear your bad luck. Hope your pathy goes well. Hydro lock is fairly easy to do unfortunately. Imagine your piston at it's up most position and how much water it would take to fill that cavity(1cup....maybe 2 ). Water does not compress so well so if you have more than that amount of water go through your air intake you can be at risk. Sometimes fast through water holes is cool to watch, but not so cool on motors. Anyone doing any amount of water crossings should definately consider a snorkel......and I mean for their rig and not themselves Denis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pezzy Posted May 15, 2007 Share Posted May 15, 2007 Yeah, It doesn't take much water to hydrolock your truck... I've been in up to and past my headlights, but I hit the water slow & also be sure to create a bow wave in front of me, so the water in my engine bay stays low... Couple years ago one of the guys in our club hydrolocked his truck whipping thru puddles on one of the 'fireroads' at Rausch Creek... we all blasted thru it, but he managed to hit it at such a speed/angle/stroke of bad luck, it hit the airbox, blew a hole through the airfilter. They were picking bits of airfilter out of places you'd never imagine it could get. Since then, I avoid that urge to whip thru even the most innocent looking puddles... Sorry to hear about your luck... hopefully you can fix it with out too much of a financial kick in the ass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
02silverpathy Posted May 15, 2007 Share Posted May 15, 2007 OK so maybe I need to just but how does the air by-pass work in after market intakes? Then, could it be adapted to a Pop-Charger? Just a thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
navygz19 Posted May 15, 2007 Share Posted May 15, 2007 (edited) OK so maybe I need to just but how does the air by-pass work in after market intakes? Then, could it be adapted to a Pop-Charger? Just a thought. Do you mean this? It allows for any water that may have been sucked up into the piping (especially true with lowered cars w/ CAI's where the pipe will go down into the wheel well, just in front of the tire) to come out where you see that foam adapter before it enters the TB and IM...not that I'd trust it to work...I had an AEM on my SE-R for 3 years and everytime it rained had to play hopscotch around the puddles. I guess it could work with a pop charger or SRI, but there's only 1 pipe to work with and I've never seen bypasses made for them. You'd have to retro-fit it. I guess with Pathies it's easy to hydrolock in shallow water, hitting it hard enough, at a crazy angle (calling Brandon ) I really try to steer away from muck now, esp. after these two incidents. Good luck! Edited May 15, 2007 by navygz19 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichiganAve Posted May 15, 2007 Share Posted May 15, 2007 (edited) You had an SE-R too? My 97 SR20DE was a great motor. Had a popcharger, was lowered with coilovers, and never really avoided water on the roads-- but that's far from mud puddles and off-roading. Edited May 15, 2007 by MichiganAve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XPLORx4 Posted May 15, 2007 Share Posted May 15, 2007 You had an SE-R too? My 97 SR20DE was a great motor. Had a popcharger, was lowered with coilovers, and never really avoided water on the roads-- but that's far from mud puddles and off-roading. Whoa. Hydrolock and SE-R in the same thread? Wow! Talk about coincidence! Before I bought the Pathy, I owned a '92 SE-R, which I occasionally drove off-road. (What was I thinking!) Once, I crossed a stream full blast fast (about 30mph), and dontchaknowit, I stalled halfway through the stream crossing. At first I thought I'd merely gotten the ignition system wet, but the engine wouldn't crank... at all. I knew things were bad when, as I was getting tow-strapped out of the water, I put it in 1st gear, let up the clutch, and the front tires skidded. Uh oh... I towed it back home, and pulled the plugs. All were wet. Ooops! After drying off everything and using compressed air to blow out the cylinders, I had it towed to Nissan, saying only "it won't start". And much to my disbelief, Nissan replaced the entire engine under warranty. (The car only had 50K on the odometer) They said that the oil pickup had broken, so it was all covered! Hey, who would complain about that?!? Since then, I've learned to take it easy through water (or at least know where the intake is, to prevent future occurrences!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
navygz19 Posted May 15, 2007 Share Posted May 15, 2007 (edited) NOT trying to jack this thread, but yeah, I had an SE-R, albeit NOT an almighty SR20DE'ed one from the mid 90's...an 02 in fact powered by the new QR25 and I regretted it every day since I bought it...weak internals combined with a low red line made for an unimpressive ride. It was in the shop more than I drove it. It WAS, however, fast as hell, and I was 20, single and in the Navy at the time Had a pretty cool dash layout too... Edited May 15, 2007 by navygz19 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orangetang Posted May 15, 2007 Author Share Posted May 15, 2007 Today I was quoted $6000-6500 today for my little adventure. $2500 seems fairly steep for dropping in an engine... Is this something some friends and I could do over a week or so in a garage with a hoist and tools? I have access to all the tools I could ever need. Snooping around, engines have been 1500-2500, he says he found one with 40K on it for ~$3500 plus freight. $=CAD dollars.... He says he pulled the plugs and tried to roll it over, they couldn't get it to turn at all... Seized. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
denisb Posted May 15, 2007 Share Posted May 15, 2007 Wow! 6 grands. is he quoting a new motor? Seems a little steep for a bone yard motor swap. I think you need to go see your mechanic and tell him to sharpen his pencil. You should be able to get better price if you check around. Can it be done at home? Chances are, if you're asking the question you will need help from someone who's done it before, but definatively possible. Denis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichiganAve Posted May 15, 2007 Share Posted May 15, 2007 And I thought OBX paid a lot to get his swapped... ouch. Sorry to get off topic. I still miss my SER, it was a fun high-revving engine. Coilovers and sway bars made it handle like a champ, and an IASCA competition stereo all fiberglassed. Was stolen. Were any of you guys on the old email mailing list for the SR20DE cars? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
02silverpathy Posted May 16, 2007 Share Posted May 16, 2007 Be careful with connectors, PB Blaster on all (read ALL) bolts, take your time...swap it yourself! I think it can be done fairly easy, wish I was there to help! ***********XPLORx4, easy through water eh?...my favorite video on your site, you racing through a stream..easy? HA! ******************************** Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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