Oakville road flooded = Engine hydrolock

[a_ahmed]

So I wonder if I could take this to city hall to pay for me... considering it's not my fault that the road was garbage.

It happened to me on royal windsor drive, heavy rainfall today. Two others cars got stranded too a lowered 300zx and some honda.

Thankfully my mechanic is less than 5 minutes so I 'only' got charged 50 bux by CAA to pull me out (i don't have a CAA membership).

It was raining so hard, windshield was steamed up, road up ahead was clear UNTIL the dip under the bridge. Right after the dip the road was clear again.

The dip held up a huge pile of water deep enough to hit the entrance of the door bottom. Engine sucked in water and died.

Towed it back... it still cranked and water shot out of the top (after taking spark plugs out and all). We flushed it with pressurized air, TONS came out... from the top holes and from the intake.

It starts but makes tons of noise despite an oil change. It's dead... :(

Yeah I'm the guy who had the first 2.5 swap in Canada in a gen 1... now I need a new engine.. I went through two 2.3 engines before (oil burning garbage). The 2.5 hasn't given me any issues until now... now I'm going onto engine #4...

Of course this is NOT because of the car itself but because of the road... but man this car has been NOTHING BUT a money pit with engine woes...

The third gear synchro is crap too but I can't afford a transmission now... as I've been told another gen 1 problem... not sure all the details on swapping in gen 2 six speed (which is supposedly stronger and doesn't have the weak third gear issue)

[Thrizzl3]

I don't see the city being held responsible for something caused my nature. With the last massive rainfall we had there were people who attempted to drive through deep puddles...clearly it wasn't such a bright idea. Good luck though..

[a_ahmed]

The road design is tilted and caved in so it accumulated water. The road also had no side drains. How is this not the city's fault? Poorly designed road.

Few years ago in Etobicoke I had to spend hundreds of dollars on damage to my car that the city didn't cover also. What happened was it was also a heavy raining day, I hit a ditch hole that was covered by water. HUGE BANG. It damaged my control arm, tie rods, bent the wheel it was BAD... City hall acknowledged my email and fixed the hole the next day they emailed me saying 'there is no hole'. *******s... and I paid hundreds of dollars in repairs.

[Thrizzl3]

The city won't do anything for you. I'm pretty sure it would be common sense that if you see a deep body of water to avoid it all together. It's your own fault for not seeing the warning before driving through the water. But hey we learn from our mistakes right?

[aris]

Your insurance should cover this??

[a_ahmed]

The city won't do anything for you. I'm pretty sure it would be common sense that if you see a deep body of water to avoid it all together. It's your own fault for not seeing the warning before driving through the water. But hey we learn from our mistakes right?

It wasn't very visible there was a huge line up of cars, hence three of us got stranded, it was just too late and i was stuck in the middle of the traffic and just kept following some were going 'around' but it was such heavy rain.

The fact the road had NO DRAINS and caves in should be the town's responsibility. Just like the ditch I hit in Etobicoke, except they covered it up and weren't held accountable for it, sneaky bastards fixed it literally the moment I reported it and claimed there was 'no hole'

Also even if I wanted to, there was no way for me to do a u-turn and go back, there was an island in the middle. No exit anywhere but to keep going straight.

[mazdasport]

I'm going to assume there was no way to slowly creep into the puddle of you where unable to tell how deep it is? And was it a road you regularly travel? if so you should have know better and avoided it

[The Wolf]

You are responsible for where you drive your car. If, under "normal" weather circumstances, the road stays safe, the city has done its job. Trying to hold someone else responsible for a mistake you made during a freak weather event is a scumbag move.

[parro]

Exact same thing happened to me with my gen 1 just shy of a year ago, heavy rainfall in the middle of October 2014. Insurance wrote the car off.

Not much you can do now but work with the situation as it is and move on. C'est la vie unfortunately.

[Cab0oze]

Curious - do you have a CAI?

[Aitch]

It's a tough call to stop your car before standing water when there's a lineup of cars behind you. Lots of pressure to keep going. But unfortunately, stopping is the correct choice if you aren't sure about being able to get through the water safely. Drains or no drains, you drove through water you didn't know the depth of.

[loki]

With an air suspension you may have been able to raise it up a touch and avoid the water

Aitch

[loki]

On a more serious note, whether you agree with him or not, the guy is still down a motor so let's not beat up on him too bad

Thanks

[Kiewan]

Your insurance should cover this??
I work in AB so my knowledge of property damage is limited.

If you drive into water, its a collision
If water rises around your parked car it is a comprehensive claim (fire, theft, tree branches ect.)

[Aitch]

loki depends on the setup, some won't even get you to stock height. Great for clearing speedbumps, not small lakes.

[staax]

Time to swap in a 2.0 now? Cheap as $400 near me Lol. 2.5's are $700.

All seriousness that sucks and I doubt the city will do anything, although im surprised it hydro locked from a freaking puddle.

My Dakota sat in 4 feet of water, died, changed the oil (it takes roughly 5L and I drained out 6), changed the starter and jumped it to the battery, drove it 2 hrs back home only with 2nd and 3rd gear.

Oh ya whole time massive knock in cyl 2. Engine still ran when I swapped it.

Sounds like with the tranny issues its time to buy a cheap beater till money becomes less of a problem.

Sorry dude.

[74sickness]

Gen 1 Mazda 3 2.3 are absolutely garbage and is the biggest fault of the car. I've swapped my 2.3 out with another one so we will see how long this one lasts. Hopefully everything works out for you man, don't worry about the people beating you up it happens a lot on this forum.

[Booter22]

lol how is the city responsible for you driving through water on the road? you argue there is no drains. they will argue that you should be a better driver and have stopped.. 4 engines... lol cant all be the engines fault they failed :chuckle...... so... yea I don't see you winning that. but I would call your insurance company, it should or I would think it would be a no fault claim. but I would call them. the city wont do anything for you. but they will give you about 1000 reasons why its not there fault.


Also even if I wanted to, there was no way for me to do a u-turn and go back, there was an island in the middle. No exit anywhere but to keep going straight.

well.. I mean.. if you couldn't cross the river you don't just go through it because you cant turn around. either pull over and wait/ leave the car.

no way I would drive my car through a flooded road. id pull over. park, and call someone to pick me up.

[HappyJappy]

Doesn't hurt to try. Contact your local MP.

[a_ahmed]

lol how is the city responsible for you driving through water on the road? you argue there is no drains. they will argue that you should be a better driver and have stopped.. 4 engines... lol cant all be the engines fault they failed :chuckle...... so... yea I don't see you winning that. but I would call your insurance company, it should or I would think it would be a no fault claim. but I would call them. the city wont do anything for you. but they will give you about 1000 reasons why its not there fault.



well.. I mean.. if you couldn't cross the river you don't just go through it because you cant turn around. either pull over and wait/ leave the car.

no way I would drive my car through a flooded road. id pull over. park, and call someone to pick me up.

Don't be a f'n moron, if you got nothing good to say then be quiet.

This car is a piece of shit. 2.3 engines burn oil and die. This has been established by now even though a bunch of idiots on here kept denying it. Miata guys were the first to know and the miata guys are the ones that helped me do the 2.5 swap. In their own worsd they have stock piles of 2.3 blocks that all had rod bearing 3 fail on them, the engines start burning oil and explode.

Consumer reports also state that even grandma drivers had the 2.3 blow up on 100k. My first engine failed right after warranty expired. It shocked me, the second engine when it went is when I did my research and found out these engines are total garbage.

The 2.5 on the other hand didn't burn any oil and has been good to me.

All of my cars I change with amsoil every 5k, since the last engine failure I change every 3k my oil.

Also others were going through we were all in one line in traffic, I just happen to take the middle not realizing how deep it was. It was poorly visible as the road itself is f'n CONCAVED with no drains. How could you tell how deep it is while it's raining heavily with low visibility. Would you expect a road to DIP IN.

Only in Canada do we have such pos roads.

[a_ahmed]

I took the right lane which was the deepest. Couldn't tell how deep it was. Right before the bridge and after the road is waterless and clear. It's just the dip in the road under the bridge.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SV8pwEDUn-0


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaw1t7NgWAo

[Aitch]

Although it's not shallow, it certainly doesn't appear to be massively deep either. From what you showed I'd be tempted to drive my car through that (I don't have a cold-air intake). Do you have a CAI? I'm surprised the engine sucked up enough water to die at that height, given that other cars are making it through.

[jwoods_24]

Yes, the water is deep; meaning it would have taken considerable time to collect. If you're so adamant about how terrible the roads were/are, why were you driving? Seems unsafe to me... :rolleyes... I'd be embarrassed to peruse reimbursement.

[Dave_The_BMXER]

As someone who has been compensated by a third party (contractor threw the city) the time it will take for you to get paid (if at all possible) will be quite lengthy.

Which means in the near term you are going to have to cough up the cash to fix your car. Or wait months to see IF you might be covered.

[Booter22]

Don't be a f'n moron, if you got nothing good to say then be quiet.

Hey ass hat. Be careful who you talk to with such disrespect. I worked at mazda for 5 years. Ive been on here since 09 with 4400 posts. You came on a year after and have 4100 posts less which tells me you only come on here to bitch or complain about something and not help others or participate in the community that we habe here. So be mindful to whom your talking. I didnt say the 2.3l motor is a gem. It is a pos. But to go through 3 prior motors. And now this one which had an obvious reason to fail. Makes me believe as service person that the 3 prior engines could have failed by lack of maintenance or poor maintenance. Then again. If you put in a bunch of wrecker engines then that is you were literally putting the same pos in that you blew from the start where buying a new one from the dealer may have got you something updated. And or an updated block or parts since they were made originally.

But. Again i know how much installing an engine at a dealer cost can seem expensive. BuT if it was an install error that caused it to fail you would have saved more after the first. Anyway. If you didnt want peoples opinion and or comments be it good or bad. You should have kept off the forum because by the looks of it we all think YOU made the mistake here by driving through the river. Not the roads fault or the river for being there. :chuckle

[Jenuine]

:pop

[Kiyomi]

to lighten the mood
I spray water into my engine, so far no problems.:whoa

[dentinger]

Buy a snorkel for next time.

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/10/01/d07bb7447e0ad3a0aa3c7e9f33a61bb5.jpg

[Cab0oze]

Curious - do you have a CAI?


Although it's not shallow, it certainly doesn't appear to be massively deep either. From what you showed I'd be tempted to drive my car through that (I don't have a cold-air intake). Do you have a CAI? I'm surprised the engine sucked up enough water to die at that height, given that other cars are making it through.

Still waiting on the answer..... although I'm 99.999999% sure the answer is yes, and you're probably just too embarrassed to mention it, because most people will lose all sympathy and say "I told you so".

[Dave_The_BMXER]

Of all the car forums I am on (tis many) this is the forum with the most hydro locks. Bizarre.

[Booter22]

Still waiting on the answer..... although I'm 99.999999% sure the answer is yes, and you're probably just too embarrassed to mention it, because most people will lose all sympathy and say "I told you so".

im going with yes based on another thread started by OP

http://www.torontomazda3.ca/forum/showthread.php?75193-Gen-1-MZ3-mazdaspeed-accessory-CAI-replacement-filter&highlight=

doubt it had a prefilter bag on it too. man those things come in handy. I have one on both of our filters. cant be too careful

[a_ahmed]

Hey ass hat. Be careful who you talk to with such disrespect. I worked at mazda for 5 years. Ive been on here since 09 with 4400 posts. You came on a year after and have 4100 posts less which tells me you only come on here to bitch or complain about something and not help others or participate in the community that we habe here. So be mindful to whom your talking. I didnt say the 2.3l motor is a gem. It is a pos. But to go through 3 prior motors. And now this one which had an obvious reason to fail. Makes me believe as service person that the 3 prior engines could have failed by lack of maintenance or poor maintenance. Then again. If you put in a bunch of wrecker engines then that is you were literally putting the same pos in that you blew from the start where buying a new one from the dealer may have got you something updated. And or an updated block or parts since they were made originally.

But. Again i know how much installing an engine at a dealer cost can seem expensive. BuT if it was an install error that caused it to fail you would have saved more after the first. Anyway. If you didnt want peoples opinion and or comments be it good or bad. You should have kept off the forum because by the looks of it we all think YOU made the mistake here by driving through the river. Not the roads fault or the river for being there. :chuckle

Hey 'asshat' right back at you.

Maybe your POS mazda engines are garbage I'm sorry that hurt your attachment to the brand.

Everyone on here swore they are the best thing ever and that I was crazy, until other people started realizing they are GARBAGE. Right around that time some guys in the states and on here were complaining of oil burning and catastrophic engine failures. We were all bagged by every 'mazda expert' as naaah you're all crazy and probably 'poor maintenace'. In fact maybe you were the same asshat who was telling me there are no problems and trying to blame ME and those guys for 'poor maintenance', shifting blame from the POS engine to the owners of the cars.

From all the other cars I've owned, never did I have an engine fail on me at such low mileage. Only these POS mazda engines.

I change oil every 3000km now, used to change every 4-5k before with amsoil.

http://www.apa.ca/MazdaEngines.asp


Non turbo 2.3L engine on Mazda 3 and 6: 2004-2007

The engine may begin to burn oil seemingly all of a sudden at 80,000 to 100,000 km. The consumer would likely be unaware of the condition unless they check the oil regularly. If the oil drops below 2 litres in the crankcase, intermittent oil starvation begins to occur, typically first at the location of the number 1 connecting rod -- by this time internal damage is severe. If the consumer does not stop driving the vehicle, the rod can fail completely and pierces a whole in the side of the block.

The cause appears to be gradual overheating of the engine, due to 1) an internal defect in the catalytic converter that can plug up over time OR 2) the catalytic convertor plugs up over time from burned oil in the exhaust stream. There may be other causes.

Failures appear more common with the manual transmission, perhaps because crankcase ventilation or some other factor is more affected by the overrun that accompanies gear changes. Used engines are in chronically short supply and expensive. In Montreal some recyclers have stopped selling the engines because they're too troublesome. APA has sourced rebuilt engines for about $3,500 in Montreal (plus installation). APA has recorded about 35 written complaints from consumers and confirmed a high rate of failures with rebuilders. We have not written Mazda directly about this issue, but could do so given the number of complaints.

APA can obtain a below retail price to replace the engine in Montreal, and likely a bit of break at our recommended engine specialist in Toronto. Either shop would be competent to report on the engine damage.

In either case the miata guys who helped me do the 2.5 swap first told me to stay the hell away from the 2.3 when I was first doing the swap. One of the guys told me he had a pile of them sitting in his garage all dead. It's a garbage engine.

Every blindly 'loyal' guy to the brand on here accused others of not doing regular maintenance and regular oil changes and "it's your fault" before too. Well guess what I do. If grandmothers blow these engines, then there is a problem. What else did I get couple of years ago on here? Mazda dealership nuts telling me naaaah there is no problem.

Meanwhile they discontinued the engine and replaced it with a revised 2.5 that covers many of those previous issues that Mazda denied and washed their hands of.

The only fault of mine was making the mistake of getting a piece of shit mazda. The car's maintenance and repairs have cost me more than all the other cars combined over the last 10+ years. Most unreliable piece of garbage car ever. I've had to do FIVE front brake jobs with calipers seizing so many times, several mazda caliper replacements until I went for the mazdaspeed3 upgrade (which are ATE calipers as found on some Audis too).

Recently I've purchased OEM ignition coils brand new TWICE from a mazda dealership with the 'club discount' and it was still around 150 dollars after taxes, they failed TWICE, brand new.

It's an unreliable overpriced POS brand.

The only time I'll say this, should have gotten a Honda for a daily driver LOL

[Kiewan]

You have a lemmon and drove into a puddle

/thread

[a_ahmed]

http://www.edmunds.com/mazda/3/2005/consumer-reviews/review-1819491877/


Mazda could be more accountable with this particular engine and be honest and forthright with those people who have cars with this particular engine in it. Mazda ignoring the problem and not telling consumers that they need keep a close eye on oil levels in 2.3 litre engines is irresponsible and drags down the reputation they have built up over the years. They could also provide the same warrantee on factory rebuilt 2.3L engines that they provide on new cars. The 1 yr/20,000km they currently provide on the 2.3 engine proves they have a lack of confidence.

When you buy a car with around 100k you expect it to last you another 150k not blow on you after 20k like it did for me and many others. The money I spent on warranty was useless. It literally blew up on me after warranty expired.

[a_ahmed]

And oh look yet again mazda getting a file action suit against it's poor engines:

http://www.aboutlawsuits.com/mazda-class-action-lawsuit-engine-defect-70072/



Mazda faces a class action lawsuit brought on behalf of vehicle owners, alleging that the automaker intentionally concealed information about an engine valve defect and has refused to repair the problem.

...

The class action lawsuit for Mazda vehicle owners indicates presents claims for fraudulent concealment, breach of warranty, and violating consumer protection laws.[/url]

Great brand!

[loki]

so bitter, so many other brands out there and forums.

Maybe it's time you found one of them, for your own sanity

[Dave_The_BMXER]

Did you have a CAI though?

[a_ahmed]

It came from the dealership with a carb legal mazdaspeed accessory exhaust and CAI. I guess I should be blamed for that one too now huh.

Anyways I'm not blaming the car for the 3rd engine failure, this was due to the way the road was but to now get up on my ass about my previous engine failures, screw off. The multiple caliper failures. And everything else that went so wrong on this car. The ignition coils failing twice brand new from the dealership.

You can all defend the brand all you want.

[Aitch]

It came from the dealership with a carb legal mazdaspeed accessory exhaust and CAI. I guess I should be blamed for that one too now huh.

Anyways I'm not blaming the car for the 3rd engine failure, this was due to the way the road was but to now get up on my ass about my previous engine failures, screw off. The multiple caliper failures. And everything else that went so wrong on this car. The ignition coils failing twice brand new from the dealership.

You can all defend the brand all you want.

As many pointed out, with a CAI you have to be extra careful when crossing standing water. Unfortunately you got burned. As your videos show, all the other vehicles were getting through ok. Even though it came from the dealer that way, and is a Mazdaspeed part, it's well-known that running one puts you at a high risk of hydrolock going through standing water. It's not blaming you, but it's fairly safe to say with a stock intake you probably wouldn't be in this situation.

There's nothing to stop you from trying to seek some compensation from the municipality, obviously there is a drainage problem there and you can try to see if they will help you out, regardless of how you should have approached the situation. As Dave said, prepare to be in it for the long haul though.

Yes, there are known issues with the 2.3L. I don't think anyone should try to play those down. Everyone has just got their backs up here, and I think the thread has run it's course.