Makes me wonder why all the other cars made it through the lake but the van didn't. Something in the design?

 

Good call. We don't know what the other vehicles were. But the minivan does sit a bit low and I don't know how big the puddle was.

 

She was on her way home, maybe an 1/8 mile away on a moderately busy road. Our home is on the beach and it has a habit of sudden heavy downpours and the roads flood quickly. As I just mentioned - it's the beach road so there's really no place for the water to go quickly so you learn to drive carefully. She was in a long line of cars and somehow the car in front of the van caused a wave that came back and hit the front of the van - possibly up to the headlights she said. A kind policeman got it pushed off the main road. As they sat waiting on the tow truck a hundred more cars made their way through with no problems. Just bad luck it seems.

Yes, insurance is covering this one. I questioned my agent as I don't want my premiums to increase. I have ten autos on the policy and if they raised my rates it would do way more damage long term than if I just paid for this one out of my pocket and spent a weekend swapping engines.

Thanks again for the help.

 

Thank you for the update.

 

If possible, try to find a engine from a car that's NOT built in 2011. The first batch of engine has some kinks.

 

Stupid idea but instead of turning the crank by hand did you consider pulling the plugs again and trying to turn the engine over with the starter? I'm thinking more power might work.

 

Not a stupid idea at all. I didn't go back and read what I wrote above but yes, I tried the starter at each point along the way - double checking by hand in case the starter was fried as well.

Thanks for the reply.

 

Odds are you aren't going to get water back up the exhaust, and especially not enough to stop the engine. There is quite a lot of air going through there

If there was enough water ingested to stop a running engine then odds are good there is at least one bent rod. Even if it did turn over after pulling the plugs it could later suffer a far more serious mechanical failure. After hydrolocking you're pretty much stuck tearing down the engine at a bare minimum.

Since it sat for some time with water in the engine the rings on one or more cylinders probably seized. Time for a new engine or a complete overhaul. I'd agree with the other posters though - get a 2012+ motor or possibly replace the problem cylinder head on the 2011 motor before installation.

 

there was a rainstorm here last weekend and i did just like your wife, driving with cars in front of and behind me..compact cars may i add....and i sucked up water and need a new engine too, has anyone tried contacting dodge to complain about this, this is ridiculous, now because of a design flaw im getting screwed by my insurance

 

i just hope that this happens to enough vehicles one day and they send out a recall to reimburse us