2002 Pontiac Grand am 2.2l Flood Damage

cms_kkg

I recently drove my car through a flooded intersection and it stalled. It was dark out and I didn't know the water was that high. It came up to the bottom of the door. The car wouldn't start back up, it just clicked. I got pulled out of the water, let the car sit for a bit with the same clicking. We removed all the spark plugs and still click when turning the car. Is there any hope? What steps should I take if there's any chance of getting this back on the road?

Mr_Shiftright

You'll have to determine if you have an electrical problem or if the engine has seized. It's possible for an engine to "hydro-lock" if it sucks in a lot of water through the air intake while you're charging through a puddle. Since water is not compressible, the piston come up, hits the water in the cylinder, and bends the connecting rods. End of story, end of engine.

Hopefully this is not your fate and maybe you have soggy battery connections or a defunct starter motor. You'll have to get a socket wrench on the crankshaft pulley nut (keep the spark plugs out) and see if that engine will budge.

If not, then you know what happened.