beware v8 hydro-lock

[Eliot Lim <eliot@u.washington.edu>]

i saw a v8 in the shop with extensive engine/flywheel/tranny damage
as a result of hydro-lock.  in this case, leaky injectors were
the culprit and the owner didn't know any better to stop cranking
the engine when she starting hearing strange sounds.

this can also happen if you do too many cold starts with an engine that
never has a chance to get warm.  each time you initiate a start on a cold
engine, the motronic system will dump a s***load of raw fuel in there.  if
your engine never gets a chance to warm up that raw fuel never gets
completely burnt away.  and if you repeat this enough you will end up with
hydro-lock.  i don't know of any actual cases, but this is something that
i have been told to watch out for.  milder symptoms are a terrible stutter
where not all cylinders are firing upon subsequent start ups.

moral of the story:  do not cold start the v8 without driving it for at
least half a mile before killing/restarting.  pulling it out of the garage
for a wash and then pulling it back in is a big no-no.  push it if you
have to!


eliot

p.s. it was kool to see the v8 slushbox completely dissaembled.  i was
surprised at how small everything was considering how much torque it had
to transmit.