Hydro-Lock?

["Al Powell" <APOWELL@agcom.tamu.edu>]

Re: possible hydro-lock.  It occurs to me that the car Eliot (?) saw 
in the shop may have had a fuel system malfunction which dumped gas 
into the cylinders.  I don't recall that he cited a definitive reason 
for the problem - other than cranking afte the owner heard "funny 
noises".

Seems to me that under normal usage, enough excess fuel would be 
expelled even from a non-firing cylinder that a hydraulic problem 
would be unlikely.  It does make sense that a badly flooded cylinder 
might stay wet and not fire correctly for a while - and that the 
excess gas could run past rings, contaminating the oil.  That seems 
like a more likely problem than "hydro-lock" in an engine which is 
functioning properly.  

Of course, a malfunctioning fuel system (or one propped open with a 
screwdriver during a prolonged phone call, nudge-nudge) can do some 
nasty things....which may not be related to the behavior of a 
properly functioning system.

I'm not flaming anyone - just thinking through the situation and 
noting that the problem of the car cited as the original example may 
not be fully explained.  I don't think it's really *good* for any car 
to fire it up and run it for 30 seconds, then turn it off-but then 
again, it's not all that *bad*, either.  Some cars are certainly more 
likely to flood than others under such a scenario.
Al Powell                           Voice:  409/845-2807
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