My father said it would click when they first tried, but later made no noise at all. They had the car towed within 3-4 hours of the whole thing happening... so without us knowing anything about the actual condition of the car it could seem as if Infiniti is just going for replacement.

Originally insurance wanted to see if the engine could be rebuilt, but now they have found a used 2004.

 

don't settle for a used engine. Push to get a new engine replacement.

Also I wouldn't trust any of those infiniti mechanics to do a perfect engine replacement job. Its not like they do it everyday.

I was lucky that the engine was completely unrebuildable. Everything else in the car is fine. I got 50k miles on it and it was a 2k3. There were about to replace the engine if it wasn't 50% of the retail value of the car.

The engine itself cost at least 10k

 

go buy a fully built engine and save up for boost.

 

No way. I have a friend that works at a Cadillac dealership and he said that they had two Escalades come into the shop after the last flood, both with hydrolocked engines. The air intake is probably four feet off the ground, but you know how people are, they think since they have a manly SUV they can ford the Mississippi with it. Anyway, both were denied warranty replacement because the damage occurred as a direct result of the owner's misuse of the vehicle.

I hate to say it, but hydrolocking the engine is not a manufacturing defect, regardless of intake position. Driving in puddles of any depth at any level of speed above a crawl places the responsibility for any damage sustained squarely on the owner. It is the responsibility of the owner to know the limits of their vehicle and use it accordingly. If you took your coupe off-road and destroyed the suspension in the process, you could hardly ask the dealership to replace it under warranty because you used it for a purpose that it was not intended for. Driving it through a flood is no different.

 

yep, either claim insurance or pay up yourself

 

This comment is directed to the newbs. No names, or fingers pointed to anyone. But if the shoe fits... take this advice.

HEY NEWB, IF YOU KNOW IT RAINS ALOT AND YOU DRIVE THROUGH PUDDLES, SPEND $40 AND SLAP ON A AEM BY-PASS VALVE!!!!!

I dont mean to offend anyone, but it bothers me to see people buying things w/o doing proper research and hurting their cars.

 

Insurance will cover this...You should have full coverage...I suggest you use it...

 

That would defeat the purpose of the CAI though.. lol

The bypass valve restricts air.

 

^^^why? How? Just curious of your reasoning?

 

The bypass valve does not restrict air at all. Looking at it on the inside of the piping.. its similar to a resonator to a muffler pipe. It doesnt abstruct airflow and only opens up to release preasure that would normally suck up water up the intake pipe. You havent seen a bypass valve in person, have you?

With a bypass valve, you can competely submerge the entire intake filter head underwater, and the water will rise only an inch or two above the intake filter head because the bypass valves are opening up, and your long tubed cold induction intake has not automatically turned itself into a short ram intake.

You're probably thinking its some kind of internal filter that sits inside the piping. Its nothing like that. Its exactly what its called. its a "By-Pass".

There is no way possible for a bypass valve to restrict air flow.

 

I beg to differ.... Driving off road is one thing... Driving through a puddle is another. Some puddles you can anticipate, like the one in this picture. I probably got lucky, because I didn't even see the puddle, because there was a traffic jam, so there wasn't a lot of room to see in front of the car in front of me.



But there were plenty of times on the freeway, when you don't see puddles. I learned of this one section of the freeway on the way to my house that is particularly scary. Even in broad-daylight you cant see the puddle. The way the road is angled, it looks like the pavement is just wet, but there is actually a small stream flowing across the freeway.

I'm not about to slam on my brakes at every single puddle I see on the road. And goodluck trying to do that at night. One time I went to pickup the wife, and was nearing her work. The road looked normal, but the next thing I knew, water was splashing over the hood.

and for the record, you can be absolutely still and still have to worry about water getting in your engine. Many times, I'll be on the freeway at a complete stop, stuck in traffic, and traffic on the other side is not jammed. I'll be idling by the barrier (no puddles near me), and a car/truck will hit a puddle on the other side, and a tidal wave of water comes splashing over the barrier.

 

holy crap... that's huge puddle!!!

 

hilarious!!

 

Ummm! Yes it does have you done your research on this? The AEM by-pass valve is a useless piece of device if you install it on your intake. What you should have said was put the bypass valve on when it's raining and take it off when it's summer. Airflow is disrupted at higher rpm feels like the car is slaggish or lagging then it just works normally all of a sudden. Taking out the pybass valve cured the slaggishness and lag. This was not just one incident it was multiple from different cars not just the G. It will work but not as effective as you would want. People will have this false sense security thinking that just because they have this device everything will be working normally in the rain.

 

So, at times it's unavoidable. It's still not a manufacturing defect, and the dealer or manufacturer should not be responsible.

If anything, it's an Act of God, which should be covered by insurance.

Others might notice that in another thread I complained about an owner trying to get his hydrolocked engine replaced by his insurance company - in that case, the owner had a CAI. In this case, the owner does not. Difference: intent.