I ran my car into about 1 to 1 1/2 ft of water and i defenitley got water in the engine because my air filter was soaked and i ran it for about 3 minutes total not knowing this. I replaced the air filter and my car was running extremely rich and kinda sounded a little, after i got back home i decided to start it up this time no smoke the exhaust didn't smell like it was running real rich like it previously was so i took it for a drive the car pulled harder than it has been recently it got into boost fine and pulled all the way through 3rd gear with no issue. I let the coolant get to 180 which is where it usually runs then i returned to my house. i sat there and listened to it idle and it still sounds a little bit off like it's struggling to idle right but it does stay around 800-1000 rpm's which is normal but like i said it has a kinda strange noise to it, but other than this issue everything is fine. Any advice or help is greatly appriciated.

 

man idk i would help but some1 will have a better answer then me i just wanted to be like .. invest in a snorkel kit

 

you might have got a little bit of water on your MAF (mass air flow) sensor. this can screw up air metering which can in turn richen up the mix.

do you have the stock filter and piping, a high flow drop in filter with stock piping, or complete aftermarket intake? you replaced the filter which is good to do of course, perhaps a little sooner than you needed to.

i'd clean that maf sensor with maf sensor cleaner, it's a couple of bucks at walmart or any auto shop. then i'd check to see if there is any water on the intake piping, perhaps it's just a little bit that is slowly evaporating as you pull in air and it will get into your engine. the water will actually cool the air down a bit, hence the feeling of a bit more power.

clean the maf, check the piping all the way up to the throttle body for any leftover water, then i'd disconnect your battery terminals and touch em to recet the ecu. drive the car as normal to relearn your short term and long term fuel trims (OBD system will do this automatically, no worries) and then see how your car runs.

since it drove just fine to the top of 3rd, you shouldn't have any long term issues. water in the engine is a major problem only when you completely submerge the air filter to the point where no air gets in, only water. since water (or any liquid for the purpose of discussion) doesn't compress, you'd have smacked your pisten into a pocket up water in your cylinder, not air. at this point you'd bend a connecting rod, snap a crank pin or do some other major engine damage... if you were lucky you'd get a bit of the water to slip past the oil rings and get into your crankcase and turn your oil into mayonnaise (what some people call oil and water mixed)

you should be fine buddy, just check the above mentioned things, reset the computer, and we'll take it from there.

 

change fluids

 

^^ x2

Engine and trans oil might be ok but it's well worth a few bucks to know there is NO water in either of them.

 

Ya change the fluids. I hoped you realized Cobalt's and standing water don't mix.

 

thanks for all the help and advice. I did check the oil and it looks fine but i am going to change it just to be safe. I did start it today and revved on it a few times while parked and it started throwing water out of the exhaust with oil mixed into it. Oh my car is completly stock by the way no aftermarket filter or anything. ya i found that out the hard way lol, now when you say all fluids do you mean everything coolant, oil, brake fluid, etc?

 

To be safe I'd disassemble the intake to make DAMN sure there's no water hiding in their ANYPLACE! You suck water into your engine and you're buying a new engine, PERIOD! Remember water does NOT compress and something will break.

 

this is probaly going to sound pretty stupid but where the hell is my maf i looked all over the intake tubing that is visible without taking anything apart and i can't find it.