Dear Car Talk: So, I drove my GMC Terrain through — I’m guessing — like 2 feet of water.

Even though it was only 2-feet deep, the splash was so big, that water came up over the hood and the engine died. I saw some white smoke.

The engine would not restart, so I had it towed home. It makes no sound when I try to start it. So now I’m letting it dry out.

Do you think everything will be alright when it dries out? — Luke

No, I don’t. I think you lunched it, Luke. Even if it was only 2 feet of water (Why are there fish in the back seat, Luke?), that’s enough to ruin an engine.

Your car creates a wake — as do any other cars nearby. And if the water gets high enough to reach the air intake, even for a moment, the engine is toast.

Here’s what happens in water: Normally, the engine sucks in air. That air is mixed with vaporized fuel, and that mixture is then compressed by a piston inside the cylinder. Then that compressed mixture is ignited, and it expands to create power.

But if, instead of air, you draw water into the cylinders, when a piston comes up to compress everything, it can’t compress water.

So your piston has a catastrophic collision with the water, and everything connected to the piston bends or breaks.

It’s called hydro-locking. We have a funeral dirge we play at the garage when a hydro-locked car gets towed in.

Your only possible saving grace may be your insurance company. If you have comprehensive insurance on this thing, you can call them and tell them what happened.

Assuming it was truly not your fault — if the puddle was a surprise, or there was no way to know how deep it was — they should consider it an accident.

Of course, if you tried to go through it with a water skier in tow, I wouldn’t mention that to them.

One way or the other — with your money or theirs — you either need to rebuild this engine or replace the vehicle. Good luck. And be very wary of puddles from now on.

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