Need Help, ASAP! (Water in exhaust/engine)

Last night I was driving home and traveling through eastern NC, and as some may know, the rains there have been insane. There was a little flooding on some of the roads, but maybe 3 inches at most. I came up to one spot that seemed very flooded, and I drove approx 2 mph into it, until I realized it was going to be getting way to deep for me to ford it. I stopped when it was just above the bottom of my sideskirts (I know, I shouldn't even have gone this far) and after I stopped, 2 vehicles went by from behind (going like 25mpg) pushing a ton of water at my car from behind. Undoubtedly, some water got into the exhaust. I backed the rest of the way out of the water (again, I shouldn't have done this) and turned around. I got back up to 65mph after turning around and then slowed down to make a turn down another road. My car stuttered, and then stalled. I restarted and got going again, up to 60mph. I slowed down again to turn, and it stalled again. After this point, I restarted it and started going again, but now there was minimal throttle response, and I couldn't get over 25mph. I pulled over, put it in park, and it stayed idling at a normal 1100rpm. I got back in (now with my brother on the phone) and tried to get going, but now had no throttle response. I got it to a rest area, where I called AAA, and a long story short, got it towed to their lot. Somehow, after hours of waiting for a tow truck and getting it to a nearby city/town, I found the only motel with their last room left. I got a room at 230am and called in insurance company at 7am to finish the claim. It's going to get diagnosed tomorrow or monday, maybe even later...

 

I'm thinking my engine is trashed... Am I wrong? I know it could be a multitude of things, but what are some educated opinions on what could be the issue? What is most likely the issue? Average cost of repairs?

 

I'm a very careful driver, but I guess I was overly anxious to get home to see my wife and son as I have been gone on a business trip for a few weeks. Stupid me, I know.

 

Any help would be appreciated.

did you get a check engine light?

did you try starting it at 7 am?

If it was just above the side skirts, I can't imaging it got into your engine, especially since the engine continued to run. Do you think there were any hills that could have forced water all the way up your downpipe? I'm no expert on these things but I can't figure anything like engine flooding from your description. Is your Leggy lowered?

Yes a check engine light came on.

No, I did not try starting it at 7am. It wouldn't start the last time I tried it just prior to the tow truck picking it up at 1am. I think the battery had no more juice.

No my LGT is not lowered.

 

I'm trying to be positive. Ughhh...

Water in your coils/sparkgplugs is my guess. some other electrical device got wet. I don;t think you can hydrolock from the tailpipe.

 

X

^ Like I said on .org, I think it's along those lines, too - something like the O2 sensors, or the coils, or other electronics....

 

Still keeping my fingers crossed on this one!

O2 sensor got wet .. got cold and started giving inaccurate reedings . start the car let idle for a few hours . your engine is fine . your mistake was stoping ! its the worst thing to do in deep water keep going faster the better .. keeps parts from getting drowned

I'm figuring 02 sensor as well. My old 94 Legacy wagon used to throw CEL when it got really wet.Like Frank and others have said,either drive it,or let it idle to dry it out.The CEL will go out.

And BTW don't drive through standing water.

Or just have frank_ster Frankenstein some kind of water-capable transport for you.....

 

Hey, how 'bout that for your next project?!

jagcars, lol, thanks for the advice on standing water... haha

 

i'll repost what the findings are.

 

i was on the phone with my brother during the whole incident, and he said it's probably the plugs/wires or the coil, but didn't suggest to keep it running until it dried out. oh well, lesson learned. i'm hoping for a good ending.

Plugs don't really sound feasible because they're higher up... The car has 1 coil per spark plug, placed right above the spark plugs on the valve covers. The water couldn't have gone through the exhaust INTO your engine if it ran after you got out of the water.

mechanic shop said the ECU got soaked. waiting on the insurance adjuster now... should be an easy fix right? along with carpets getting replaced and the factory subwoofer being replaced. anyone think of anything else that they might miss during the repair process?

Whew.

 

I *think* that should do it....

 

But I have not had much experience with flooding - I'll bow-out of the conversation here, for our more knowledgeable brothers and sisters to weigh-in.

Oh, you never said the water ENTERED your car!

^ Yeah, that, in retrospect, should've been noted.

Oh, you never said the water ENTERED your car!

 

Yep,that makes a hell of a difference..

But how would water get that high up to the ECU without the driver noticing he is driving with water up past his ankles

i didn't even notice that my floormats were wet (and i was wearing sandals) or else i would have noted that.

 

i'm not sure as to the location of the ECU, so i'm not sure how the water got to it...

i didn't even notice that my floormats were wet (and i was wearing sandals) or else i would have noted that.

 

i'm not sure as to the location of the ECU, so i'm not sure how the water got to it...

 

The ECU is located on the passenger side footwell and fairly high up,almost under the glove box.

This thread has a good picture:

 

http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/easiest-way-access-ecui-49417.html?t=49417&highlight=ecu+picture

 

It's decently high up there, but the connectors are to the side - and some braking action or other sloshing motion could certainly breach.....

If you pull up the carpeting in the passenger side foot-well under the glove box (starting from the firewall and working back) you'll see a stainless plate under where the carpeting was, remove the plate and under that is the ECU bolted to the floor. If the water was high enough to get the carpet wet, it was most certainly high enough to get the ECU wet. Just be glad you're not the one actually doing the ECU swap, it's a pain.

here's the update: mechanic called me and said that he doesn't think it's the actual ECU that needs to be replaced. he said it's most likely the connectors to the ECU, and if I would like, he would just pull out the ECU, check it out, and if it wasn't wet, he'll just clean the connections and spray them with anticorrosion.

 

He called me today and told me as he suspected, the ECU was dry as a bone. so they cleaned up the connections, and said the car started right up and all the codes cleared right out.

 

carpet is being dried/cleaned, and now they're checking out the subwoofer to see if there is any damage there.

 

any other suggestions as far as what i should make sure are uneffected?

All right!!!

 

^ Again, no other suggestions, as I'm a noob to this kind of stuff (flooding), but I'm cheering for ya!

update:

mechanic was right. all the codes stayed clear, and the thing runs perfectly normal. anddddd, since he didnt have to replace the ECU, i ended up making money on the claim.

 

insurance appraisal for repair: 1569

my decuctable: 500

recieved a check for: 1069

 

cost of repair/cleaning: 700

profit on situation: 369

 

only downfall is that my car has a "water damage" note on the title. not a big deal to me because i intend to have this car till it dies.

here's the update: mechanic called me and said that he doesn't think it's the actual ECU that needs to be replaced. he said it's most likely the connectors to the ECU, and if I would like, he would just pull out the ECU, check it out, and if it wasn't wet, he'll just clean the connections and spray them with anticorrosion.

 

He called me today and told me as he suspected, the ECU was dry as a bone. so they cleaned up the connections, and said the car started right up and all the codes cleared right out.

 

carpet is being dried/cleaned, and now they're checking out the subwoofer to see if there is any damage there.

 

any other suggestions as far as what i should make sure are uneffected?

 

Replace air filter:) once wet it is trash