Pro-Pilot

So when i came outside today from my buddies house, the drivers side front wheel area was submerged somewhat in a puddle. The water was up to the bottom of the body of the car in the front left and up to the middle of the front splash guard on the left. I turned on my car, and immediately the VSA and triangle light up as well as the check engine light. I drive for a little bit and notice the cylinders start to misfire.

Fast forward to tonight. I scanned the codes and reset everything and went for a test drive. The only code that came up again was for cylinder misfire. I was thinking a vacuum line got disconnected, but i'm not sure how that would happen. ALSO, once car has warmed up and been driven a bit, the misfire goes away. So question is... how does starting the car in a puddle cause a misfire?

Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks

MyNameIsEarl

Sorry if this post doesn't help you much (after all I am no Acura technician), but I hope maybe just some regular ol' analysis can help.

I would first say that engines are really pretty isolated systems and closed off from the rest of the world, except for of course, the exhaust outlet and the air intake. But, both of those seem to be unlikely candidates for getting water insider of. Now, as we all know, electronics are very sensitive to water, so if any of that water got inside some components, that could be bad news bears.

Let me ask, you said your drivers front wheel well was the one somewhat submerged, right? So we you parked on the side of a curb backwards from the flow of traffic outside of your friend's house? Just because if you were, you could get a ticket!

Go ahead and lift up your carpet under the drivers side a bit. Look for any evidence of water that could have gotten inside. You could always car Acura (make note of your error codes) and just talk to a service advisor and see what you can get them to tell you.

Keep me posted!

Pro-Pilot

Thanks mister Earl......I actually took a picture of it when I realized lights were coming on. I think I have it narrowed down to a O2 sensor (that was the code), however I am not sure why it would be setting off the VSA light. I'll probably replace the O2 sensor and see where that gets me. (and this was head-in parking, not on-street parking, so no ticket worries

3.5RLv-tec?

iTrader: (2)

It looks like the water was not that high, however the heavy rain might get inside the car from the passenger side, same as my car. There is no sensor in those area that is going to cause you serious problem. For the CEL or misfires, as you said vacuum leak so double check the hoses. Just wait for a sunny day and pop the hood then use a leaf blower if you have one and report back

MyNameIsEarl

As 3.5RLv-tec? said, RLs have been known to have leaking problems from the passenger side. Often with this, the rain will get in and short out your passenger right multiplex unit. There's a service bulletin somewhere around here, I'll see if I can dig it up.

Pro-Pilot

Good idea from both of you. Ill feel around the passenger side and see if I feel any wet spots, I talked to a couple master Acura mechs and both said the idea about the CO2 sensor could be legit. So Ill do everything before replacing it (although it needs to be replaced anyway...blah)

MyNameIsEarl

Here ya go!

/tsb/1998/B98-028.pdf

MyNameIsEarl

Wow, acurazine doesn't like a c u r a w o r l d so that is a c u r a w o r l d.com/tsb/1998/B98-028.pdf

Pro-Pilot

Awesome, Ill take a look

Thanks

MyNameIsEarl

Was that relevant to your problem at all?

Pro-Pilot

After checking repeatedly after a few days, I can say with certainty that there is no water coming in in that area. I am not having any issues with the inside lights, although I am worried about that bundle of wires being so exposed. I just don't want to pay the 400 to get 2 new fender liners installed