elproducto

Hello All,

Sorry long post. I just wanted to get some opinions on how to proceed. About a month ago I drove my car through a flooded underpass on the Henry Hutchinson parkway in Westchester, NY. My car stalled out half way through. I tried turning the the iginition twice while in the middle of this water(I know don't do it). Both times the car would crank slightly then all interior lights would turn off abruptly. Any further attempts to crank would return no response from the car. My car is stuck in the water for a period of time before the water gets low enough for me to get out of my car. I have the car towed to a tow yard. In about two days my car gets towed to the insurance lot in upstate NY. The car stays up there for about three weeks and then the adjuster calls me back after he finally does his inspection to state my car is fine and they would be towing it back to me. He had a picture of the oil on the dipstick to prove that no water got into the engine. I have them tow it to my local Honda dealership here in CT. The dealership want to charge my $281 for a water damage inspection, I decide I can do the diagnostic myself or take it somewhere else. I then go to the dealership to assess the damage. The car would not start. I do notice a piece of melted metal close to my battery terminal, not sure if this has anything to do with the damage though(Picture Attached). I take the battery out and bring it to the parts store to charge the battery. I then put the battery back in after charge and was able to start the car. The car spews milky white smoke out of the exhaust, and the CEL is on. I read the codes using my HDS and get the following DTC:

P2101 THROTTLE ACTUATOR SYSTEM MALFUNCTION
P2237 HO2S(A/F SENSOR) B1 S1 IP LINE HIGH VOLTAGE (DTC WAS ON PRIOR TO FLOOD)
P0301 MISFIRE No.1 CYLINDER
P0302 MISFIRE No.2 CYLINDER
P0304 MISFIRE No.4 CYLINDER
P0300 RANDOM MISFIRE
83-1 ECM/PCM RELATION FAILURE

I then attempt to drive my car off the lot. I get no throttle response while stepping on the gas pedal. The car moved but only at about 20 - 30 mph. I then decide it would not be safe to drive the car in this state and proceed with the dealership diagnostic. The dealer returns with all the codes I found except P2101 and 83-1. I am a little confused as I would think they would be able to pull the same code I did. I insist they troubleshoot the codes I found and they state they can only troubleshoot codes they find. I now tell the service advisor that it would be a great disservice if they do not diagnose the codes, as this might be an indicator of water damage. The advisor states he will put on the assessment that I would need a new throttle body. I then call my insurance company for a supplement claim with all the items found by the dealership. Insurance company does the supplement inspection and returns back with:

"ISUPPLEMENT INSPECTION AT CUSTOMER REQUEST FOR POOR RUNNING CONDITION. PER DEALERSHIP SPRK PLUGS IN CYLINDER 1,3,AND 6 ARE FOUND TO BE LOOSE AND COIL PACKS BURNT. AT THIS TIME FAILURE LIKELY DUE TO AGE AND/OR PRIOR REPAIR. NO WATER INFILTRATION SEEN AT TIME OF INSPECTION."

I am so pissed off at this point. I just put in NGK iridium spark plugs less than a year ago and had not noticed any issues with my ignition system prior to this event. It seems the dealership does not mention anything about the throttle body or ecm/pcm issues. Even though the service manager states his advisor disclosed everything. The advisor did state that he felt the way the adjuster was talking to him that they where not going to go against the original inspection from upstate NY. To add insult to injury the adjuster does not extend my rental and I end up holding the bag for the days they did not cover and this put my credit card over the limit. They said they would cover this cost, we'll see.

I am thinking to sue my insurance company but apparently property damage attorney do not pickup anything below 10K. So my next course of action is to either sue them for the total loss amount of 10,400 or take them to small claim court for all the repairs needed/pain and suffering.

I do plan to fix the car as it is my daily commuter. Should I replace all the spark plugs and coil packs or just the one identified as bad? BTW How do you count the position of the Spark plug aka which one is 1,3,6? Should I take the car to another dealership for another opinion before I start repairing it. I am going to do an oil change and have the old oil analyzed by Blackstone labs to see if they find anything in the oil that is out of the norm.

One thing I took away from this is that if your car is not visually totaled do not allow the insurance company to take your car to there lot. Who knows what they can do to it to make thing work to their advantage, and finally out of sight out of mind.

flyromeo3

check compression on the misfiring cylinders.
BUT, if your getting misfires after this water damage. Youre better off saving for a new engine.

djdonte

Sounds like your ins co is trying to screw you. Your car got stuck in water now you seem to be having electrical issues with the ECM and such. How high did the water get? If you didnt have these issues before the flood damage and now they popped up, I doubt thats a coincedince.

elproducto

The water went as high as around the bottom of the window of the car door. Dealership said they checked compression and the service manager stated the levels where good slight variations but nothing to be worried about. I will check the compression once I tow the car back to my house.

HEAVY_RL

iTrader: (1)

FlipTA2TL

your vehicle should have been declared totaled.

djdonte

Dude if water got that high your car should be totaled out. Even if water didnt make it into the interior (that you can see) it definately got into every electrical component and wire harness under your hood. You are going to be chasing electrical gremlins to no end. And there shouldnt really be a question why your coil packs are fried. Dont let anyone tell you that those weatherproof connectors are waterproof either, cause theyre not if they are underwater.

Also water takes time to corrode metal in electrical compenents. So even if you get the car running right at this point in time, Down the road you will still have problems. Ever dropped a cell phone in water and gotten it to work right after using rice or an oven on low heat? Guaranteed the phone failed down the road, for the same reason.

Your insurance adjuster is doing his job, which is to minimize the amount of claims paid. He is screwing you. See if there is any marks inside your engine bay (or anywhere else) that show how high the water got. Also try taking your car to another dealership or shop.

elproducto

Well getting the second opinion was the right way to go. I took the car to an Acura dealership close to my house. They did a pressure test and stated the numbers they got back where not good. They also found water in the intake. They recommended I replace the engine. Insurance company will finally classify my car as a total loss. Now to find a replacement vehicle. I was thinking 07+ TSX, 07+ TL, or 05+ Audi A4. Thanks all for your help and insight it is what helped me prove that my car was in fact a total loss.