My car is a '98 Acura CL 2.3 manual

I live in Houston and if you didn't know, we got a ton of rain last
weekend. Well my car was sitting in about 12 inches of water (about
mid way up the tire, just above the bottom door sill) in my apartment
complex parking lot for approximately 8-9 hours until it receded.

Some water entered my car but not much, and after I dried out the
inside carpeting, I tried to start the car to no avail. I pulled out
the ECU from behind the passenger kick-plate to see if water had
entered it. It, and all the wires around it were dry.

I pulled the negative battery cable to reset the ECU and my car
started right up.

Since then things have deteriorated. My remote security/door lock
system has since stopped working, and my car will no longer start.
(all power/lights etc are fine, just no turnover-- not the battery)
Water did enter the muffler, probably all the way to the engine from
viewing how much water spewed out after it started.

It will start sometimes if I pull the ECU fuse out, and yank the
battery cable, then reconnect both. Sometimes this works, sometimes
it doesn't, and once started it runs just fine. All the while my
remote security/entry system never works.

What could possibly be the problem? I'm guessing its a ground wire
gone bad, or a sensor corroded or starter solenoid, etc, but don't
know.

Keep in mind, whatever part that went bad was only '18 inches off the
ground because that's only as far as the water rose to. (so the
starter/distributor is not the problem)

Is the ignition system located under the car, or any other electrical
sensor/relay that could have taken some water damage causing this
problem? Clutch sensor maybe? It seems one time it started I had to push the clutch waaay down before it started. (unusual)

I took it to the dealer because it is still under warranty and he told
me that they found water in the ECU which is bullshit since I checked
myself and it was bone dry. He then told me that the warranty does
not cover water damage and for me to contact my insurance company.

After I told him that I don't have full coverage and that I would be
paying out of pocket, he changed his tune a bit and told me that
there's definitely a short occuring somewhere that's causing the
problem, and that it would cost $60 to $120 just to diagnose the
problem.

I gave him the go ahead to diagnose, but they won't be looking at it
until next week because of the backlog of work. I think i'm gonna
tell this guy to f off and just go pick up the car and find the
problem myself.

Any input from someone who has even the slightest idea what could be
the cause would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Paul

 

Think I got it narrowed down to the "integrated control unit" located behind the driver's side fuse box.
I understand this unit controls the alarm/remote entry system, and some other things such as defrosters, and lights.

Some water could've seeped in there somehow and shorted it out. But would that affect the ignition system?

 

Any techs in here ??

Should I just buy a Helm.inc electrical troubleshooting manual and diagnose the problem myself?

Thanks

Paul

 

You, my friend, have a mess on your hands.

You are on the right track with the ICU. The subsequent ignition problems are likely a result of a ground fault/loop. The wonderful climate of houston, given the humidity and potentially salty (salt is an electroylte, which improves electrical conductivity of water) climate are an electrical system nightmare. Much of the computer system shares the same shielded ground. There is most likely residual water that is not evaporating (humidity too high). The dealer can check the computer to see what fault codes are coming up, and you can go from there. You may be looking at an entire dash disasembly (WATCH OUT FOR AIR BAGS!!!) to dry it all out.

[ 07-11-2001: Message edited by: jdl75 ]

 

this does not sound like a do it yourself'er i would let the dealer handle it

i might have missed something, but is it a crank and no start, or no crank no start?