So we had some hardcore rain come down last night (about 7" within a couple hour period) so quite a few areas of the city were flooded. My fiance decided to drive her sentra through a small puddle which ended up being the size of a river. So the car stalled out, got about 2" of rain water in the car. Some kids pushed her out by the time I got there. I get there, car turns over but won't start. I see no gas , so I go get a few gallons of gas.


Put some gas in, car sat for a couple hours and I got it running. It's running EXTREMELY rough, put putting but I managed to get it home. I can barely touch the accelerator, if I push it down it starts to bog down. I can't go over 40, the engine starts to violently shake.


Got home, took the seats out, vacuumed everything out; took out the wet air filter and left it in the garage with a dehumidifier running.



Have you guys ever come across something like this? I feel like the engine is done for...hope insurance covers it..



CLIFFS:
Car goes into puddle
Car dies
Barely drives home
Drying in garage
Totalled?

 

my dad left his car in a parking lot during a violent storm one night a couple years back. the lot flooded and water was up to the seats on the inside. his license plate was not visible, thats how high the water was. it started right up and left the parking lot and we vacuumed out all the water. we used a bunch of water collector things in his car the next 6 months. he still drives it today lol its an oldsmobile intrigue.

if it keeps on messin up after everything is dry and you cant fix it without payin more than the value of the car then it is totalled

maybe dry everything and sell it?

 

If it needs a new engine, it'll definitely cost more than the car is worth. At this point, I'm just letting it sit in the garage through the weekend before trying to start it back up.

 

Sorry. Sounds like bad news.

 

water is never good for these things when submerged. If insurance is told that it was driven though standing water, they may not cover it.

 

Women ... Does she not watch Top Gear?

 

Meh. I don't really like the car that much...just wasn't planning on replacing it that soon. I'm going to give her my RL and get something else probably.

That's what I'm afraid of....



Water was just spilling out of the exhaust pipe when trying to turn over.

 

most of the time insurance companies total the cars because if water got in the car it will effect the electronics if not right away then with time it will cause corrosion and stuff will start acting weird!

 

So, she knows not to drive into flooded areas (looks can be deceiving) any more?

 

You shouldn't have made an attempt to start the car without doing a few things as you could have damaged it further.


Anyway, do the following and hope for the best:

Check the air box to see if any water may have entered.

Drain the oil and remove the oil filer. Replace with fresh oil and and install new filter.

Remove the plugs and disable the car not to run. Crank it over a few times. Wait a few minutes, then repeat.

Unplug all sensor connections and let them sit overnight. Apply dielectric grease.

Once the car runs after a few minutes, perform another oil and filter change.


Good luck.





Terry

 

^

I actually cringed when i read you kept trying to start the car.

 

This.

And this.

I'm guessing new engine. Hope not, but, not good.

 

dump the oil. remove the plugs. turn it over with the fuel fuse removed and let the water shoot out of the cylinder spark plug holes.

valve adjustment and an oil after 500miles and then change every 1k miles for 3k miles.

but since you turned it over with water in the engine u may have bent a rod. water doesnt compress

 

also, remove the carpet from the inside and make sure the ECU didnt get wet. blowdryer may be needed for it and a steam clean for the carpet once its removed.

remind your wife that boats are for river navigating :p

 

Thanks for all the responses. Looks like I have a busy weekend ahead of me. I'm having her call insurance today, that would really be the easiest way to take care of this.

 

Oh noes....he tried to start the car

to the car....

 

vas25tl....you saw that man hole that sucked up a SUV? and another one that pulled in a house? i'll gladly total a sentra over those two any day.

like another member mentioned, starting the car while wet may have doomed the car. let it dry and see what happens.

 

Yep, you tried to start the car which is a big nono. When water gets in the engine, the ECU tries to save itself and shuts the engine down. And prevents you from starting it. You are suppose to pull the plugs, and turn the car over and let the water push itself out of the cylinders. Then drain the oil, and put some fresh oil in and start her back up. But now that you got it started, you got some bend rods most likely.

 

Yeah it was nuts!

This was a shot 2 blocks from where I used to live. The sentra 'd on 107th and Brown Deer.

BTW there's a thread in Ramblings about the Escalade falling in the manhole. There's another AZ member on the scene with a camera who posted a video.




I'm not worried about the Sentra as long as insurance covers it.

 

Insurance adjuster came out last night, declared the car a total loss. Time to shop.

 

Whats on the list of cars you looking at.

 

nice

 

M3!!!!

Uh, sorry, I just kinda blurt that out anytime somebody is talking about new cars...

 

so, whatcha gettin?

 

I'm completely lost. The fiance wants an SUV like an MDX or Pilot. She'd really like a GX470 (as would I) but I like to keep car purchases under $15K so they don't depreciate as much.

I'd like to give her my RL and get myself something new. My list is all over the place.

05 G35 6MT
05 TL 6MT
03 GS430
06 M45 sport (found one for $18,500 with 65K miles on it. More than I want to spend but

Or I'd get something good on gas like a 04-06 Accord 4cyl EXL with a 5speed.

Can you tell I'm lost?



No M3's or anything German in mind. Unless I find a CPO 04-05 330i ZHP with a 6MT.

 

Here's a video of what was going on that day:
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and at the guy holding an umbrella while soaking wet and walking through three feet of water.

 

wow...i didn't think it was that bad but damn....where i live, we got only a few inches.

 

WOW. That is incredible. Lots of people are going to be car shopping after that storm.

 

We didn't get it nearly as bad either but I used to live 6 block from where this video was taken place. It's insane...

 

I think I found something. 05 TL blk/blk Navi 6 speed. 2 owners, one owner since 9K miles. It's got 80K on it now. Looks to be mint in pictures with good tires. I'm going to try to make a trip to Chicago sometime this week to look at it.

 

How much? Link?

 

They sold the car on Sat. They were asking $13,991.