My car were under two-feet rain water after a T storm 3 days ago, and I have got rid of the water from the car (the car has not totally dried yet). Its engine can not run even though I can use car key to start it. It is very likely that rain water got into the car’s exhaust system. How can I remove the water in the exhaust system and possibly in engine? Any solutions? Thanks a lot.
Water in the exhaust is not really a problem. Your most likely problems are as follows.
- Water in the electronics - You’ll probably never overcome this.
- Water in the transmission and differential - Drain, flush, and change fluids.
- Water in the crankcase - Change the oil.
- Water in the interior - Really hard to get the carpet and padding dried out.
- Grammar - English as a second language course?
All this assumes that the car wasn’t running when it was flooded. If it was running, then the engine may have sucked water into the intake. If so, it is toast.
Was the car running when it went in the water, or was is parked and the water came up and flooded it? “I can use car key to start it” and what happens?
I think you have a lot of big issues. Pull all 4 spark plugs. With the plugs out turn over the motor and see if it pumps out any water via the spark plug holes. Next, drain the old oil and refill it with fresh oil and a new oil filter. Install the spark plugs and see if the motor will run.
What to do really depends on just how high the water got in the car. Fuel system, transmission, and electrical components all are badly affected by water. You should contact your insurance carrier and see if you have any coverage. If so, file a claim. Your car just might be a total loss.
Sometimes a car that has been in water this deep is better off being totalled by the insurance company. Two feet of water, especially if this involved sitting in water that deep for hours on end, can ruin electronics, possibly seep into the transmission or engine, screw the brakes up, and ruin every suspension component on it along with halfshafts or the steering rack due to water/mud seeping past the dust boots.
In a nutshell, I agree with Tardis.
This is a third vote for taking an insurance settlement on this car and then dumping it.
Due to the amount of electronic equipment in modern cars, this car would likely NEVER operate properly after this underwater adventure unless you spent a huge amount of money to replace the ECM and essentially all of the other electronic equipment on the car.
Additionally, as ok4450 pointed out, this underwater experience will have a very bad effect on the vehicle’s brakes, and can lead to rust/corrosion on countless other parts of the car.
Don’t interpret the ability to start the engine as a “green light”.
The car is now salvage material and you need to get rid of it.
And, since the Carfax report will probably not reflect its damaged status, the next owner of the car is in for…MAJOR problems…with virtually every system on the car.
There are computers on the floor that were probably flooded. This is not good.
The padding under the carpet will never dry unless you remove it. Easier said than done. Mold and mildew are starting to grow as we speak.
You say you can use the key to start the engine, but the engine won’t run. This doesn’t make sense. Does it run or not? Even just a little bit? I’m guessing not.
Water in the exhaust is unlikely to be a huge problem.
Water in the engine, on the other hand, is a huge problem.
I suggest you call your insurance representative. The car may be a total loss. If my car had been under this much water I’d be in a big hurry to get rid of it. It’s very difficult to make a car work correctly after it’s been flooded.
First, lets determine how deep the water got. Two feet over the roof of the car?? Two feet above ground level?? Over the seats? Over the hood? Over the dashboard? How deep?
Year, mileage of car??
My car was parked in a place where was hit by a heavy T-storm (about 30 min), and rain water was rapidly accumulated in that area. Once the storm was gone, the water was gone quickly as well. The water mark on my car was about two feet from ground. But I didn’t know how long my car was in the water.
What is the crankcase? I never heard of it.
Thanks for your info.
No, the car was parked during the rain and I was not with my car. When I came back, the rain stopped a while ago and the water on the ground was gone. However, I found that my car seats were very wet and carpet on the floor was soaked in water when I opened my car door.
I have got rid of water inside my car and dried my car under sunlight fro three days. When I tested the car this morning, I found that 1) power windows are working; I could start the engine for a second with my car key but I quickly stopped the engine because I didn’t want water in exhaust system was sucked into the engine. After finding that car seats and carpet are almost try, I changed my mind and ignited the engine again. However, this time the engine only ran for a second and then stopped. After that, I was even unable to start the engine with the car key.
I checked all 4 spark plugs, and no water is in the spark plug holes. This is just because the water was never over the hood.
Thanks for your suggestion. I will definitely contact my insurance company about this incident.
No, two feet from ground. This means that my car was not totally under water. The water was over seats but neither over the hood nor over the dashboard.
A quite old car, 100K. But I like this car. It has been with me for quite a while.
As I said above, I found that 1) power windows are working; 2) I could start the engine for a second with my car key at the first time.
However I quickly stopped the engine because I didn’t want water in exhaust system was sucked into the engine. After finding that car seats and carpet are almost try, I changed my mind and ignited the engine again. However, this time the engine only ran for a second, and then stopped. After that, I was even unable to start the engine with the car key.
I checked the engine, and it seems OK (no water was found in engine oil).
What are you meant by “The padding under the carpet will never dry unless you remove it”? Padding under carpet? The brake and gas pad are above the carpet. Confused …
My car was parked on firm ground behind a building. The water drainage system in the parking area can handle normal rain, but not this kind of heavy T-storm. Very bad luck.
You have a brake pedal and a gas pedal, not pads.
Padding is the thick stuff under the carpet that makes it soft and cuts down on noise. It’s kind of like a sponge and will soak up water and hold it for a long time.
Water in the exhaust can not be sucked into the engine. It will just be blown out of the tail pipe and the muffler drain hole(s).
So did you get it running??
It’s all too late now.
Mold has set in.
Short circuits have occured.
Rust has begun.
the KEY to recovering anything flooded is to do NOTHING functional – at all, especilly electrical.
disconnect all battery cables to avoid any electrical function ques.
Absolute step one is to dry out, and by the sound of this conversation, waaay too much time has already passed.
And by dry out I mean a very big job including but not limited to ;
- Take out and dis-assemble every computer box so that the circuit boards can be cleaned then dried. Many computerized boxes hide behind ; kick panels, center consoles, under seats, behind dash on the firewall, trunk side walls behind the pretty carpeted trim. They may be hiding but you MUST find them BEFORE operating any thing electrical.
- un-plug, clean and dry every harness gang plug.
- use compressed air to blow water form inside gang plugs and harnesses.
- take out the seats.
- take out the carpet and pads, interior and trunk.
- take door and kick panels off. dry inside the door frames, there are harnesses, switches and motors in there.
The key to all flood recovery is to dry first.
A huge number of electrical items like phone, tv, refrigerator, toys, video games, etc…
if not powered on at the time they got soaked, and not powered up “to see if it works”,
Can be dis-assembled and dried first.
and work again afterward.
I would consider it totaled at this point. It will cost more to get it back into good shape than it would to buy a used one that is in good shape.
Who owns the building? Maybe their insurance will cover the problem. Especially if it is a private parking lot. Did you pay for parking there?
You are right. It is very likely too late to recover this car. Thanks for detailing the things I need to do for recovery.
No. another rain came in today. It harder to get the car dry now.