I now have a 5er boat!

[CrimsonBrian]

Hey everyone! I am up here in Boston, which is soon to be renamed Seattle because of all this infernal rain. Well, I get a call from the wife and she tells me that my cars hazard lights are flashing and that it is sitting in a huge puddle. I had her describe the situation (she said the water came up to the wheels and if I were to open the drivers door, some water would come in). She got in the car and said that the floor was wet although there was not standing water. I called the dealer and they told me to have it towed out of the puddle and not to start it until a mechanic looked at it. They mentioned something about our cars having some kind of snorkel or intake underneath that could suck up water.

Well, wife said that it would start anyhow and that the hazards will not turn off. It is now out of the water but the hazards are still blinking away. AAA moved it to higher ground but I am not sure how to proceed. I am stuck in bar review hell, so I dont have a lot of free time to deal with it. Should I risk a start? Take it to the mechanic? Also, any tips for drying it out so as to aviod mold/mildew? Thanks so much guys and stay dry!!

Brian

[winfred]

the water would need to get above the bumper to get the motor, if you wanna be positive about not getting water in the intake pull the air filter and make sure theres no water in the box. what probably happened is the modules uunder the back seat got wet as that's the lowest place of the car, pop out the bottom of the back seat and dry out the area, removing the two one foot long modules from the left side should power down whatever is pissed off, those modules may or may not be salavageable if they got wet, theres a few relays and fuses that also need to be dried and or replaced under there too, id sop or suck up as much as possible and let it air dry making sure to check under the carpet as in places the foam pad can be several inches thick, a shop vac is a good start but it will need other means to finish drying out the pad if it got wet

[Nick.Hay]

Oh jesus, Brian...

I've got no advice for you, but best of luck!!

[TheEndIsNear]

Ouch, I know all about the rain as Seattle is my home. Sounds like theres some water shorting the circut for the 4 ways. If you need to drive the car pull the intake apart at the filter and confirm theres no water that might get sucked into the motor, this should not even be a problem. If you had the car moved to higher ground and never sucked any water into the intake you should be fine. As for the hazards; they should shut off as the car drys out. If you have some water inside, I'd break out a hair dryer and dry her out.

[CrimsonBrian]

Update: I spoke to my mechanic this morning and he said to just have AAA jump it and see if that works. He doesnt seem to think there would be any damage or water in the motor since the water didnt really get high enough. However, my floor mats are like sponges so now I am going to get $20 worth of quarters and vaccuum this thing like crazy. Any tips on soaking up the water? Baking soda? Those little expanding spong dinosaurs?

[bjl4776]

Yea, I live in Norwood a bit south of boston and it has been horrible with rain here the past few weeks. I heard somewhere that we have had a years average worth of rain in the past month. I used to live on the gulf coast and thought the tropic weather was alot of rain, but at least it doesnt get cold down there when it rains. Can't wait to move down to Orlando this winter.