Short Term Partial Submerge
 

My 1984 Carrera just rolled down a hill into a shallow pond. It was submerged up to about the door sills - interior flooded but not above the seat cushions. I was able to get it out of the pond within 5-10 minutes of the incident. The ECU under the passenger seat was submerged during this time. Electrical systems seem OK ( the dash was not submerged) - when I turn the key, all ignition seems OK - gauges, etc. I have dried out the cockpit, but have not tried to crank it. Besides going through the car and drying out as much as possible (especially electrical connections) what else do I need to look for ? I plan to remove plugs to make sure no water in cylinders before trying to crank starter. How much trouble am I on here ???

You may want to consider replacing the DME relay and opening and cleaning the DME itself (an alcohol based electronics cleaner)

Clean all wiring connections. If you have power seats, you will have to clean the motors and lubricate the moving parts again.

Clean and lubricate your pedal cluster and throttle\clutch cable linkage.

Check wiring connections in trunk - Front AC condensor fan, etc.

Ballast resistor for blower fans, behind passenger side toeboard.

Wiring for footwell fans.

Good Luck

AFJ

get it turned over as soon as possible

Another thing to check is the front fuses. Assuming the engine was not running when the car went into the drink, you probably don't have to worry too much about water in the cylinders, since the airbox was never under water and it's unlikely, given the water level and duration you describe, that so much air could have leaked out of the exhaust that cylinders filled.

If you think about it, the only way that cylinders could fill with water under those conditions is if either the intake and exhaust valves are both at least partially open (which happens during a small portion of a cycle) or if the engine is submerged for so long that the intake leaks all the air out. It's still smart to check all the plugs before attempting to fire it up, but I predict that all cylinders will be dry.

I'm sure the car was at an angle. This would have some bearing on how deep each end got in the water. AF has given some very good advice, I could only follow with the fact that you can clean/rinse almost anything that got wet (including a keyboard) with distilled water. Adding the alcohol won't hurt, might help. But, use distilled water on any motors or electrics.

I'd throw the carpets away, or at least remove the wet ones pronto. If they're nice, You can shampoo them and dry with a shop vac. Then place in the sun or a low humidity area like near a furnace or water heater.

You can use WD40 on the pedal cluster and mechanicals. Vac and blow dry as much as possible. Take the plugs out of the subframe if you can find them (they're there) and blow those out too. You could follow with a body cavity wax while you've got them open. The front sub frame hole are in the front trunk on either side of the spare tire.

BTW, sorry this happened. How did it happen?

Ok, so how did that happen to you?

Wait!
 

Take out the plugs before you turn it over....water doesnt compress and you will bend a rod or something else if you cause
a hydraulic-lock...

Take out the plugs and turn it over for a little bit and make sure there is no water in the system...

And if it were me I would take off the exhaust (muffler) and crank with out it...

Change out your oil, and run the engine for a while and get it hot, the water that is in the case has to boil off, you could also do an engine flush....but I am not a fan of that procedure...But get the oil out.

And a note, the ECU is normally under the driver's seat, that's the left side as you are sitting in the car.

Were you watching Risky Business??

Edward

Depending on how deep it went, I'd consider dropping all lubricants including engine and gearbox/differential. You may also find problems with the throw-out bearing in future.

Bad luck

You know, this thread is useless without pics. ;)

At least fill us in with how it happened?

Who's the U-boat captain??

Chris,

Sorry to hear this, hope no real damage has been done. good luck.

D@vid

Yes - I meant driver's seat for the ECU. Thanks for all the advice - I will start cleaning and drying right away and then try to start the engine after making sure there's no water inside. (I doubt it, too, Driver Ed - the engine intake was not submerged). As for how this happened, pure stupidity! Car was parked at a friend's barn which sits on a hill on flat ground. Been there many times before. I guess I left the car in neutral and did not set the hand brake. Not sure how it started rolling, cause it was stationary when l parked ... but I went into the barn for a short time, and when I came out, I saw the car in the pond. Luckily it's a grassy hill, no rocks or trees to hit, and the pond was shallow ... but it still sucks. Only myself to blame! Will let you know how I make out when I attempt to start the car later today.

Don't get in a hurry to start the car! Take your time and do everything that has been suggested, especially the advice of AFJuvat and Milt. Resist the urge to try and see if the engine will turn over until you have dried out and cleaned the electrics!

OK - I removed all plugs inspected for signs of water, turned engine over with plugs removed, put them back in, disconnected, dried, & cleaned electrical connections to the ECU - nice and dry, replaced the DME relay. I did not open the ECU. Cranked but no start. Any suggestions of where to check next appreciated ... is the ECU toast ?
Thanks ...

Suggestions? Remove and clean/dry the ecu itself ASAP. You may very well not be able to save it. Perhaps you can borrow one to see if that's really the fault. You say the water did not reach the height of the rear mounted relay panel? There's a lot to look at there as well if it did. Good news about the engine. You could still drop the oil even if the car won't run. You will see any water in the oil catch pan. If none, all the better.

The rear relay panel was not submerged - the back of the car was angled up. I assume if the ECU is toast, there will be no spark, no fuel to the injectors, etc. right ? Or should I be checking for that before tackling the ECU ? I did loosen the fitting on the fuel filter and cranked the engine for a second or two and it appears there is fuel going TO the engine (fuel pump working ?). Also - fuel pump does not run with just ignition switched on on this car, right ?

Update - I opened the ECU and found it was wet and had some dirt in it. Cleaned it with electronic spray cleaning solvent, dried with compressed air, and let it warm near a lamp till really dry. Plugged everything back in - I now smell gas while cranking (tailpipe) so the fuel system must be injecting fuel; apparently no spark (I put a spark tester on one plug wire). Is no spark a confirmation of a bad ECU ? Or is there something else to check first ?

I found a 9.9 Johnson in 50' of water in the ocean diving while I lived in S. Florida. It was prob. down there for less than a day. I took it apart, cleaned and dried everything electical, and etc. It started the first pull and first pull every time afterwards. I used it as a kicker and when the 140 Evenrude didn't start late one night on the ocean.

Do all the stuff AJV mentions and you'll probably be fine.

Gary