Garage Flooded. Is My Car OK?

Feel the carpet, upholstery, and headliner to see if they are damp. Check the engine air filter to see if it is damp. If the car was completely submerged, the carpet, seats, and headliner should be damp. Have the engine oil changed to see if it has a milkshake appearance. If it does, then water got into the motor.

If the interior and engine air filter are dry, there is no musty odor, and the oil is OK, then the car is probably OK.

Check the garage where the car was parked to see if there are signs of flooding, like stains on the interior walls.

The interior is dry. The water level was about 10-12 inch high according to the stains on the garage walls.

If the interior is dry, then the car is probably fine. The stains on the walls will tend to be higher than the actual water level because wood and drywall tend to wick moisture, so the water level inside the garage probably never got above the door sills.

When I abruptly stop the car, I hear a sound of moving liquid from the rear. Is it possible that water came into the muffler and is trapped inside?

Yes, it is possible that water got into the muffler and is trapped inside, but I would imagine that you would see lots of steam or water dripping out when the engine is warmed up and you rev the engine.

Look in the spare tire well in the trunk to make sure water is not trapped in there. Also look in the wells on each side of the trunk (I think they are covered by trim pieces.)

The spare tire well and the wells on each side of the trunk may have rubber plugs that you can pull out to let any accumulated water out, or you can use a wet-vac or rags to get rid of any water that is trapped in there.

10 inches of water should be over the door sills, so that is where I would concentrate my checking. Check the doors. That is the most likely place water will remain, especially if the drain holes are plugged with dirt. I had an Avalon where one rear door had about 4 inches of water in it -- guess what; no drain holes -- I had to actually drill some.

On Wed, 18 Apr 2007 19:57:12 -0400, "Jay Somerset" graced this newsgroup with:

also...check your fuel level. You may just be hearing a half full gas tank.

Is it possible that I can actually hear the sound of gas moving in the tank when the car abruptly stops???

The reason why I'm asking is that I found no water in the doors, the trunk, the spare tire compartment, etc.

The fuel tank has baffles to prevent the fuel from sloshing around too much. I doubt if you can hear the fuel in the tank. If the sound is coming from the rear, look in the ducts under the front seats and under the back seat bottom. You can try jacking up the front of the car to see if any water comes out the exhaust.

On Wed, 18 Apr 2007 22:57:37 -0500, "Ray O" graced this newsgroup with:

however, to eliminate fuel making the noise, just test on a full tank.

Some solutions are just a little too obvious! I hate it when I'm not the one with the obvious answer! ;-)

On Thu, 19 Apr 2007 18:08:43 -0500, "Ray O" graced this newsgroup with:

LOL..and it's almost *always* the most obvious that's overlooked.

And Murphys Law says, it'll always be the most obvious! ;-)

Haven't filled up the tank yet:-) More tests have revealed that I hear a sound of moving liquid from the rear only when abruptly stopping the car on a downward slope. Anyway, my dealership will take a look at it soon.

Yup, which is why it never hurts to state the obvious!

Thanks for sharing the obvious!