floodwater - is my car totaled?

my 99 taurus sucked in some water during the flooding we had in Houston on Monday. It wasn't deep, but apparently it sloshed the wrong way and the car died. I checked the next day and the air filter was soaked. Maybe I goofed, but I tried starting the car with a boost and nothing happened. Towed the car home, disconnected the battery and pulled the plugs. All were dirty and one was wet. Tried to turn the engine by hand and got about 30 degrees turned and then it came to a hard stop and I can't turn it no more. I checked the dipstick and it seemed ok. Thoughts? I'd like to get the car running if at all possible without major mechanical. Electrical I can do myself.

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Reply to
byramlass
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Did the interior of the car fill up with flood water?

I hate to say it but it's totalled. Chances are you might be able to get it to run. But after a few months go by you will have all sorts of electrical glitches. Both the engine and chassis electrical are now permanently ruined. All the electrical connectors will now rust and corrode in time. It will cost more to fix all the problems than the car is worth. Your Taurus will now have a salvage title and is now a statistic.

Do you HAVE to have a midsized car? The all new Nissan Sentra 2.0 looks like a great new car from the ground up. It's got a PZEV engine which is the cleanest. "Patial zero emmissions vehicle". In other words the exhaust coming out of the tailpipe is cleaner than the air you breathe in and around the Houston area.

When you buy your next car make sure it's PZEV or at least SULEV. Notice how the Texas skyline is getting cleaner through the years? It's because the cars are getting cleaner. But not all new cars are PZEV or SULEV. GM for instance doesn't care to make clean cars.

The new Ford Focus has a PZEV option. You might want to look into that too.

East-

Reply to
eastwardbound2003

Did the interior of the car fill up with flood water?

I hate to say it but it's totalled. Chances are you might be able to get it to run. But after a few months go by you will have all sorts of electrical glitches. Both the engine and chassis electrical are now permanently ruined. All the electrical connectors will now rust and corrode in time. It will cost more to fix all the problems than the car is worth. Your Taurus will now have a salvage title and is now a statistic.

Do you HAVE to have a midsized car? The all new Nissan Sentra 2.0 looks like a great new car from the ground up. It's got a PZEV engine which is the cleanest. "Patial zero emmissions vehicle". In other words the exhaust coming out of the tailpipe is cleaner than the air you breathe in and around the Houston area.

When you buy your next car make sure it's PZEV or at least SULEV. Notice how the Texas skyline is getting cleaner through the years? It's because the cars are getting cleaner. But not all new cars are PZEV or SULEV. GM for instance doesn't care to make clean cars.

The new Ford Focus has a PZEV option. You might want to look into that too.

East-

Reply to
eastwardbound2003

It sounds like it sucked water into the cylinder and now you have hydraulic lock. Did it squirt water when you pulled plugs and turned it over? Sometimes the water pressure from this cracks a cylinder or head.

Reply to
Scott

You should have insurance that will probably totally the car and you can buy another one.

If your intent on getting it running, you probably have hydro lock from water in the cylinders. Leave the plugs out and turn over the engine to try to get the water out of the holes. If you have some sort of small hose you can attach to a wet dry shop vac you can try to stick it down the spark plug holes and vacuum it out.

Once you get it to turn over, Change the oil. change the plugs. Change the filter. Take apart any electrical connectors that may have got wet and dry them out and spray them with electrical contact cleaner preservative. If your lucky, the water did not go over the top of the engine and a lot of the big multi pin contacts did not get wet. Remove any ground lugs on the chassis you can get to and clean an retorque them down.

If the carpet got wet, get it shampooed and cleaned at a good detail shop. If water got under the dash, your in for a lot of fun.

If you do have insurance, be careful in what you do. You might clean it all up and get it running only to be denied coverage.

Bob

Reply to
Bob Urz

Sound like you may have bent a crank rod or so. Do you carry comprehensive insurance? If so file a claim, WBMA. Used Taurus' are cheap, go shopping

mike hunt

Reply to
Mike Hunter

It's very likely that your Taurus is totaled in flood water. Never EVER attempt to drive your vehicle in high flood waters more than 2" high. Don't bother trying to fix your Taurus. The repair will cost more than your Taurus is really worth. If you have comprehensive insurance, file a claim with them and they may reimburse you for another one. Insurance companies usually don't fully reimburse you, but just take the money from them and use it as a down payment for your next vehicle.

Reply to
CyberWolf

Duhhhhhh....

Reply to
DeserTBoB

Oh that's right! This is the SAME maroon that wanted to spend money on 14" rims to put too small tires on a Merc Marquis!

Do everyone a favor...stay in Texas, and take the bus.

Reply to
DeserTBoB

Here in Key west and all the keys we had sea water go over all the islands with a 8 to 10 foot storm surge(the high point on key west is about 8 feet, low point is sea level) after Wilma last year.

All the cars and trucks with insurance were totaled. My 2 94 cars were not insured and they are both running today. most cars without insurance never ran again. I was out with fresh water rinsing everything out 5 minutes after the water got under the brakes. Not much fun but sure is interesting with all the windows down spraying water into the car, Used an ice pick to poke a hole trough the floorboards to let the water out.

cleaned all electrical with PB blaster ( wd40was sold out before I got to parts store) but I had a few days with no work to take care of my stuff. My 94 Saturn is known as the submarine around here now.

You were in fresh water so to me it seems easy but you needed to do something FAST, is it to late now? Maybe!

Reply to
spampal

Actually one should never want to be the first to drive through floor waters. What appears to be water a foot or two deep could be, and often is, a washout many feet deep. ;)

mike hunt

Reply to
Mike Hunter

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