ok, im new here, and i didn't really know where else to go for help. but here is my question, i have a 1998 honda accord 4dr about 2 weeks ago there was a heavy rain storm here in the middle of the night my car ended up "flooded" according to te water line on the outside of the car the water got to about over the wheels/half way up the doors, in the morning there was some standing water inside the car.
after shop vac'ing the water out and letting the car air out for about a week, i decided to try to start it up, the car almost never starts up on the first key turn, but almost always right away on the second. it seems to idle ok. there was no water in the oil that i could see frm my visual inspection.
what i'm trying to find out is, how screwed am i? we were planning a move across country next month and this situation with my car has me paranoid. i can't really afford to take it to a shop, so im just wondering if anyone can help me troublshoot.
it's been about 2 weeks in triple digit temps, so i wanna believe that the car is dried out. my dad says that if there has not been an electrical short with me starting it up every day, and if the water inside the car was only a couple inches that i should be fine to drive it. but i have small children, and i am paranoid about taking it across country and getting stranded somewhere.

any help would be apreciated, feel free to ask any questions, i will do my best to answer.

edit: also wanted to add, my insurance policy is not covering this.

 

If water got in the car, check to see if water got to the ECM/PCM (car's computer), located behind the center console. You might want to check and clean various ground connections under the hood and even inside the cabin (e.g., battery ground cable, fuse box grounds, etc.); clean the ground connectors and the chassis contact points with some sand paper to give them a good connection. May even want to pick up a few cans of compressed air to spray around various electrical connectors (e.g., on certain connectors, disconnect and spray the connectors and terminals).

See this link for location of the ECM/PCM.
http://www.tegger.com/hondafaq/tsb/accord/x97-058e.pdf

 

ill try the once over of the electrical connections the water didnt get that high, as far as i can tell the ECM is dry, the fuse panel under the dash was also bone dry, the water couldnt have gotten more than 2-3 inches deep in the floor boards.

 

The issue you could be facing is this. If the ECU did get submerged then subsequently dried out it will have contaminates from the flood water in and on the circuits. I have had this happen with a DSLR camera that I owned, it went through a flood and was able to successfully save it. The issue with water damage on electronics is that once the water evaporates off it will leave salts and other mineral deposits, these can be corrosive and eventually can cause issues. If your computer was submerged you will need to decontaminate it.

This is how you rectify the situation, ONLY DO THIS IF THE ECU WAS SUBMERGED. You need to get distilled water and remove your ecu from your car and if you can take remove the plates to gain access to the circuit boards. Fill a clean Tupperware container with the distilled water and submerge the entire ecu in the water. Let sit for about 5 mins. Then remove the ecu and place it in a second Tupperware container with more distilled water (DO NOT REUSE THE WATER FROM THE FIRST RINSE). Repeat this 3 times with new fresh distilled water for each bath. What this will do is wash off the salts and minerals that have been left on the boards as a result from the flood. Once you are done with this step you can place in the oven on the warm setting with the door cracked open for an hour at least. After that you can let it sit in and on rice (or silica dehydrating beads) over night.

 

Silver, I think that's real good advice immediately after the soaking. Steven has started the car several times since the soaking, so if there was anything bad in his PCM (ECU) he should have seen some problems by now.

Steven, you know where the high-water marks are. If the PCM wasn't submerged then I'd still peel back the carpeting around the PCM and try to dry out that whole general area. Peel back the carpeting from the "hump" under the console & dashboard. The PCM is forwards of the console, kinda where the passengers left foot would be.

Separate from running problems, you can help future corrosion problems too. Lift the carpeting, and if you're ambitious remove the front seats so you can really lift up most of the carpeting. Water can lay in the spongy padding underneath the carpet for a REALLY LONG time. Get that dried out.

 

The link I included in my previous post shows the location of the ECM/PCM; however, this attached pic. shows the removal procedure (relatively simple).

 

ok, another question, when i go to start the car, the car turns over, and takes about 3-5 second to start, but it does start every time. i checked the battery and the cables, what is the next step in troubleshooting this

 

For the "starting issue", I'd start simple. Are the tune up items up to date - cap, rotor, plugs, inspect wires.

 

this weekend im having a buddy come over and we are changing the plugs/wires and a few other things in hopes that we get it sorted out. ill post back after all that with an update.

 

If the wires are OE, IMO those last almost forever. That is why I posted to "test/inspect" them. Again just my two cents.