supreme_style21 Posted July 3, 2004 Report Posted July 3, 2004 Just got caught in a flash flood.. Ended up being stuck in the street.. water was coming in the doors, otherwise I have no idea how much higher it got. It was rush hour, so there was almost nowhere to go. Pretty much floated in some spots. Now my car barely runs. Idles fine, but any application of the gas does hardly anything. I can put the pedal to the floor and barely move.. if I'm lucky, it'll catch and I can get some speed. Besides that, there is some subtle, yet nasty sounding grinding coming from somewhere I can't pinpoint. Its the sound of like bad bearings.. like from an alternator, but it isn't coming from the alt. Do I run it and try dry out the plugs? Pretty sure thats the cause of the problems. What else? Just my luck this happens as I am supposed to be on the road uh... 20 minutes ago. Quote
99RegalGS Posted July 3, 2004 Report Posted July 3, 2004 Do I run it and try dry out the plugs? That's what I would do. Hope you get it running better. Quote
93CutlassSupreme Posted July 3, 2004 Report Posted July 3, 2004 i would change the oil, pull the plugs, and turn the engine over a million times i'm sure other members will have better advice but that's what i'd do if my car got flooded out Quote
sl3196 Posted July 3, 2004 Report Posted July 3, 2004 Also pull out your air filter and dry it real good. Where you in grand forks when it happened? Just wondering cause I have some relatives on the ND side. Quote
dsgrntld187 Posted July 3, 2004 Report Posted July 3, 2004 Could it of got hydrolock? Couldn't that ruin a gasket? Quote
Baddflash Posted July 3, 2004 Report Posted July 3, 2004 Could it of got hyrdolock? Couldn't that ruin a gasket? I don't think it actually sucked water in but it could ruin more than a gasket if it did. I would just run it and try to dry out the electronics which is most likely causing the problem. What about the A/C for the grinding sound? I'm assuming it does it when idling not moving. Quote
supreme_style21 Posted July 3, 2004 Author Report Posted July 3, 2004 Wow thanks for the quick responses. I was on N. Washington. (wish I had the digicam!) I did narrow the grinding down to the A/C compressor. Why would that start grinding now? That SOB better not be on it's last leg.. It didn't suck in water, thankfully. Pulled out the filter... There was a small amt. of water in the box, but the filter was bone dry. It's been running for an hour now and its acting a lot better. I'm gonna hit the road in a few minutes, hope she makes it there, and show up fashionably late. I just wanted to check here and make sure no serious damage happened.. put my mind at ease. Thanks much dudes! Quote
Justin Posted July 4, 2004 Report Posted July 4, 2004 Holy dude, where was it flooded, the underpass? Does the AC compressor growl even with the AC off? If not it might be that you got the comp. clutch damp and it's not grabbing quite right, hope it works out for you. Quote
Baddflash Posted July 4, 2004 Report Posted July 4, 2004 Glad we could help and hope everything clears up for you, which it should. Quote
supreme_style21 Posted July 4, 2004 Author Report Posted July 4, 2004 Holy dude, where was it flooded, the underpass? Does the AC compressor growl even with the AC off? If not it might be that you got the comp. clutch damp and it's not grabbing quite right, hope it works out for you. Made 'er to my destination finally.. no worries. THe AC only growls with the compressor on.. and at idle (as far as I can tell). The biggest areas I had problems was at that intersection by Eides Pontiac.. got stopped at the light and water started seeping in the doors. Ya know that feeling of waves hitting a lil aluminum boat in the middle of a lake? Thats what it felt like sitting there. Then I tried turning onto DeMers to go into East Grand, to AVOID that underpass. By then, the car was starting to sputter and basically float. This was all at 5, just as that insane storm opened up. THEN they kicked out a flash flood warning for the city I just couldn't figure out what the inital problem was. It would REV high with absolutely no problems, but as soon as I put it into any gear, pressing on the gas produced basically no response from the car. If the coil packs/plugs were wet, why would it rev in park just fine? Quote
Brian P Posted July 4, 2004 Report Posted July 4, 2004 If the coil packs/plugs were wet, why would it rev in park just fine? No load in Park. The wires probably are more to blame than the coil packs. Quote
Jeorge Posted July 4, 2004 Report Posted July 4, 2004 I hope you Changed your TransFLuid and oil if not you need to do that ASAP. also it would not Hurt to put some line Dry {alcohal} in the Gas to Dry the water out other wise Drain the tank and Refill. as for it not Reving make sure the Coils are Dry and all the WIres are on tight. Quote
patgizz Posted July 4, 2004 Report Posted July 4, 2004 my car got flooded last year 10x worse than yours. i had to leave it opened for a month just to get it sorta dried out. i had water in my oil, in a couple cylinders(sucked it out with a vacuum hose on a shop vac), water in the trans, ruined the AC compressor, my seats were soaked, carpet ruined, there are still water marks in the door jambs cause i never got around to cleaning them because i was too busy fixing everything else. once i took care of all the crap it was fine, so don't be too worried about yours. wet plug wires will make it run like crap though if theyre getting old. out in the dark with the engine running, get a spray bottle and mist the plug wires. if you see little blue arcs jumping from them to ground or each other, then they need replaced. Quote
sl3196 Posted July 4, 2004 Report Posted July 4, 2004 Hey justin were you in G.F. for that big flood a few years ago? Quote
supreme_style21 Posted July 4, 2004 Author Report Posted July 4, 2004 Hey justin were you in G.F. for that big flood a few years ago? I lived in Thief River Falls at that time, but I was in GF for most of it.. that was devistating. Quote
sl3196 Posted July 4, 2004 Report Posted July 4, 2004 My relatives were pretty lucky, only the basement flooded. I went by downtown were cabela's is a year or two ago and it was desserted. They had for rent signs everywhere. Quote
supreme_style21 Posted July 4, 2004 Author Report Posted July 4, 2004 My relatives were pretty lucky, only the basement flooded. I went by downtown were cabela's is a year or two ago and it was desserted. They had for rent signs everywhere. I'm really amazed at how the two towns have turned themselves around. There is still the occassional vacant building downtown still, but everything, for the most part, shows no history of ever being wiped out. The worst part was when that fire broke out downtown.. it ws tough to get any fire fighting equipment out there, so a lot of downtown burnt down to the water line. Offtopic, but here's a few neat pics of it all. The street I live on: A small, but cool vid of the fire http://gra.midco.net/rondorf/fire18.mov Quote
topless94style Posted July 4, 2004 Report Posted July 4, 2004 My grandmas house got flooded out when that all happened. My aunt was forced to leave her apartment building, even though she was on the third floor and the water never got that high. It was nuts, i remember going up there after the water went way down, and seeing everyones trash in piles in front of their houses. Sorry about the car dude, let that beast run and check the wires. Quote
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