My car was driven into about a foot and a half of water last thursday. The engine died and the car wouldn't start for a day and a half. It wouldn't turn over, I just got a click. Someone suggested I jump it, which I did, and nothing happened, but several minutes later the car started with some difficulty. Steam started pouring out of the tailpipe, so I let it idle for about half an hour until no more vapor was coming out. The following day the car ran, but had trouble starting- I had to gas it pretty well to get it going. I had the oil changed and the mechanics didn't notice anything wrong with it. Ever since the car has run perfectly fine.

I got to work today and someone told me to put fuel injector cleaner in the tank (which I did). Now, I've got one guy telling me to buy b-12 and spray the carburetor or else the engine will be ruined, and another guy telling me not to worry about that and that the cleaner should do enough.

...who do I listen to?

The car is a 2004 Pontiac Grand Am. I would really appreciate anyone's advice on this.

Sounds like you sucked in enough water to hydraulically lock the engine and got lucky that it didn't ruin it! It probably evaporated enough in engine to finally blow thru and go out tailpipe which alone should be harmless.

Cars are not amphibious! Brakes and other problems are near certain to show up because of that. If water got into interior I suggest taking seats and carpet out and let dry.

May take some time show up but wheel bearings are warm and suck in water so unless they are sealed perfectly (not likely) they will fail but take some time to show up as well.

Time will tell what else got damaged. Avoid knowingly doing that and I can understand situations where you get caught by surprise. Good that you changed the oil right away. I don't think you need to spray anything into throttle body,

T
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Tom Greenleaf - MetroWest, Boston












(This post was edited by Tom Greenleaf on Nov 2, 2009, 10:17 AM)

Yes, it wasn't intentional. There was a flashflood, and this was before dawn on a street that isn't lit. I had never seen it flood before, so was completely suprised.

No water made it into the interior of the car, thankfully.

Should I just see a mechanic about the ball bearings, and how much is that going to be?

Nathan; From the description, sounds like it was early in the a.m.. If you hadn't been driving very far when this happened, I don't think I'd be terribly concerned with 'what if's). If the engine is running fine, no check engine or service engine soon light, as Tom said, time will tell. Just be aware of what's going on with the car. You know what's 'normal'.
Loren
SW WA

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Well, that just depends on how you drive them. It works with snowmobiles..................LOL




78 Corvette Pace Car For Sale-18k mi orig-Florida

Never ran my snowmobiles over water, but saw it done. Mine aren't that big, to try it.
Loren
SW WA

I've seen it done - don't count on me to try it - too cold when they sink!

T
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Tom Greenleaf - MetroWest, Boston