9/11/07.... Go figure this had to happen on this day. I was heading home from work in Eatontown NJ, and a BMW cut me off on 35. Next thing I know I'm surrounded by 2-4 feet of water on both sides of my RX-8. I tried my hardest to power through it but to no avail. I got out of the car and pushed it off the road into a nearby parkinglot and let it sit. 2 HOURS later I tried to start her. I dried her out as best as I could. NO DICE. I called a towtruck(thank god for AAA) and he loaded my baby up and not to my surprise about 2 GALLONS of water came out of my exhaust. I wanted to cry. My headlights work, cd player,dvd/nav it all works cept my engine wouldn't. My question is how much water can the renesis absorb without killling itself? Is my precious RX-8 going to be totalled out by my insurance company? According to a local mazda tech at openroad mazda in East Brunswick it is going to cost 6g's for a new engine installed alone. I know some of you guys are techs for mazda, any info would be helpful. You know I've had no choice but to start looking around at other cars. Right now I'm looking at a 99 Mitsu Eclipse GST for like 6g's. I'm torn because I love my RX but I'm also thinking I could use the cash if she gets totalled to start a new life. I'm only like 6 months into owning her, I was just starting to break her in. This so blows. If you were me what would you do?

 

Where did the water come from?

 

Yeah, there was a BMW (***** on the inside), a road called 35...., and then water?

 

The water came from the rain. It had been raining so hard that day, that the drainage ditches and storm drains in the street could not contain the water. What ticks me off so much is that they didn';t even have cones set up warning of a flooded area. But since noone called the police there is no truth to the situation.

 

unless your car has like 60k+ on it i doubt they will total it, but fyi if it was in that much water i think you may have more problems then engine failure.


If the world was perfect they might be able to pull the fuel pump fuse and take the plugs out of the rotor housing and pump the water out of the motor. A little starting fluid and WAM-O you might get your car running..

But that depends if you didnt suck water through the air intake.

 

the road i'm speaking of is route 35 and wyckoff road in Eatontown NJ. It's located actually right down the street from monmouth mall. I'm not too sure how many of you guys are from NJ that's why I didn't go into specifics about the road location. however I was coming around a turn on my wat home from work and the road split into 2 lanes. a BMW came speeding up past me and then cut me off. I had to change lanes as not to hit him and that's when I saw the water. I couldn't brake or anything. so i had no choice but to try to power through it.

 

The intake was thoroughly wet, oh great sounds like my GT is toast. mileage is at like 22'535 for a 2004 that's pretty good. I bought it at like 16'700 miles btw I'm on aim if any of you wanna talk. Vaiinangels just im me

 

yea see that makes more sense...cuz reading your original post, it seems like the BMW made water go in your car after cutting you off by like throwing it at your car or something

 

yea see that makes more sense...cuz reading your original post, it seems like the BMW made water go in your car after cutting you off by like throwing it at your car or something

lmao, thanks REMS

 

I just assumed that BMW had a new feature that made it even worse when they cut you off...

 

you can suck up gallons of water and it will not damage a rotary engine. They were originally designed to be water pumps.

I would doubt the engine is toast unless it has been sitting full of water for a week or more.

Now the interior... that is a whole 'nother matter.

 

nah, its ok, they just need to clean it up

 

man...im sorry to hear that but damn....next time you should pay more attention on the road, especially on a rainly day!

 

Sorry to hear, this makes my car getting hit in the parking garage on Tuesday seem almost innocent. For now on, maybe all of us should get rides into work on 9/11.

 

Mechaincal parts are a straighforward repair or replacement job. As Icemark noted, water in the interior is another matter. Mold and mildew will form in places that are virtually inaccessable. Besides smelling bad, it will be a health hazard. Usually cars that have been inundated are written-off by insurance companies. Completely submerged cars become "salvage" and should never be purchased unless for parts only or complete- down to the frame- rebuilds.