my rx8 got disabled at the intersection where there was waist high water. i coasted like a boat and made my way out of traffic to the side of the road. when the water dies down in a few hours, am i supposed to try to start the car? or just have the tow truck pull me out and take me to the mazda dealer? they wont come yet until the water level is down. trying to get my plan straight here. water made it to passenger seat level, but drivers side is dry since im on a slope.

i have the stock intake and bhr coils and new plugs and an optima yellow top.

 

call your ins company. Usually vehicles are written off if they get that wet

 

Get her towed home, check all the fuses, then I would imagine it would be the same as a deflooding situation.
You will probably need to pull the plugs out.
You live in so-cal?
My car almost floated down stream this morning.

 

yeah, ill have it towed to the mazda dealer a few blocks away just to be safe and not cause any more damage. hope for the best i guess.

 

Anyone know how susceptible rotaries are to hydrolocking? In a piston engine, with the intake of the 8 where it is, you'd probably have hydrolocked the engine. But in our beasts, I'd bet the seals would leak and let the pressure out of the chamber.

 

Good grief, don't try to start it. Search 'hydrolock' or it's misspelling, 'hydralock'. It's very common. And jeez, once and for all, "flooding" has nothing to do with a car that's been immersed in water.

Disconnect battery. Clear airbox, filter, throttle body accordian tube, UIM, etc of water. Remove plugs, turn by hand, drain water. Drain and replace, engine, tranny, and differential oil, brake fluid. Dry fuse boxes, and probably replace relays. Drain fuel tank. Replace battery. Maybe it will turn over without the spark plugs in.

All in all, it's probably totaled or will suffer problems the rest of its life.

 

the dealership said water went into the engine and i need a new one. This was my 2nd engine, only 3 or 4 tank fillups, put in the bhr and ran real strong. Does that make sense to anyone that the engine is so easily toast?

 

If you had just removed the plugs and spun it through until it was dry it probably would have started. Unless of course you were gunning the engine when it died, in that case it may have cracked a housing. Don't trust the dealership to know anything, every.

 

Same thing kinda happened to me, got stuck in south beach after hurricane sandy, exit onto mcarthur causeway was flooded about a foot and a half and traffic was lined up so i had nowhere to go besides through it. Kept the revs at about 2.5k to prevent any water coming up had i stalled, but i ende up getting through it fine. Once i got on mcarthur i knew i was gna have a problem tho. Just had to remove the wires from my plugs and let it dry off and it started right up. As for you tho if the cabin got flooded, it might get totalled because flood damage is expensive. And if you have a stock airbox you might have hydrolocked your engine. My k&n typhoon actually found one good use because it does really good at keeping water out from underneath. Like harlan said, hydrolocking doesnt completely ruin an engine. As long as you pull the plugs and let any water drain out immediately and not let it rust, should be fine. If it still doesnt start your coil packs need to dry out. But cars are never the same after accidents or flooding like that.

 

You have more than just the engine to worry about. All the electronics, below the waterline, is now contaminated and could cause problems.

 

rx8s are dropping like flies when it comes to flooding...

with the ms/aem cai, im ready to start bringing 4 jackstands with me in the trunk everywhere i go.

 

Waist high? I hope you are over exaggerating. That would completely submerge the engine and roughly everything below the hood. Why wouldn't you just turn around and head to higher ground? It sounds like you were driving it at the time.

 

Today it took people hours to get to work. Myself, I moved a block in 20 minutes time. Due to the visibility, traffic, and a big truck in front of me, I could not see the water until I had no choice but to go through. I could turn right and go through water. I could go straight ahead and go through water. Wet intake, plugs, electronics no matter what.

Whatever slope I ended up in, was made deeper by the construction that dug out a moat along the side of the road. Right before I came to a stop, there was a strange slipping sensation, almost like floating.

I've been taking this route to work for the past 4 years, never a problem with flooding.






So, the rental they gave me is some sort of convertible Eclipse. Real girlish car, automatic, fwd. The engine is surprisingly throaty, but unfortunately slower in acceleration than the rx8, with less room in the back seats, and also a smaller trunk.

 

I assumed he meant waist high while sitting in the car since he did say it came up to the passenger seat level.

OP, either way I would try and get it totaled by insurance because as others said you will have problems later on. Is there some reason you have not gone this route? Do you only have liability?

 

Here's the proper procedure for a car that gets submerged in water:

Step 1 - Look at your insurance policy.
If you have Comprehensive coverage, call insurance adjuster, and start shopping for a replacement car.
If you don't have comprehensive coverage, look at your bank account, and start shopping for a replacement car.

Step 2 - Buy a replacement car

Step 3 - Be more alert for high water situations in the future.
Slam on the brakes, and turn around.

BC.

 

I remember also, the car bucked about 3 times before quitting.

Just waiting on the adjuster and dealer to call me at this point, take it from there.

Worst case if it is totalled?

-buy back the salvage and park it as a paperweight on wheels? fix up to never drive the same?

-buy back the new tires, bhr ignition, custom exhaust from auction? get another rx8?

It is a 2005 GT with 40,000 miles, bought new, paid off. Not looking forward to taking another bath, ending up in some 2004 rx8 with 120,000 miles with questionable maintenance activities.

If it comes to that, it would be very emotionally difficult to let go.

 

Worst case would be to not let it go. Struggling with a car that has water damage can be an even bigger emotional strain.

Look up Doc Beech's post on how to get the most on your insurance claim. Get what you can and move on.

Ken

 

yes, if you submerge any engine in water while its running its toast.

actually the rotary is very difficult to hydrolock, so if you can get to it before it rusts* its probably ok, however the ECU is in the engine bay, along with a few other sensitive things, so you may have more trouble besides the engine.

*the seals are iron and the rotors are iron, so if you add water they rust together.

 

You aren't the first one. I can only recall 1 guy that drove into deep water that DIDN'T crack the engine block, and it's because he was at low RPM with almost no throttle. He still had problems for weeks trying to get it running again.

Each of the other examples I can think of the momentum of the car while in-gear kept the engine trying to turn when it was ingesting water, and since water doesn't compress the stress cracks the block. The one low rpm and throttle just stopped the entire drivetrain along with the engine rather than cracking the block.

Some of the ones with cracked blocks were successful getting insurance coverage since insurance does cover water damage.

Yours sounds deep enough to be a flood damaged car and a write-off.

 

This will be interesting.

So far I'm looking at a replaced door speaker, carpeting/detailing, and a new engine.

If it was salt water the car would be totalled, but in this instance it was fresh water. I expressed concern about the car not driving the same again, but I will be realistic and wait till repairs and diagnostics are completed before judgment.

Based on the standing water level (2.5 hours), the computer did not get wet. That does not say anything about the instantaneous water splash though...

I have to tell them about the fumoto quick drain and stuff. Last time I had a fram quick drain and it was removed and replaced with a stock bolt.

 

If the water level was high enough that the interior floor was submerged there are a ton off things that will be suspect. Acc pedal sensors, seat harnesses and the entire harnesses the rear of the car run down the door sills. The fusebpanelv is in the drivers kick panel......O2 sensors done....list goes on. There is no way the car will be the same...and if it is insured they are responsible. Let someone else buy it and deal with the headaches....not you

 

This picture below will make more sense. I ended up on the side of the road, in the dip in the road plus the stupid construction ditch. The front passenger wheel was not touching solid ground. The big trucks and suvs were driving by, making waves and splashing my car, making it rock back and forth as they drove by for hours and hours. Since it took the insurance tow truck forever to arrive, the police called a city tow truck and had me moved.

The 2nd time I've been humiliated, stranded out there in my rotary. Police and passerbys assumed I had lost control and didn't know how to back out of the ditch. My engine is disabled, died at mid-intersection, idiots!

The water level is approximate, I did not open any doors to check as I was not properly dressed and wanted to avoid electrocution. (with my luck these days, anything is possible).



REPL ENGINE - 2001.00
REPL OIL FILTER - 10.24
REPL AIR FILTER - 22.54
REPL COOLANT - 53.90
REPL PASSENGER SIDE SPEAKER1 - 483.74
R&I CARPET
SUBL INTERIOR DETAIL - 269.95

With labor comes to $5171.

 

why would you drive it into water is beyond me. I would not even let my RX touch rain.

 

Do you think your car is too good to get wet?

I honestly never understood why people are like this, i love driving in the rain

 

Driving in the rain is boring for me, have to accelerate slow the whole way to where you are going. It might be fun if I could slide around and drive like an *** but unfortunately there are other people on the road so that's not a possibility.