water damage?

Ed Kellock ekellock at gmail.com
Mon Sep 25 12:29:46 EDT 2006


In context, if you do not do the work yourself and leave it at the dealer,
then they'll have the info, or at least access to it, and a preferred course
of action.  

If you're going to bring the car home and DIY, then some good advice has
been offered.

How fast were you travelling when in the high water?  I'm not familiar with
where the air intake actually is.  Speed could indicate how likely water in
the engine might be.  

With water inside the car in the footwells, then it is very likely that
electrics were swamped.  This might also prove the more challenging part of
the resolution due to the materials and assembly of the interior.  Time and
lots of fresh air are the most important elements in this case.  Disassembly
is going to have to be part of the drying process.

In 1991, I rented a brand new Cadillac Sedan DeVille for a road trip.  In
Wisconsin, I had a similar experience driving down a flooded street.  No
water in the interior, but the engine quit.  It was at low rpm but it quit
because I was travelling fast enough (15mph maybe) to cause water to swell
up under the car and be sucked into the air intake.  All I knew was the
engine wouldn't run or turn over with the starter.

Triple A flatbedded it to the local dealer and 2 hours later I had a running
vehicle with a couple pails of water sitting next to it that had been
drained out of the oil plug.  Nearby were water logged air/oil filters and a
set of spark plugs.  They only hit me for $126.  I was sure I was buying a
new engine on that one.  The next day the starter clicked once or twice
before engaging, most likely due to some residual water somewhere, but the
car made the rest of the trip and was surely completely dried out before
being returned.  I'm sure this was far better than if it had sat on a rental
lot for days afterwards.  

I hope your experience turns out to be more like mine than the alternative.
Unfortunately there's no book procedure for this type of thing.  It's going
to require time, disassembly, and some investigation/exploration along the
way.  There should probably always be a fan moving air around in the car
with it open too.

Good luck,
Ed


> -----Original Message-----
> From: quattro-bounces at audifans.com 
> [mailto:quattro-bounces at audifans.com] On Behalf Of David Nelson
> Sent: Monday, September 25, 2006 5:25 AM
> To: quattro at audifans.com
> Subject: water damage?
> 
> 
> I stupidly drove my 2001 A8L (100k, off warranty, insured) into high 
> water on a city street. It quit, and I got out and waded away when I 
> noticed water in the foot wells. I called AAA to flatbed it to the 
> nearest dealer's shop. What all should I have them check out? 
> Suggestions from anybody who's BTDT?
> 
> Thanks, Dave Nelson.
> 
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