flooded =[, not i have problems

[iarejohn]

well Houston flooded yesterday and when i randomly looked outside my car was underwater, as high as the top of the rims. so now, ive let it dry but the engine doesnt sound normal anymore and i know you're suppose to change fluids, oil, etc but could you guys tell me what all that includes? plus whats the best way to deal with a car after its been in water?

addition to all that, my headlights randomly turn on by itself. is it possible to fix all of these problems by myself or should the car be professionally fixed? thanks

[toyomoho]

Mark a stick or tape measure with the max height of the water under the car. Move this around the engine and passenger compartment, trunk, etc to determine what components would have been under water.

The air vent for the diff is at the top of the housing if the diff was under water check trans fluid. The engine is pretty well sealed off unless water got into the air intake system.

Check for water in the engine intake hose. There may be a noise dampener box attached to the bottom of the hose, check for water in this box. If water you want to get all of it out of the engine cylinders and intake manifold.

The engines timing belt and crank sensor may have been under water, check these out for debris.

If water got into the passenger compartment, determine if the cars computer was under water. If so you will need to dry out it out.

Water can get into the various electrical connectors and cause problems. Take the connectors apart and spray WD-40 or some other water displacing liquid.

If any portion of the doors were under water make sure they have drained. The lower part of the door has drain to allow rain water to come out.

Check the tire wheel well and side wheels (one side has the jack).

If water got into the engine and you started it, this can cause bent connecting rods.

[cexsiman]

that could total your vehicle with the cost of repairs fyi. if the water came up the top of the seat inside it is most likely totaled :-/ electrical gremlins can be very elusive and pesky. best of luck. I would check some of the grounds possibly could be bad connection somewhere in there.

[petabb2]

Another Houstonian here with the same issue. I have a 2001 Corolla and I could start but the engine didn't sound normal.

Here is what I did to fix mine, relatively cheap so far:
- Remove the air filter (it was all wet) and replace.
- Vacuum and clean the air filter compartment.
- Clean the MAF sensor.
- Seafoam the engine through the booster line.
- Change oil right after seafoam

It's back to normal now. I was lucky that the electric system seems to be working okay. Time will tell if the car would make it or not.