06 Avalon Ltd took a drink of water yesterday... reccomendations?

[xsnrg]

My wife was leaving work yesterday afternoon in a torrential downpour. She was still in her office park, going out the way she has every time for 8+ yrs in sun, rain, sleet, snow, etc. She's never previously seen any standing water develop even in the worse of storms. Well, we had a hard rain a few nights ago and it seems the pine straw in one bed was washed down onto the storm drain and clogged it, resulting in a momentary 'flash flood' about 10 inches deep and two-three car lengths long. As hard as it was raining, she could not see that it was standing water until she was in the middle of it and the car quit on her. Pushing the 'Start' button did nothing but make the dash 'go haywire' as she put it. So, she couldn't restart it or shut it off. By the time I got there, the water was completely gone and some guys had pushed her into a nearby spot.

Called the dealer and they said "don't try to restart it, if it got water in the block, it could create hydrolock and cause damage or further damage". Knowing the water hadn't been even high enough to get over the rocker panel and that she was only going 10mph max, I thought this was doubtful and was probably just electric shorts causing the stall and problems. Then when the tilt bed pulled the car up the incline, I saw 1-2 gallons of water pour out of the drivers side exhaust pipe and at least half gallon from the passenger side. The dealer confirmed today that water had gotten into the block and it seized and will need at least a new short block. Good news is it is a 'Comprehensive' claim and I only have a $100 deductible. My biggest concern is that they fix the engine and then there will be lingering computer or electronic issues that plague me long term or pop up later.

Sorry for the long back story, but this leads me to my question for all of you ... does anyone have any advice or items to make sure I get the dealer techs to check out and include in their findings for the adjuster?

[Mike Murrell]

I would have towed it home and drained the engine oil first. If water was in the block - it would be obvious looking at the content of the drain pan.

Personally I'm a tad suspicious your engine has water in it, but I could be dead wrong.

You could get a new motor via insurance and that would be my smallest concern.

A bigger one would be the dealership getting ALL of the connections(elect/vacuum/etc) and ALL subsystems reconnected and initialized correctly.

Good luck.

[grandpapa]

OMG! Good to know your insurance is going to pick up the tab. I will just let the dealer do whatever is necessary.