Car won't start after heavy rain and flooding (brake, replace, repair)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Yes, that's gasoline coming out of the exhaust pipe. I touched and smelled it. The exhaust fume now has a dark color instead of white like before. It's a 1994 Honda Accord EX. Water level was high enough to enter the car, but not the trunk. I researched this a bit and a bad OX sensor or catalytic converter have been given as possible causes.
I need to be able drive it to the shop in order to fix it. I don't a mobile mechanic (if I could find one here) would do muffler work. Thanks
If water got into your cylinders, it's possible that all kinds of damage was done.. bent rods, valve heads, lifters, etc.. if you've got gasoline coming out of your exhaust, you've got a lot more to worry about than a bad oxygen sensor or catalytic converter.
EDIT: those are worst case scenarios.. certainly start minor, as suggested above and below.. with wires, and such, before you get up to big repairs like engine rebuilds.
Last edited by J double R; 04-19-2009 at 04:46 PM..
I had fuel coming from my exhaust. It also misfired at low rpms. Cause bad Spark Plug Wires and one bad spark plug. Not saying this is your problem, but sometimes what seems to be a serious problems turns out to be a simple solution. Hope that's true in your case.
Good luck and please let us know how it turns out.
Note: Others in this thread already suggested that it may be bad wires. They are referring to spark plug (or ignition wires) and are only $30.
Yes, that's gasoline coming out of the exhaust pipe. I touched and smelled it. The exhaust fume now has a dark color instead of white like before. It's a 1994 Honda Accord EX. Water level was high enough to enter the car, but not the trunk. I researched this a bit and a bad OX sensor or catalytic converter have been given as possible causes.
I need to be able drive it to the shop in order to fix it. I don't a mobile mechanic (if I could find one here) would do muffler work. Thanks
So you said the car would start and run for a minute or two.
Is it running smoothly - as in, running on all 4 cylinders? I'm thinking that the gas coming out the exhaust is most likely caused by a spark plug that's wet, because there was water in the cylinder. Now the plug isn't sparking, and you're just blowing raw gas out the exhaust.
At the very least, you need to pull your plugs and let the cylinders dry out. Put in new spark plugs. If it starts and runs okay, warm it up and change the oil. Hopefully there's nothing else wrong, though I wouldn't bet on it.
It still won't work properly. It starts and works for about 1 minute, then shut own. I looked at the oil, and couldn't see any water there. I am pretty sure I now a clogged exhaust pipe. I am tempted to drill a couple holes into the pipe to drain the water. I can plug them up later. Is this a good idea?
Edit: I just made another attempt and it worked for about 1 minute. This time I notice gas and water coming out of the fat part of the exhaust pipe. Can someone explain to me how gas can come out of the exhaust pipe and what this could mean, please? Thank you.
I have a picture of the exhaust pipe here. The pipe works normally for about 15 seconds then it starts firing like a machine gun then it sputters and gas drips from the pipe then it shuts down.
Okay. First, do not drill that exhaust. Water simply being present in the exhaust is not going to do anything but blow out the tailpipe. It will not let the car run for a minute and then make it die. Your problem is electrical and you are seeing the mechanical repercussions.
Water also, I would say, has not entered the combustion chambers in the engine because that would have seized the engine and it would NEVER have even turned over, much less run.
If raw fuel is coming out exhaust pipe, this tells us a couple things. First, that the catalytic converter is not clogged; a good sign. Second, the fuel is escaping the engine without burning. This in turn means there are serious engine misfire events occurring. I would guess that the engine, when it runs, does not do so very well? If you are seeing raw fuel exiting the exhaust, the engine has to be running rough when it runs. However, if the engine runs normally when it runs, I would suspect that you are merely seeing water coming out, but it can smell like fuel and carbon in that environment.
The "firing like a machine gun" also makes me think you ARE seeing fuel come out. This sounds like backfiring through the exhaust, and ya need raw fuel for that. Happening right before the engine dies means a whole ton of fuel was introduced right before it died. Why so much fuel all at once? I suspect the ignition system is compromised in some way.
We need four things (basically) to run an engine. These things are fuel, air, compression, and spark. Take away any of these things, and the engine will die. Since water flooded this puppy, I suspect water has damaged or compromised ignition components such as cap, rotor, wires. Water could have gotten into some primary ignition components as well.
And, if there was ANY water on the floor of the passenger front side of the car, the engine control unit must be checked for corrosion.
Take it to a pro. You will not be able to fix this yourself and believe me, I've seen many cars like this where the owner took advice online and attempted to diagnose and repair their own problem, only to make more work and more expense for the professional. Of course, that cost is going to be passed on to you. Many technicians hate, absolutely hate having to work on cars that were hacked on by someone who is ignorant of auto technology. This resentment comes through in bigger bills...
Yes, that's gasoline coming out of the exhaust pipe. I touched and smelled it. The exhaust fume now has a dark color instead of white like before. It's a 1994 Honda Accord EX. Water level was high enough to enter the car, but not the trunk. I researched this a bit and a bad OX sensor or catalytic converter have been given as possible causes.
I need to be able drive it to the shop in order to fix it. I don't a mobile mechanic (if I could find one here) would do muffler work. Thanks
O2 sensor is not going to cause this problem, forget that. And in my previous post I laid out why it is not a plugged cat.
I was wrong about the gas coming out. It's water. It sure looks and smells like gas. I soaked up a piece of paper with that liquid as it came out of the pipe today and tried to burn it. It wouldn't burn. That tells me it's water. I tried to start it in the morning, but it wouldn't work. I tried again late in the afternoon and it worked. It ran smoothly longer today. I turned the engine off when I saw so much white smoke coming out of the pipe.
I was wrong about the gas coming out. It's water. It sure looks and smells like gas. I soaked up a piece of paper with that liquid as it came out of the pipe today and tried to burn it. It wouldn't burn. That tells me it's water. I tried to start it in the morning, but it wouldn't work. I tried again late in the afternoon and it worked. It ran smoothly longer today. I turned the engine off when I saw so much white smoke coming out of the pipe.
White smoke generally means water or coolant is burning. Since the engine runs smoothly, I suspect even more now that water ingress into the engine computer or other electrical connector is short-circuiting essential signals the engine needs to run. Take it in.
I was wrong about the gas coming out. It's water. It sure looks and smells like gas. I soaked up a piece of paper with that liquid as it came out of the pipe today and tried to burn it. It wouldn't burn. That tells me it's water. I tried to start it in the morning, but it wouldn't work. I tried again late in the afternoon and it worked. It ran smoothly longer today. I turned the engine off when I saw so much white smoke coming out of the pipe.
You just might get very lucky. If it's running smoothly, there is no reason to be worried about that "white smoke", because it's probably not smoke. It's water that's being turned to steam.
At the VERY LEAST, if you're able to get it running and keep it running, and all other things seem to be working okay, you MUST change your oil and filter! And soon.
Everything else is going to be a crap shoot. You might or might not get lucky on it.
It started at 8:00am today, which it didn't do yesterday. It runs longer now before shutting down. Water is still coming out. I think it's getting better as more water is removed.
Now I have another problem. The automatic transmission is stuck in park. It worked once right after the rain when I was able to get the car started and moved it a little. My neighbor suggested that I put the car on a sloped driveway to push the water toward the exhaust pipe. I did that without applying the brakes. So basically the transmission was holding the car in position by itself. I don't know if that caused a problem. Transmission fluid is OK.
I can still drive the car by putting it in neutral first (lock release), then start the car, then shift. But that's just a temporary fix.
Any other suggestion? Thanks.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
