Not my actual baby - my 2013 MCS.

Got caught in a flash flood in alluring Newark, NJ yesterday and stupidly tried to restart my car to get out of the incoming water after the engine died (I now know I broke the flooding rule of thumb). The water level, by the time I was removed from my car (about 25 minutes), was lapping gently at the bottom of my front license plate and submerged the tailpipe completely. However, buses and larger vehicles sent waves crashing over the hood and roof of my car while I sat in it waiting for help and for a good time after I was on dry ground. The gentleman in the Maxima behind me said a large plume of black smoke came out of the exhaust when my car gave into its watery demise. On the plus side, the fire dept. rescued me via boat and my car via flatbed, so at least I got a good story out of it (say what you will about Newark, but at least their FD is pleasant).

Now, it's at the dealership waiting for the insurance adjuster, and a few things have happened that I could use some advice on:

1. The dealership immediately began to try and dry out the engine & all components, and instructed me to call my insurance company to file a claim after they'd done so, so I could explain what was wrong with the car.
2. The insurance company said that they'd send an adjuster 5 days later to look at the car for the claim.
3. Service dept. said that their initial impression is that it needs a new engine ($12k). At that point I asked them not to touch the car until the adjuster arrived to look at it. At that point I left in my rental car and told the service rep to keep me posted if they heard anything from the claims adjuster.
4. The next day, I got a call from my service rep letting me know that the techs were able to get my car started, and wanted permission to drive it to see if they could do further assessments on the engine & transmission. I called my insurance company immediately, who ordered a cease & desist on the service dept. since they are now botching the claim. I am now three days out until the adjuster comes to see it.


So, my questions are: how likely do you think it is that my car will be totaled, considering MINI's base estimate is about half of the blue book value of the car; and, any ideas on what else I should look out for when it comes to flood damage aside from the engine (with no flooding occurring in the interior of the vehicle)? And, how screwed am I that the service dept. is tinkering with my car when they shouldn't be - am worried they'll try to slam me with a bill for services when they were told NOT to touch the car!

 

Seems like an odd progression of events. Document this on paper, get whatever you can from the dealer.

As for the engine electronics, clearing out the air passages and getting it started right away could have saved the engine - as it seems the mechanics are thinking. Flood cars are total losses because it can be weeks of water left pooling in bad places before someone tries to fix it. Our cars are sealed pretty well, driving it can heat up the drive train parts to steam out the last of the seepage.

My 2cents, I have been around a few drowned 4x4's,... good luck

 

That sucks. Hopefully it is totalled out and you can just get another MINI. Flood damage is never a good thing and can cause problems for years to come.

 

My brother is a big mud truck person and this is completely correct. You want to get as much water out as possible and sometimes that involves running the car. I really hope that they can get it running and fixed for you soon. Looks like a beautiful car!

 

The "new engine" is probably not needed, if they were able to start up the current one. There may be problems yet (especially since the dealer wanted to troubleshoot it more) but it sounds like the basic mechanical bits of the engine were not damaged significantly. Hydro-lock can bend rods in some cases, so consider yourself lucky on that front.

The odds of it being a total loss are pretty low, IMHO. Unless it turns out there is something very costly and obvious wrong with it, the initial estimate of costs to repair will probably not go over the threshold of "total loss". BTW, the amount to total a car varies from state to state; I believe that it has to be 100% of the value of the car in California, for instance. Check up on what is involved in your state.

Damage from floods usually includes dirt and water getting into the electrical bits, and also into the engine itself through the air intake and the breather(s). Oh, and the transmission has a breather too, so that can happen. It also includes dirt and water getting into the interior of the car, causing mold and other bad stuff that is hard to clean out properly.

But the electrical systems are probably the primary problem. (oooh, alliteration!!!) Electronics don't exactly like getting wet and dirty, and they can cause problems that don't show up for a while, or are intermittent, or are otherwise a total nightmare to troubleshoot properly.

 

[QUOTE=Slave to Felines;3946044]The "new engine" is probably not needed, if they were able to start up the current one. There may be problems yet (especially since the dealer wanted to troubleshoot it more) but it sounds like the basic mechanical bits of the engine were not damaged significantly. Hydro-lock can bend rods in some cases, so consider yourself lucky on that front.

The initial diagnostic report showed 50% leakage in cylinder compartments with additional leakage in other compartments (Monday), resulting in requiring a new engine. Today (Wednesday), I got a call from the dealership stating they just needed to replace the spark plugs and the air filter - how the two are so vastly different is beyond me! But I am happy the car is running. I have many concerns as to why they continue to work on and drive the vehicle despite my insurance company's instructions not to, of course.

 

That is a little odd, but it seems like they are on the right track to getting it going for you.

No interior soaking means no electricals harmed there, and the engine bay is fairly sealed. Driving it will get the transmission vent tube cleared out, followed by an all fluid change. It just might be ok,... but you should let the situation work itself out by letting the insurance company deal with the mechanics, leave the insurance agent alone for a few days as well, at least until next tuesday. They get you a loaner?

 

No loaners available until late this week or next week at that dealership; currently renting a car out of pocket!

The adjuster is scheduled to go there tomorrow and will hopefully get to the root of it - fingers crossed. Thanks for your input, everyone!

 

Giving all of you helpful participants an update:

The engine was not hydro locked, as they initially feared. Because it wasn't they were able to get the engine running properly. The cat. converter has been replaced, as well as the oxygen sensor, and the spark plugs. All fluids were flushed and replaced (except for the water, har-har).

It's been about a week now and everything seems to be running normally, with the exception of a check engine light that keeps popping on/off intermittently when driving - the dealership hasn't yet responded to requests to work on the car for this so I am hoping that it's a sensor glitch and not a mechanical issue.

 

get rid of it. its not just hydrolocking engine you need to worry about.. long term for other things water damaged, potential for mold, etc etc... yuck

 

Glad to hear they sorted it out in time and as long as the interior stayed dry I would not worry about mold, heck they drive these in England don't they? Put some miles on it to get it really hot, that will bake out the last of it and probably sort that check light too or at least bury a code they can deal with.

Kinda odd the way they kept working on it that first day, but they knew what they were doing.

 

Update: Have brought the car in for service 3 times now since the Great Flood. It's at the dealership now due to a combination of interesting things: car has stalled out twice in the past month, has continued to sputter (usually worse on a hot day or after extensive driving), the automatic headlight sensor has been turning the lights on in the middle of sunny days, and the gas cap sensor keeps coming on and off regardless of refilling the tank/resealing the cap. I was just informed by service that all of the issues are resolved now because the gas cap was just loose. Seem a little strange to anyone else?

 

I'm not surprised that you have those issues. I bet that being submerged has created some strange electrical problems over time.

 

This same thing happened to me with my '06 justa a little over a year ago. Flooded the engine in a freak flash flood. Towed to the dealership. Got car insurance involved. Long winded process, engine replaced per the insurance co. Everything seemed fine and I thought, "Great! a newer engine, what could go wrong?" Well, things started manifesting that would never have popped up if not for all that water and the drastic change of swapping out an engine. Had to sell her a couple of weeks ago because it was costing way too much to keep a nearly 10 year old car running. And in retrospect, I almost wish the insurance co had just totalled it. I'm really sorry this happened to your '13 and I only hope it doesn't have the same outcome as mine, but I would suggest if possible, sell it while it still runs and get what you can and buy another car.

 

Sucks that happened, hopefully it works out one way or another.

In regards to the techs did you sign anything saying they could start working on it? If there's nothing signed that could be an easy out since they'd be doing unauthorized work.