Every cab in Houston has had fresh water in the foot wells. 
Need advice on cleaning a flooded car
- Thread starter loneryder
- Start date
If it’s a Florida title/or policy you probably cannot owner retain it.
No.
That's my car only black.
I will. Just waiting for pics. One of my friends went over this am and reported that the car was flooded and there was 3.5' of dirty water in the house.
While I'm very bummed out about all this(I so enjoyed winters there with that car), I do realize that I am lucky as I have a house to live in and I'm safe. There are many many people a lot worse off. It's only stuff.
You have the right attitude! Kudos.
In 1994 I bought a flood vehicle (salt water), a 1990 Camry LE with the V6. It had a check engine light on when I bought it and the seat belts (automatic) didn't actuate. Took it home, the water had gotten up to the floor shift column where the seat belt PCB sat. I ended up having to purchase an ECU (main engine computer) from a junkyard and a PCB for the seat belt motors. Also removed the power seat motors and cleaned out some rust and oiled, put them back in. Other than that, nothing else.
I put on 155,000 miles on that car and I would rate it one of my best buys ever. Don't listen to people that will tell you you will have electrical problems for the rest of the cars life. It's just not true. However, 3-4 feet is a lot higher than my car had seen. That said, you will probably have to replace some if not all of the electrical modules that were soaked. Time if of the essence.
I put on 155,000 miles on that car and I would rate it one of my best buys ever. Don't listen to people that will tell you you will have electrical problems for the rest of the cars life. It's just not true. However, 3-4 feet is a lot higher than my car had seen. That said, you will probably have to replace some if not all of the electrical modules that were soaked. Time if of the essence.
Owen Lucas
$100 Site Donor 2023
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I'd say you got lucky. Cars back then didn't have as many random modules and sensors throughout the vehicle as they do today. Similar flood damage to a modern vehicle would involve the main SRS computer being submerged (usually under the shifter console / dashboard) , SRS seat belt buckle retractors exposed to water, all kinds of electrical sensors (SRS too) and motors under the seat and a variety of other computers and extra connectors modern cars have.
No one should risk SRS components exposed to salt water even if there is no indication of an error such as having the SRS light on. Maybe some system error is preventing the light from turning on and corrosion could slowly be eating away at connections or the circuit boards inside, turning it into a death trap and could randomly deploy the airbag:
Hurricane Flooding Ups Risk of Airbag Injuries
Cars that had been flooded may hide fatal flaws, including damage to electrical and electronic systems that cause airbags either to fail to deploy when needed or to go off unexpectedly, resulting in serious airbag injuries. Airbag lawsuits have arisen in many different situations. This may be...
www.lawyersandsettlements.com
These parts aren't usually hermitically / epoxy sealed like some external SRS sensors.
If you've ever seen or worked on a car with water inside (no matter how much) if the windows were closed, especially in hot weather, the interior turns into a terrarium / petri dish. It's not uncommon to have condensation on the interior windows, moisture intrusion to all the surfaces, and mold / some life forms growing inside. Who knows what's going on under the seat or in the cavities of the interior? I wouldn't feel comfortable driving in a mold mobile where the airbags could randomly explode or not work at all.
Looks like the trunk opened up, maybe due to a short triggering the lock or damage from the car port? Either way with that water level and even light body damage, IMO it's not worth repairing and dealing with the Christmas tree of warning lights that will waste your time.
Not having the SRS light come on when you start the car IS an indication of some error and further investigation is needed. No different from the CEL.
A1990 Camry is a far cry from even a 1990 Mercedes much less the topic of discussion and you should have bought a lottery ticket because the gods definitely smiled on you that day…
Owen Lucas
$100 Site Donor 2023
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Good point. What I mean is an SRS light, common after an error / bad sensor / module that stays lit.
Yes no airbags. Cars were simpler back then. But it's not a lottery ticket and I didn't "get lucky". I knew what saw and didn't see water. And yes, back then I got the same comments about how the car was going to be problematic, electrically speaking......but it wasn't.
Looks like the trunk opened up, maybe due to a short triggering the lock or damage from theI'd say you got lucky. Cars back then didn't have as many random modules and sensors throughout the vehicle as they do today. Similar flood damage to a modern vehicle would involve the main SRS computer being submerged (usually under the shifter console / dashboard) , SRS seat belt buckle retractors exposed to water, all kinds of electrical sensors (SRS too) and motors under the seat and a variety of other computers and extra connectors modern cars have.
No one should risk SRS components exposed to salt water even if there is no indication of an error such as having the SRS light on. Maybe some system error is preventing the light from turning on and corrosion could slowly be eating away at connections or the circuit boards inside, turning it into a death trap and could randomly deploy the airbag:
Hurricane Flooding Ups Risk of Airbag Injuries
Cars that had been flooded may hide fatal flaws, including damage to electrical and electronic systems that cause airbags either to fail to deploy when needed or to go off unexpectedly, resulting in serious airbag injuries. Airbag lawsuits have arisen in many different situations. This may be...www.lawyersandsettlements.com
These parts aren't usually hermitically / epoxy sealed like some external SRS sensors.
If you've ever seen or worked on a car with water inside (no matter how much) if the windows were closed, especially in hot weather, the interior turns into a terrarium / petri dish. It's not uncommon to have condensation on the interior windows, moisture intrusion to all the surfaces, and mold / some life forms growing inside. Who knows what's going on under the seat or in the cavities of the interior? I wouldn't feel comfortable driving in a mold mobile where the airbags could randomly explode or not work at all.
Looks like the trunk opened up, maybe due to a short triggering the lock or damage from the car port? Either way with that water level and even light body damage, IMO it's not worth repairing and dealing with the Christmas tree of warning lights that will waste your time.
I think you are right. I hadn’t noticed that. Battery is back there with a battery tender on it.
To put this thread to bed, I will report that Allstate treated me very well. They used Copart to tow the car away before I got down there. I was glad to not have seen it. Allstate acted quickly with no hassles. They paid me $9500 which was more than I had in it. They showed me how they arrived at that value which was an extensive amount of research. Some of my friends with other companies were not so lucky.
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not to be rude, but if you have "another" house in Ft Myers, with a CLK in the garage, then you have plenty to replace the car with a new one. For you there is no cleaning, the car is trash.
Umm, that IS being rude. You don't know his lifestyle or financial situation. Plenty of under $100k homes in that area.
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OK thanks for your comment. The point was not to be rude, just realistic. If you live in a place that has potential to be destroyed EVERY year by a hurricane, I would think that they would know that the car is trash, and not "cleanable". Seems to me to be a weird question.
