What to do after driving into the water ?

sean45

I have a 96 Ford Taurus, and accidentally drove it
to water, therefore causing an engine stall. What
I should do after I push it out of the water?

thanks !

pat455

You might want to check through the posts in a couple of small archived topics to see if anything in either of them will help you out. Here are links:

Water Damage
Cars Under Water

Meanwhile, maybe someone around here has more suggestions for you.

Pat
Community Leader/Maintenance & Repair Conference

rea98d

The first thing to do is remove all of the spark plugs, and turn the engine over a few times. This will force out any water in the cylinders. If you try to start the car with water in the cylinders, you will break connecting rods, and possibly other parts when the engine tries to compress the water. I stalled out a 92 Bonneville in water a few years ago (before I knew about water in the cylinders) and after the water receded, I simply fired the car back up, and have had no trouble with it. However, items like the ignition system, et al, may have shorted out, and blown out the car's main computer. If this happens, you will get no signal when you hook the car to a scan tool to check for codes. You'll have to find what blew the computer, and fix it, before installing a new computer, and once the new one is in, the car should (theoretically) fire up again. You should also do the usual stuff of changing all the fluids, ect. Hope this helps.

eggnog

I'm far from an expert but i knew a guy who used to drive his 4 x 4 toyota into the middle of a shallow river or creek in order to fish from his truck. I didn't think this was smart because I think the differential can take in water so you might want to change the fluid in your differential too even if it wasn't in water very long.