My car had water up to the windows from the storm and to make it worse it was also broken into with the passenger side window being smashed and all stereo equipment, $300 worth of tools plus my shift knob gone from thieves. Is this a total loss? The car was just painted and had a brand new suspension put on and its so sad to see 6yrs of work wash away. I heard the electrical system suffers the most and mold and mildew is the enemy. Anybody got any insight to this?
Take your hat off and put it on your heart. The car is totaled,but if you feel the need to save it,start saving up,or buy another teg and strip that one. Sorry for the lost man.
I’ve actually heard of cars that have been through floods and have worked fine afterward (not counting upholstery etc). Just gotta make sure the car dries out completely in the sun.
I wouldnt call it a loss, your insurance company may not agree but let it dry out before turning anything on and hope for the best, other than that you could easily get a new wiring harness and new seats and door panels cause those are the cause for most mold issues , if the harness drys it could work fine but eventually in some places it may start to corrode the wires which is why you may need a new one.
Best of luck though
You guys fail to look at the saltwater that got in from the hurricane,“RUST” and lots of it. It can be saved,but he would need to strip the whole car down now and wash/clean everything,and that’s not including the parts you can’t get to by hand.
If it was freshwater,then he stands a better chance of saving it by letting it dry,but you can’t do that with seawater.
Its hard to walk way from this project because i never had no serious issues with this car and almost everything was brand new. Im just looking on the future with corrosion and health not suffering from mold. I thought about a new engine harness before this happened! What other wires should i check into to seek replacement? I will let it air out because it stinks and from the window being broken dead fish got inside. I will give a full inspection this weekend but if anything i will just part it out and say my good byes. Its not the money but time and dedication that is being felt the most. My first car that I liked so much and was the only clean one in my area. So sad
the entire car harness inside and out including any modules could be affected, but if you let it dry out just test everything and see if it works, windows, door switch, brake switch , lights etc… and if all is good than your good to go, only later on down the road something may go bad and it may just need to be replaced, but if you can get a whole new wiring harness from pick and pull a little work and you wont have to worry about the harness.
also have the carpet cleaned or steam cleaned to make sure it doesnt get moldy and let it dry in the sun.
a girl i work with owns a car from a flood and just had the interior cleaned and the car hasnt given her any trouble in over 7 years, still going strong.
Was it “SALT” water?
Honda has the cheapest metal known to man,the likelihood of his car not instantly rusting is 1,000,000,000 to 1
I think this water was from a stream that overflowed but guessing freshwater mixed with a little sewer water
Whatever you do,don’t cut yourself,and cover “ALL” open cuts/scrapes. If its sewer water,you can get very sick or worst.
Truthfully I dont plan on getting dirty with this thing. I seen some nasty stuff in the water when the flooding happened and thats why im crying because my baby has been tampered with and will never be rite again. I said from day 1 I will ride her to the wheels fall off and now I believe her time is up. 6yrs strong! RIP
hey you could use it as an excuse to do a wire tuck and re-wire the whole car. just an idea.
I saved my DA after hurricane Katrina and that was nasty! It can be done! Strip the interior, take it to a car wash and hose it down. I had salt water, so about a year later I started having wiring problems! You shouldn’t have this problem.
WIRE TUCK:up:
damn thats gota suck! thats a nice DA
I understand what 91_ls is trying to say but if it means that much to you clean it up and see where that puts you. Personally i would replace the entire harness and clean the interior or source out a new one but i wouldnt call the body a loss until i actually started to “see” rust starting to form. The body might still be salvagable.
Whatever you choose to do… good luck and sorry about your situation but if you choose to save it then it might be a blessing in desguise. Maybe more upgrades.
if not… dibs on the front bumper! 
dissasemble the car down to the bare frame. piece it back together going thru every single piece to make sure it is good.