Car Flooded, help me out

[2drSE-i]

Alright guys, well Friday night we had a bit of a flash flood. I got up in the morning to start my car, and found an inch of water sitting in the drivers side floor board.... Great. So I try to start the car, switch the ignition switch on (dont crank the starter yet) and i hear CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK. So i switch the ignition off and it stops. With every click, the check engine light would flash. I tried again, but this time i crank the starter, the clicking resumes but the starter does crank. The clicking is coming from the fuel pump main relay, and this im absolutely sure of, because when i unplug it the clicking stops. Not to mention i can feel the clicks coming from it (My main relay is mounted below my steering wheel).

Im thinking the ecu is destroyed, yes? I already dryed most of the water up, cracked my windows so the sun could dry up the water and it had somewhere to go. Anyone think the ECU could dry up and be useable?

[ghettogeddy]

hmmm
it prolly would have been fine if you did not put power to it
but its always worth a shot to try
if not they are easy to come by just make sure its for the same trim as yours

[2drSE-i]

well i pulled the old ECU out, muddy water came pouring out so i decided its prolly fucked. Put one from an LX-i manual (mines an se-i auto) and it started right up, no problems.
The carpet is coming out slowly, hope to have it done by the end of today.

[2drSE-i]

Oh both ECUs are 88-89, and the SE-i ecu is WAY bigger... Its the same width but its nearly twice as long... My SE-i ECU is a California ECU, could that be why?

[MessyHonda]

Oh both ECUs are 88-89, and the SE-i ecu is WAY bigger... Its the same width but its nearly twice as long... My SE-i ECU is a California ECU, could that be why?

emitions.......hope you dont get any mold

[A18A]

thats odd, my car flooded out a few times where the ecu would end up sitting in a puddle of water & it still went. it sucks too having to pull out all the carpet & washing it :(

[2drSE-i]

Yea ill make sure i dont get any mold by pulling out the carpet. Theres so much MUD under the carpet im so pissed about this. My car was the only one in the complex that this happened to....damn lowered cars.

[MessyHonda]

Yea ill make sure i dont get any mold by pulling out the carpet. Theres so much MUD under the carpet im so pissed about this. My car was the only one in the complex that this happened to....damn lowered cars.



yeah that sucks...how did it even happen? rain?

[itzdave]

yup, oklahoma had rains of an epic porpotion from what my parents said...
uber ghey about the car tho...

[Civic Accord Honda]

weird .. my 3g flooded once when i left town for a week with the windows down lol , after it dried out it was fine though... and maybe the ecu is bigger becuase its auto?

[Pico]

the ECU on a a/t is bigger, I noticed that when I did my 5speed swap.
and 2dr you should have no problems running the a/t ECU I did it for months before I finally swapped it over to the 5 speed one.
There was no difference that I could see or feel

[2drSE-i]

I hadnt noticed any problems running the 5spd ECU as of yet. I havent driven it because i havent had to, but i got one of the seats back in so i can drive it tomorrow. We had hardcore rain one night, literally flooded within 20 minutes. Doesnt help that the drainage at my apartment complex sucks.

[carotman]

The california ECU is bigger indeed.

The "50 State" ecu is made by matsushita with Hitachi stuff. The Cali ECU is made by Oki.

Both are PJ0 ECUs

[fijisac]

Alright guys, well Friday night we had a bit of a flash flood. I got up in the morning to start my car, and found an inch of water sitting in the drivers side floor board.... Great. So I try to start the car, switch the ignition switch on (dont crank the starter yet) and i hear CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK. So i switch the ignition off and it stops. With every click, the check engine light would flash. I tried again, but this time i crank the starter, the clicking resumes but the starter does crank. The clicking is coming from the fuel pump main relay, and this im absolutely sure of, because when i unplug it the clicking stops. Not to mention i can feel the clicks coming from it (My main relay is mounted below my steering wheel).

Im thinking the ecu is destroyed, yes? I already dryed most of the water up, cracked my windows so the sun could dry up the water and it had somewhere to go. Anyone think the ECU could dry up and be useable?

well u could crack it open and let it dry out and if dat does not work then ur ecu is fried:Owned:

[LX-incredible]

the ECU on a a/t is bigger, I noticed that when I did my 5speed swap.
and 2dr you should have no problems running the a/t ECU I did it for months before I finally swapped it over to the 5 speed one.
There was no difference that I could see or feel

My obd0 88 auto and 5speed ECUs are the same size. I think it just depends on the manufacturer...

[ecogabriel]

I would remove the ECU circuit board from the enclosure, clean it up and let it dry for a few days (a standing position would be the best).

Electronics are sometimes quite resilient. I know that what I'm going to tell does not apply straight to your problem but it won't hurt trying.
Sometime ago a printer's cartridge blew up and its contents spilled all over the circuit board. Printer was dead DEAD.
Since it was gone already, I removed the board, wash it with tap water to remove as much ink as possible, and let it dry. It was winter so the building's heater was working so I suspended the board on top of it. After a couple of days I put the board back in the printer... it worked right up!

Hope it helps; at least you're already running.

[ecogabriel]

One last thought. You should think on replacing engine oil and transmission fluid.

There is a possibility that water might have gotten into the engine or the transmission if flooding was high enough.
From your account it seems that it might not have been the case but it is something I would keep in mind