Reversed through flood water in a pinch. Any cause for concern?

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LesPaulMan
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Reversed through flood water in a pinch. Any cause for concern?

Post by LesPaulMan »

Hi all. It's 12:30AM in Indiana. Was lucky to be awake when the flood alert came through. Went to hotel parking lot, found that the water was at most 3 inches below the exhaust pipe of my Versa. I acted in the moment. Started my car, and reversed my car all the way up the parking lot until I was away from the flooded area. All this time, I was using the clutch to modulate the speed and revved the engine high around 2k to 3k. I then went back to the flooded area to find, to my horror, that the water actually got deeper for 15 feet as I backed out of the parking spot, before ascending. It was very likely over the height of the exhaust pipe. It's 1AM now so I don't think anything can be done or checked. (Car did not stall and engine idled fine after I "saved" it) What are some possible consequences of reversing car through water?
I feel like the biggest idiot in the world but at the time my most urgent concern was to get the car of the flood as soon as possible.
2016 Nissa Vera S 1.6L. Manual Transmission
2011 Mazda 3 2.0L SkyActive. Automatic<--My folks' car
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potownrob
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Re: Reversed through flood water in a pinch. Any cause for concern?

Post by potownrob »

if it didn't look or feel like the car was flooded when you first got to it, you were able to move it to higher ground where it's not underwater, and your feet didn't go squish-squish while moving them around in the car, you should count your blessings and most likely the car is okay (assuming it's still above the water). if the car wasn't underwater and you merely drove through higher water, any damage should be minor (especially compared to the car sitting in deep water). at worst, you have some water damage to the lower part of your car and some electrical wiring damaged. if you are serious about it, you could see about an insurance adjuster looking at it.
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bobklobb
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Re: Reversed through flood water in a pinch. Any cause for concern?

Post by bobklobb »

When you get a chance, check ALL electronics- lights, windows, locks, cruise, whatever you've got. As far as the engine, if it didn't start running weird/stall IN the water 99% chance it's ok. Most cars electrical systems are sealed well enough to survive short trips through deep water like you had. The exhaust being underwater shouldn't be an issue simply because of the exhaust pushing out. I drove my SC2 through the Sioux Falls floods they had last year and it was fine, even though some jackasses didn't slow down for oncoming traffic and were making giant waves go over peoples hoods.
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theholycow
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Re: Reversed through flood water in a pinch. Any cause for concern?

Post by theholycow »

I'm pretty sure you would have noticed if there was any flooding damage. Therefore, you probably only need to worry about stuff like grease having gotten washed off of the suspension/steering/etc...same as driving on a very rainy day when you're likely to hit a few puddles at high speed.

Your worries will be a subset of the worries that off-roaders have when they ford a mud hole, so google for mudding/fording advice with regards to post-fording maintenance and check those things, or take it to your mechanic, explain what happened, and ask him to check/grease things. If, by any chance, it's due for an oil change then all that stuff would normally get greased at that time anyway. I guess if you're really paranoid you could go ahead and get an oil change in case any water made its way into the crankcase (where the engine oil is stored).
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LesPaulMan
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Re: Reversed through flood water in a pinch. Any cause for concern?

Post by LesPaulMan »

Thanks, everyone!

The car has been running fine for a week and none of the electronics (these are relatively few in this cheapest car in America) seem to be acting funny.
Again, thanks for your help!
2016 Nissa Vera S 1.6L. Manual Transmission
2011 Mazda 3 2.0L SkyActive. Automatic<--My folks' car
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