90 Accord got flooded - won't start after 3 days. Help.

92000 miles. I came home the other day to find the car in a foot of
water, three inches inside. It started, I drove it around. I turned it
off and a bit later it started. It ran until I pulled into my
driveway, which is about a 40 degree angle down. The car ran another
30 seconds or so while I was bailing out water, and then died.

I had it towed out and placed on level ground but three days later it
still won't start. It has rained each day though so it isn't getting
dry. It cranks just fine, but it won't start.

I guess either wires/spark plugs are wet? Or water got in the fuel
line? I can't figure why it worked fine until I pulled onto that
slope.

Any advice greatly appreciated.

 

Is the Check Engine Light on for two seconds after the
ignition is turned on? If not, the ECU (engine/electronic
computer/control unit) is suspect. With water this deep, one
casualty is often the ECU. It is located in the passenger
footwell, about a few inches above the floor... Perhaps upon
driving onto the slope, water in it sloshed around further.
An ECU test procedure for your Accord appears at
http://media.honda.co.uk/car/owner/media/manuals/AccordManual/400/6-152.pdf

If the ECU seems okay, next check for spark and fuel per the
directions at http://tegger.com/hondafaq/startproblems.html
..

 

Thanks. I think the Check Engine light was coming on it normally does.
There was a little water in the passenger side but the real water was
in the driver side. That's the way the car was tilting in the spot.

I'm at work now so can't check the car but I will when I get home
later. I'm not much good at car repair (I'm a software guy and this is
hardware) but I can likely see if a sparkplug is firing.

 

When ever the car is water flooded the ECU is protected by its
conformal coating which is design for this purpose. It's the
corrosion elsewhere that can fry the ECU.

A word of advice. Whenever the car is flooded, the access panel from
parts should be removed and the parts dried quickly after being removed
from water. Don't start the car. A large fan on the engine bay and on the
car's interior should do the trick, but peel back those carpets.

 

There are companies that specialize in rehabbing "drowned" cars to the
extent that they do as you suggested over a period of days (depending on
the severity of the dunking) and check engines, trannies, brake systems
for water infiltration etc.

Time is of the essence here if damage was caused by salt water. If the
vehicle was dunked in fresh water, time is not so important regarding
the engine as I've seen cars revived after sitting for ten years. It's
a messy process however...

JT

 

Others in this group over the years have reported visible corrosion on the
PCB. The coating must not be perfect.

 

I haven't personally heard of an ECU (Honda or otherwise) that survived
getting wet. My son's '89 (?) Accord he had in Washington state got about an
inch of water in the floor during a flood and the ECU was severely damaged,
although the engine still ran after a fashion. It drank gasoline like crazy
and the "check engine" light stayed on. More commonly, flooded ECUs just
fail completely. A replacement from a wrecking yard is the obvious solution;
his was $75 although others can cost over $100 US.

FWIW, back when I worked in avionics a navigation system was brought in by
an insurance adjuster because the pilot said it failed in heavy rain. I
worked on it as he watched, and sure enough the first thing we saw inside
was heavy water spotting, starting at the cooling fitting. But why was it
dead? All the boards were coated with urethane. I found an open circuit
board trace in the power supply. On very close examination (good light and
magnifying glass) we could see there was a pinhole in the coating and where
that hole in the coating was the trace underneath was gone. A piece of wire
soldered across the gap and a swab of urethane made it as good as new... and
it left me with a new respect for the corrosive power of the combination of
water and DC.

Mike

 

Honda's ECU's are comparable to the aviation technology. Many other
automakers don't go to the extent that Honda does. The ones that do go bad
from moisture are probably from users who didn't know where or how to
remove the seat to get to the ECU quickly.

When my non-coated electronic equipments fell off a boat they were all
quickly handled. They've cheated death and still running strong today.

 

Like I said...

I dropped a cordless phone into a swimming pool once. Rescued it (once we
figured out where it had gone), took it apart, left it in the sun, and it's
fine now. Still using it.

 

Time is definitely of the essence, since the electrolysis occurs like
clockwork. I think an hour is okay, but overnight is definitely too long. If
the car is found flooded in the morning, the outlook is grim indeed.

Mike

 

---------------------------------------------

If you had disconnected the BATTERY right away, things might be
different. The current will electrolyze all the parts that get wet,
especially connectors and circuit boards.

I've seen the traces 'evaporate' off (original Mac) circuit boards that
got wet with the power on. If the power had been turned off right away,
they would not have needed 'patching'.

'Curly'

 

So are you saying that I just need to get an ECU from a junkyard and
replace it in the Honda? I can screw in a lightbulb and even operate a
screwdriver. According to a quick google search it's under the driver
seat in a 1990 Accord. So, as someone wrote, I pull out the seat and
replace the ECU?

 

No. See here:
http://www.iequus.com/assets/manuals/3173_ICCR_E_14JAN03.pdf
Specifically page 15.

See above.

 

Why doesn't he buy a Haynes or other service manual?
They have -some- use.

 

Yeah, you can wipe your ass with them.

 

The link has no picture location. Try this for the 90-93 Accord location.

http://home.earthlink.net/~michaelpkeefe/images/ECM_TCM_Location.jpg

 

Yes, that's just what I seem to have. I can't get that big metal plate
off; I need a deeper socket then I have. It seems to be held in with
10 mm nuts, maybe 11, but I can' t get a socket down enough to pull
them off. The screw sticking out is too long. I'll get a better one
tomorrow.

I did check with Honda, the ECU is $951. Yikes! But a local junkyard
has one for $60. It probably won't work but maybe it will. Is it worth
a gamble?

My plan is to get the plate off and dry everything out. It's finally
stopped raining here (NYC) so I have a fighting chance.

 

I bet the ECU is good. From what I've seen Honda ECU's are among the
best and rarely have problems. So if yours is water damaged the
junkyard replacement will probably solve your problem.

 

I ripped the thing apart and there are two sealed boxes with wire
harnesses attached. One says OKI Communications AT Control Unit (or
something close to that), the other doesn't say much at all. The AT
unit had two wire bundles, the other had three. I'll head for the
junkyard and see what they have.

 

You live on the side of pyramid with a great view of the Sphinx? :-D