High water damage

GeoRiddle · Post by **GeoRiddle** » 29 Aug 2010, 12:25

Nov of 2009 my son drove his 2001 S60 2.4 T5 over a hill and into a dip never before flooded, but this time it was. The water was about 8" high. The car stalled out. We had it towed to a mechanic who drained the crankcase, and changed the oil twice. Soon it started to have an erratic idle and started going into Limp Mode. I cleaned the ETM, no change in performance. We ordered Xemodex rebuilt ETM, it ran a bit better but still had symptoms. With gas pedal in a steady position at about 1200 RPM, engine would surge then hesitate (while driving steady, not shifting gears.) This progressively got worse until the engine with 130k Mi. threw a connecting rod out the side. We couldn't find a rebuilt engine, but located an engine from a "reputable" source out of another 2001 S60 that had been rear-ended. This engine (according to the "reputable source") only has 30K miles. We felt that $1700 for an engine with 30K miles installed was a good deal, made it. Mechanic installed the Xemodex ETM on the new engine. Car ran with same symptoms as before for a few days then got worse. Mechanic said no codes were showing, he could find nothing wrong. I took it to have codes checked at auto parts store. No codes showed. I My wife tried to drive it 22 miles home and barely made it with the engine running very erratic, surging & hesitating. I checked codes with my OBD II scanner, no codes showing. We thought we had a bad ETM, so contacted Xemodex, who (To their credit) promptly sent another rebuilt one. No change in performance. Car is not driveable. Engine will not idle unless your are sitting in the seat with foot on gas revving accelerator. Replaced MAF, No change. Replaced MAP Sensor and Turbo Boost Pressure Valve, no change. Have been looking for a vacuum leak but can't find one. I suspect problem is from the high water. Does aryone have any suggestions about where to start looking? What connectors, switches, components are low and could have been damaged? Thank you for listening. GeoRiddle

Post by **igel513** » 29 Aug 2010, 16:10

Since you have replaced a lot of parts and still having problems, my only suggestion is to unplug ALL elec. connectors one at a time if u wish, and use a hair drier to blow dry the inside of the connectors. Water may have intruded and have not dried up thereby causing short. Good luck

GeoRiddle · Post by **GeoRiddle** » 01 Sep 2010, 15:23

igel513,
Thank you for your suggestion. It has been 9 mos since my son drove the car into the high water, but, you never know. I am grateful for the wiring diagram available from this site, am studying it carefully and trying to find all the connectors and/or components that are low on the car and might have suffered water damage. I plan to check every one if necessary. If I find any water, the blow dryer sounds like a good idea. Thanks again.
GeoRiddle

billr99 · Post by **billr99** » 02 Sep 2010, 07:11

As you go around and disconnect each connector looking for moisture or corrode terminals, take a bit of di-electric grease and "lube" the contacts in each of those connectors. If water got into the car check your throttle switch at the pedal. Also check all the connectors dealing with the ECUs behind the right side headlight and the transmission switches and connectors that are on the left side. You can also use a bit of silicone spray on the outside of the connectors to get rid of any moisture that sits where the wires enter the connectors from the outside. Might be worthwhile to verify that your scanner will show ALL the possible codes. Some generic readers have a limited set of codes that they will read; basically, only those required by the regulations versus the wider selection of OBD2-compliant OEM codes.

I would assume that if the water was only 8 inches deep not much got into the car, but the bow wave of running into the "puddle" would have soaked the engine compartment pretty well. As you probably know, you have all kinds of sensors, the front fuse panel and the engine and tranny ECUs all up there. Each has one or multiple connectors with all being potential problems unless you get any water and now corrosion out of there. Just as an example I had the dreaded message about the transmission destroying itself right after I used a pressure washer to clear out the winter crud from inside the engine compartment (particularly the inner fenders and behind the headlights). The car went into limp home mode, wouldn't get out of 3rd gear, the whole deal. Turned out to be a bit of water in the connector between the harness and the transmission selector switch that is located right behind the left side headlight. Di-electric grease and silicone spray sorted it. For you its going to be a bit fiddly as you have to find each connection point, but it sounds like it can be dealt with.

Finally, have you run any dry gas thru your fuel system yet? Sounds in some ways like you are picking up water in the fuel. After all this time, you wouldn't think it would still be a problem, but hey, eliminate the possibility.

Good luck,

Bill

GeoRiddle · Post by **GeoRiddle** » 02 Sep 2010, 18:47

Bill,

I really appreciate the thoughtful response. You actually spent some time on reading my post, and have given me some worthwhile info. I will check the points you mentioned. I work a 40 hr week and only have the weekends. I'll spend this weekend on the car and let you know what I find. Thanks again!!

George

sixvolvos · Post by **sixvolvos** » 09 Sep 2010, 13:57

With water, I would check the fuel system before more MAP and MAF changes.
Maybe water in fuel, but I don't know the route it would have taken.

Also it is likely that the engine ingested a slug of water which could have bent a rod.
This puts pressure on the sides of the rod bearing and can lead to failure.
The car could still run, even with bent valves, but poorly.
Although the engine is gone, it is a clue to me that water got into more than connectors.
Drained air box? Changed air filter?

sixvolvos

Volvofix1 · Post by **Volvofix1** » 09 Sep 2010, 14:40

OK what kind of water did the car go through..Salt or brackish water or fresh water? If the car went through salt water you will never fix it.. Tell me more about the situation
Dick K. from Fla.

GeoRiddle · Post by **GeoRiddle** » 13 Sep 2010, 18:22

The car stalled out in fresh water. My son says the carpet got a bit wet from wen he opened the door to get out. The water was just up to the door, but splashed in. He doesn't think any water got into the trunk. I spent one entire weekend checking for vacuum leaks and couldn't find any. As I find connectors, I clean them and put a dab of dielectric grease on them, taking care to not put too much. This Volvo is a well designed machine, but I have never worked on a Volvo before. This is a different type animal. I'm thinking I'm dealing with an electrical problem and a fuel delivery problem. I found and changed the fuel filter. Nothing changed. I know there is a factory recall on the fuel pump, but car won't run well enough to get it to a dealer. I'm trying to eliminate all other posible problems before I resort to having it towed to the dealer. How to check out the fuel pump so you know one is bad? How do you know when you need factory to reset computer? I thank you all for your help.
GeoRiddle