Water + TL = $$$ - Acura Forum

bralio · 07-24-07, 01:03 PM

Anyone drive through a 'too-deep' puddle and flood the car yet?

Mine's been towed to the dealer this morning after hitting a huge puddle at speed last night; so far it's not electrical, and they're tearing down the engine to see how bad it is.

Can't wait to hear what they want for a new engine, should it come to that.

MVR 155 · 07-24-07, 03:10 PM

You should call your insurance for a thing such as this, most of the time they will cover the damage, I would imagine the bill is gonna be far higher than your deductable. Good Luck

bralio · 07-24-07, 03:31 PM

Yeah I've considered it... still may, based on what the findings are; depends on whether I want to offset that one-time cost with an assured-increase in my rates, if they'd even cover it at all. Costing $500 just to tear the engine down, and the quoted ballpark number is $3500 for a new engine, should it be that drastic.

On a different note, I have an 07 as a loaner; speaking as a first-gen owner of the third-gen model (got mine in Dec 2003), here's my initial findings in a 15 minute ride into the office in it.

I really like the new steering setup, wherein the torque steer is nearly non-existent (in an auto, anyway - mine's a 6sp, so the difference is huge anyway) – the new steering wheel is absolutely AWFUL (not as thick as mine, and the wanna-be-Porsche triangle style center/horn is awful) and the new gauges (white lettering instead of the all-blue) are easier to read, but kinda cheap looking. This one has no navi, so it has the a/c banner with some giant compass in the middle showing what direction you’re going. The taillights are atrocious, and Acura should be ashamed for falling victim to the "gotta have some clearish look to our taillights like 2001 to be cool" saga.

The auto tranny really keeps going through the power band though during shifts which is nice, and you really don’t feel it shift (almost like the Murano’s CVT) as much as the older ones.

I do like the DRLs and the auto-on headlights, with the fog lights now in the lower corners, and the turn signal markers on the mirrors. I also like the tire-pressure monitoring now and although I haven't checked, I assume they've addressed the lack-of-windshield-wiper-fluid-indicator issue.

All-in-all not a bad update to the car, but some areas I'd have changed... just personal opinion bs though.

bralio · 07-25-07, 09:52 AM

well it's over - Hydrolocked. Two rods into the block, front and rear.

Can put a 2006 engine with 4k miles in it for about $6000 ($3500 for the engine, $2000 for labor, tax, etc).

Insurance company is going out this week to iron the mess out, so hopefully a nice deductible will take care of it and we'll be back on the road.

*CaliMike* · 07-25-07, 10:53 AM

stock intake?

bralio · 07-25-07, 10:55 AM

yup.

MVR 155 · 07-26-07, 01:10 PM

Your insurance should cover this with no problems, its looked at as more of an accident than mechanical failure, only thing you would have to worry about is if it happened due to aftermarket parts which it didnt.

Good Luck

bralio · 07-26-07, 01:33 PM

Yeah, thanks - they are going to take care of it... of course, Murphy's Law being what it is, as soon as the adjuster gave the green light, the dealer called to order the previously mentioned engine, and it's been sold already, so now they're on the hunt....

trust.motorsports · 07-28-07, 06:04 PM

Must have been a huge puddle to cause that much damage to the engine. I'm glad the insurance will cover it. Good thing you have a stock intake installed. Do you know what kind of rods were damaged?

bralio · 07-31-07, 01:59 PM

well it was good sized, but really wasn't that deep... the consensus is that as it was beginning to stall for whatever reason, it chugged a couple times and sucked it up, once I was almost standing still. 6-8" deep when I hit it, I'd say.

Not sure on the rods yet - going by tonight to get my golf clubs and whatnot out of the trunk, so may see if I can talk to the guys in a little more detail, time permitting.

bralio · 08-01-07, 10:54 AM

well... went down to get some stuff out of the car and took a look; #1 cylinder took in water, and as expected, when it compressed, it bent the push rod into an "S" and snapped - two quarter-sized holes, one on either side (looking from the bottom) right through it. Looks like bullet holes. Wish I'd had my camera.

Still no luck finding an engine apparently, so we just wait for the "organ donor".

MVR 155 · 08-01-07, 05:32 PM

So your ins. company expects you to just sit and wait for a donor engine to become availible??? How long do you have to wait and if its too long will they just spring for a new one???

You seem to be quite a patient person

bralio · 08-02-07, 09:04 AM

Not really sure what my choices are, to be honest; the insurance company will sit with the open claim until the repairs are done, just like if I had been in a wreck, etc., so everyone is at the mercy of the availability of the engine.

Once Acura finds a suitable replacement, we'll be off to the races... and I'm not really a patient person, but have a good loaner car from them, they're a great dealership to work with (always have been), so I'm ok with it.

stengineer · 08-30-07, 12:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bralio

Anyone drive through a 'too-deep' puddle and flood the car yet?

Mine's been towed to the dealer this morning after hitting a huge puddle at speed last night; so far it's not electrical, and they're tearing down the engine to see how bad it is.

Can't wait to hear what they want for a new engine, should it come to that.

I have a similar story to yours. Recently there were heavy rains in my area and I went with my TL thru a puddle. To my surprise and amazement the TL's engine sucked up water resulting in its locking and seizure. I saw lot of other cars go past by me thru the puddle without any problems at all. I do not know what caused this or how I may prevent this in the future. Right now, the car is sitting at a dealership and the insurance adjuster is supposed to visit the dealership tomorrow.

Is this a problem with Acura's only? or does this happen to other cars as well.

shawnhu · 08-30-07, 11:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stengineer

I have a similar story to yours. Recently there were heavy rains in my area and I went with my TL thru a puddle. To my surprise and amazement the TL's engine sucked up water resulting in its locking and seizure. I saw lot of other cars go past by me thru the puddle without any problems at all. I do not know what caused this or how I may prevent this in the future. Right now, the car is sitting at a dealership and the insurance adjuster is supposed to visit the dealership tomorrow.

Is this a problem with Acura's only? or does this happen to other cars as well.

You have to understand that most Acura's stock intake is designed with the sporty driver in mind. It's mounted in the front, directly behind the front bumper. Of course it's going to suck up water if you're going to run through it. Unless you want hot air from the engine bay, there's no real way around it. Acura's run with cold air intakes, stock.