14 months of ownership and now the dreaded flood. This should not be a worry with a new car. Perhaps I am just mad but this is enough to want to blow the thing up at this moment. Start it up, proceed to drive out and it cuts out, then proceed to start her up again nothing. Deflood procedure was useless.

 

Sorry to hear. Has your car ever been flashed? Do you know what flash you're on?

 

If it started and cut out (died) while you proceeded to drive it (aside from stalling it) it doesn't sound like it's flooded. Sounds like you have a different problem. Sorry, that does suck.

 

Got her back from the dealer today, he said it was flooded. Strangest thing, he tried to sell me a battery. I had replaced it with a optima redtop and he said sir with this battery it isn't going to start. i said, can't you just jump it, and he said sir i want to replace it with a Mazda battery. i informed him i was well aware of the stock Mazda batteries being crap and that was the reson I had it replaced when i upgraded my sound system in the first place. So he asked me if i had my old battery and I informed him i did, so he said bring it in and we will throw in the better mazda battery no charge and give you your Optima. Only thing I can figure is he was hoping to sell me a battery but after i balked i still can't figure out why he insisted on replacing the Optima because there isn't anything wrong with it. One quick hit with the cables and it would be as good as new.
Still wondering about the flooding. It has been colder here and I have the latest flash. They changed the plugs so i don't expect it to happen again as long as I follow recommended procedures but its frustrating. If it happens again she is going bye bye.
One other strange thing, he said with my aftermarket rims on i don't have TPMS(duh) but he also said that the wheels are not allowing my DSC to work. Anyone heard of this? i haven't noticed any problems.

 

Horse crap. I ran winter wheels with no TPMS last winter and DSC works fine.

 

The red top isn't a deep cycle battery, and that's why he wanted to replace it. When you fully drain a battery you greatly reduce the life of the battery, with the exception of deep cycles (like the yellow top), which are designed to be drained.

But I doubt he knew the difference between the red top and yellow top. He probably just knows that once you drain a battery you're supposed to replace it. He was really just trying to be helpful and to do his job properly.

But then again he was wrong about the TMPS and DSC, so who knows.

 

I have on a couple of occasions forgotten to get the engine off of the "C" peg on that temperature gauge before shutting it off, followed by a bit of panic, wondering if I'd be able to restart it. So far, so good. But your story confirms that I really need to be more careful, because the dreaded flooding issue is apparently not addressed with the latest flashes as I had hoped.

 

Yes, I would advise everyone not to get complacent.