2009 RX8 - Flooded (w/ Water) and a P0139 Code
 

Let me start by saying that I have searched high and low through threads looking for someone with a similar problem without much luck.

The recent tropical storm in Florida dropped a ton of water on my neighborhood which resulted in about my car sitting in salt water up to the tail pipes when the Bay flooded.

After my neighborhood dried out, I checked all of my fluids and saw no signs of Milkyness/Water. When I started it up, it started quickly and threw a P0139 Code (Oxygen Sensor). I had quite a lot of water vapor coming out of the tailpipe, but this seemed to burn off pretty quickly. The car drove perfectly for about a day and then began starting slower and slower. Last night it refused to start at all and is no longer cranking. The headlights are bright, and the electronics seem to bne working fine, but when I turn the ignition I get nothing.

I am a bit stumped about what the issue is. Is the CEL possibly a red herring and unrelated to the starting issues? Does anyone have any insight?

Hi and welcome to the club :)..

Is your 8 a manual or auto?

So you say headlights are bright...so Battery appears OK and fully charged.?

I am thinking Starter Motor (left side under car), possibility had salt water in it.

And or CAT, do you think salt water actually went down from exhaust tips and or tips were covered in salt water?

You say it won't crank, are you hearing any noise, or a clicking from Starter?..

Is your Battery still fully charged I would perhaps check Starter wire connections/corrosion.

If you have an Auto, you may have salt water into Auto Trans electronics or inhibitor switch.

Check fuses.

It is a manual transmission and I'm not seeing any signs of a battery issues. I am not 100% sure as to the top height of the water as the rain has washed away any residue from the flood water.

When I try to start it up, it is entirely silent, no audible clicking whatsoever.

I only have about 24k miles so I'm guessing the Cat should still be under warranty (assuming its not voided by floods), does anyone know what warranty category the starter would fall into?

Also, would a bad cat cause the starting issues as well, or is it more likely a combination of both the cat and the starter?

OK..
Manual that is better..

If you can get under car from left (your drivers side) and get to Starter, I would check connections/corrosion..(better if you can safely raise car)...and have you checked fuses under hood?, check anyway to see if any water got under/entered the fuse block...if so it would tell us more about how much water got into car.
Was flooding/water level even around your car or higher at any particular area of car...like Hood being under more water?

Just remember the thick Starter wire is active (+), is always live, don't earth/ground out with spanner on body, if you are unsure disconnect (-) terminal on your Battery first before looking at Starter..

Starter warranty is under normal B2B period, 3 years 36,000 miles in USA.

A bad CAT won't prevent Starter from working.

I believe that the front of the car would have gotten an inch or two less water than the rear.

I'll pull the starter when I get home to see if I notice any salt/corrosion.

I really appreciate the input. :)

I certainly won't dismiss tropical storms in the future. We got 2-3 times more rain than a normal hurricane gives us.

:)..

One more thing you could possibly try if your Starter may have seized (salt corrosion).

If you can try this, put car in 2nd gear and if you are strong enough (;)) rock your car forward and back a little, this might free any dry salt corrosion that might be present...and it might not be this, but worth a try...though if seized you should hear some Starter clicks/noise when turning key, that is what makes me think there is no power at Starter or corrosion has interfered with a clean connection/contact.

If you have a multi-meter I would be checking first to make sure you have 12 volts at the Starter (remember always live wire)

Assuming that you have comprehensive insurance...you might want to open an insurance claim
Salt water in the wiring harnesses can cause all kinds of problems.

If it was at a level that the starter was submerged..then there is other wiring that got wet as well...did any get inside the car?

No water got inside the car thankfully.

I am hesitant to make a claim through my insurance until I get a better idea of the issues and how much I am going to have to fix. Unless I am mistaken, I believe that making a claim for flood damages, however minor they are, will make my car show up with flood damage in CarFax.

It would take a while for salt to mess up the main power connection to the starter. A relay, perhaps. Have someone look at the battery voltage when you turn the key from "on" to "start". The voltage should drop considerably if the starter solenoid attempts to move. There's a good change the clutch, pressure plate, etc also got soaked.

When the cranking issues started, were you parked facing downhill?
If yes, remove all 4 spark plugs and try cranking the engine over again.

If you had a large amount of water in the exhaust system, and you parked downhill, its possible that the water went into the rotors, and your engine is currently hydro-locked.

Also, I highly recommend jacking up the left side of your car, and removing and reconnecting the starter wires to get a clean fresh connection going, and then raise the right side of the car, and disconnecting the exhaust system behind the convertor, and seeing if any water comes out of it.

BC.

I have to agree with the reply above that said consider an insurance claim. Salt water flooding is going to continue to cause you problems that just get worse with time.

Also, your car was in a flood. Unless you have no ethics or morals AT ALL, forget the "warranty claim" route. How in the world would you justify to yourself having Mazda pay for that? It's an insurance claim, not a warranty claim. Filing it as such would nr outright fraud in my book.

Hope you get back on the road quickly. Good luck.

shouldve taken the car to the carwash and have a blast on the bottom of the car.

Just to clarify, when/if I take my RX8 to the Dealer I intend to be fully upfront with regard to the flooding. I will leave it up to the dealer to decide if this voids my coverage under my warranty. I certainly would never lie to scam a thousand bucks worth of work out of the dealer.

That said, unless the damage is pretty catastrophic, its not really worth me putting in an insurance claim and having to deal with the implications and headaches that always come from these things.

Its not my daily driver, so I might even just treat this as my pet project to get her up an running again. I'll post with an update of what I find in the next few days. :)

Hub bearings, caliper slides, u-joints, flywheel surface, clutch assembly, wheel surfaces, lug nuts, underside of body, pinch seems.

The salt is going to eat your car alive, unless you give it some, no, ALOT of LOVE Now not later.

How can he (engine) have "hydro-lock" when the OP said "The car drove perfectly for about a day" after the event...there was not two flood events..;)

A reasonable move.

But I agree with many of the posts in regards to salt water 'soak' in many of the parts which are normally dry inside, we all know salt will corrode.

I would be cleaning off up to water level as much as you can...

Good Luck.

As an update, the starter motor had indeed seized up. I cleaned it up a bit and got my car to start up, but with more delay than normal. I'm probably going to go ahead and order a new starter in case this one fails as a result of the water. Upon starting, the prior CEL was no longer coming on, but I am going to keep an eye out for it.

I have changed the transmission fluid as well as the oil and cleaned every area in which I thought that the water could have reached. She is running like a champ now.

I want to thank everyone for their input. :)