Hello all,

Last night while driving through torrential rain my car's harness got soaked and now the dealership wants to use 20 hours of labor to replace the all of the wiring in the harness, the PCM and ECM. This is the result of a broken rubber gasket surround the wiring. Has anybody else had this issue and what was your solution? Was your insurance able to cover it? Thanks,

Tom

 

This vehicle does not have a PCM, they probably want to replace the IPDM. Usually what happens is the cowl drains get clogged up with sludge over the years and the water can't get out of the cowl fast enough so it spills over the edge right on top of the IPDM. The ECM is inside the vehicle though in the right side foot well if it's getting wet then the grommet needs to be siliconed up really well or something. The wiring harness itself likely isn't going to be damaged. The IPDM needs to be completely disassembled and placed in a bag of rice to dry it out just like you would if you dropped your cell phone in the toilet. The ECM harness just needs to be taken off and inspected for any water damage and dry it out if necessary.

 

Flood / Water damage is a tricky thing. Some parts can be replaced to make the car run correctly but as the moisture sets in things start to corrode over time and cause other issues. That's why flood cars are permanently labeled on the title as such even when rebuilt. Dealers don't want to mess around with the car coming back every month with another related problem so they just replace everything the first time.

Did water get into the car cabin? was the car under water? If not I would think only the IPDM and maybe the engine side harness would need to be replaced. Why I say the wiring may need to be replaced is when a harness is in or under water it gets into the protective jacket and when you have water and bare copper it's just a matter of time before corrosion eats things up. I fix a lot of wiring at work and it's amazing how far corrosion will creep into a nicked wire.

Did you have full coverage? What exactly happened? If insurance covers it they would probably total it out since I can only imagine what the dealership would charge to replace and program all of that.