Hi all,

Haven't been around this forum in some time, but I know there are some experts in here who could share some insight!

Saturday evening, I got forced into driving through pretty deep water on the road (due to oncoming traffic in other lane, cars behind me and extremely low visibility.

Engine sputtered for a split second, SES light came on, belts screeching from being soaked with water.

Drove a block to my home, very easy on throttle to not suck in any more moisture.

Next day, battery is dead..

Car started with jump, took it for a ride, engine working normally.. occasional belt slippage when steering in and out of parking spot.

Turned off car, turned key, and it started right up.. so alternator seems to be working, at least at that time.

Two hours later, try to start the car and the battery is almost completely dead.. car doesn't start. Turned off key, sidemarker lights remain on/flickering even with lights switched to "off" position.

Next morning, jumped the car to hopefully get to work (1 hour away). Engine running fine, but passenger window lowered by itself randomly. When I turned on rear defroster, my horn started honking randomly for random intervals of time.

I made it to work, parked the car, called insurance to file claim and get in a rental.

Checked the car later that day, battery dead again.

Insurance adjuster shows up 4 days later, and I accompany him because we're at the bodyshop I operate. First thing he does is jump my battery backwards and blow radio fuse. Changed the fuse, and radio works again. Actually, car seems to be keeping charge now and everything working properly...

Adjuster says that they won't cover anything (including rental) until I have it diagnosed at a dealer and they can prove that water has caused damage.

Adjuster calls back later, and I got enraged to the point where he pushed me off to his supervisor.. he was totally incompetent, and kept feeding me bullshit about my car's features. The only reason I hadn't written an estimate myself is because electrical damage is not our forte, and I suspected he would recommend having it diagnosed at the dealer.

So, I was told to take it to infiniti/nissan, pay for diagnosis out of pocket, pay for rental all this time out of pocket, with hopes that dealer could find "proof" that water had caused the damage/symptoms that I "allegedly" experienced. Car seems to be working normally, so I return the rental to save my wallet.

This is getting long.. bare with me!

Luckily, we do business with nissan so their tech was willing to run some tests for free. He said most likely a tiny amount of vapor got through my filter and atomized as it passed the MAF sensor, triggering the light.

Battery had shorted and was not performing under load.

After yanking battery to replace last night, I discover a ton of water pooled in the battery tray, and dirty water trails all up in the electrical box behind it, picture attached. Also attached picture of water traces on battery. Keep in mind, the pooled water is just what's left after 5 days of sitting. I'll be contacting the nissan tech with pictures today to see if this could have caused the odd behavior of my electrical components, and whether it could be a concern in the future.

Was hoping someone here has any experience with this, and if anyone knows exactly what that electrical box is? I can't take it apart and investigate yet, because insurance hasn't seen it yet.

Any insight is greatly appreciated! If harmful water has drained/evaporated and all is well, then I'm content. I'm just concerned about it becoming a problem down the road, so to speak.

Dave

 

Electrical box is your IPDM (intelligent power distribution module). It can create wonky electrical issues when you get water into the compartment. You might need a new IPDM and labor to put that in. I would test the alternator as well and make sure it is good along with battery at an autozone or parts store for free.