so a few weeks back, my girlfriend parked the car in a spot shes not supposed to park (cause when it rains that part of the lot floods) and overnight there was a rain storm and my car flooded. the water level for about half way up the tires, in the morning there was a little standing water inside the car.

after shop vac'ing the car out, pulling the carpet and drying everything i let the car air out for a few days before trying to start it. at first the car wouldn't start at all, then a couple days later it started up but was spitting water out the tail pipe, it's been about 2 weeks of windows down baking in the texas heat and i start the car every day. and it starts every time, when i let it run for a while the asphalt under the tail pipe is wet (no idea what it is, i think it's water but it smells like gas) anyways, onto the weird part.

if i get in the car, put the key in, turn the motor over, it takes about 3-5 seconds for the engine to fire up.

if i put the key in II position, and wait for the check engine light to do a bulb check then turn the engine over, it starts up right away.

the car also starts up right away while in neutral.

i'm moving to Oregon, and i need to find a way to know if the car will make the trip, it just needs to get there, i have family there that are mechanically inclined and can help me fix any other issues. but will the car make it another 2k miles to oregon. sorry for the winded post but i wanted to be through as i could, any questions please feel free to ask.

 

the car staring up in neutral better than park is a mystery.....to me at least....sorry
As for the wetness under the muffler, it is probably water escaping the muffler through the weephole, as water is simply a byproduct of the combustion process. If you smell gasoline in the vicinity it could be that a cylinder(s) is not firing correctly and residual gas is left...how is the car running after started? With that much water getting into the car I would be checking my spark, fuses, relays, etc.
Also, it could be a fuel or pump issue since it starts up better after letting the car sit on the "on" position for a second, as it primes your fuel pump and pressurizes your system.
Any codes???

 

once the car is started, it runs like it did before the rain storm. no stuttering or anything, sometimes if you give it a lot of gas it will try and stall out, but it only does it sometimes. the whole thing has me stumped. i have been running the car in idle for about 10-15 mins daily and getting it up to operating temp. once the car starts up there seems to be no issues that weren't there before hand. im paranoid to drive it so i havent taken to get the codes pulled yet.

 

I would take it for a few laps around the block or up and down the street to start with. Also, I would check all of your fluids to make sure everything looks normal before letting it run. It could be misfiring, which would cause it to lag when accellerating. The fact that it wants to stall out when giving it alot of gas sounds like it could have a fuel delivery issue, but no or weak spark could cause it to flood your cylinder(s) if the fuel pressure is good. If you check the fluids, everything looks good, and drive it a little....I would take it somewhere to get those codes and also have the fuel pressure checked.

 

as far as i know all the fluids are good, at least to the best of my knowledge. my father is a mechanic, but he's in kuwait and he's trying to help me troubleshoot from where he is. what are the signs of a misfire, the engine seems just the same as it was before the storm, and i hold a steady 900-1k rpm idle. if i give it a lot of gas, 5-6k rpm and let off the gas, the rpm's drop down to 100-200 just for a second, then it doesn't do it again, how would i go about getting the fuel pressure checked.

also, when i bought the car, there was a CEL and i pulled the code that one time and it came up as VTEC selonoid issue.

 

Are you sure there's really an issue ? I say that because it's easy for us to imagine there being something different going on even tho it was actually the same before the rain flooded.

 

i suppose it is possible that there is no issue at all. i'm just paranoid i guess, i have to decide if i can make a trip across country in this car, or sell it and try to fly or take a bus. i'm honestly not sure what to do.

 

ok. that seems more normal to me the way you describe it. I was assuming when you pressed the gas down hard it tried to stall upon pressing. The way you describe it seems more like a throttle position sensor, or idle control issue...AKA nothing much to worry about at the moment. I agree with manny above...if it runs fine, and eveything seems good, then drive it a bit...if all works as it should, you should be good to get to where you're going.
The only reason I suggested a possible misfire is because you said that there is a gas smell at the exhaust...but like I said before, the real test is how it runs when driving. I have driven a car to Florida from NY on basically three cylinders years ago.

 

I always make sure I have $1k just in case, when traveling long distances. Plus roadside assistance. That way, if it breaks down, you can leave it to get fixed, rent a car and continue on, or if time permits wait for car.

 

in an update, i took the car to auto zone this morning to pull the codes and this is what i get.

p1607 66ecm/pcm internal circuit failure

be straight with me guys, with no local pick and pulls, am i better off selling it and cutting my losses.

 

I just saw the same thing happen to someones 1995 Accord here in FL. We got hit by a few strong storms and I've seen a lot of water issues. The Accord ECM/TCM is in the kick panel on the passenger side. It is very possible that water got into that area and damaged your ECU. The gentleman with the 1995 Accord was having tranny issues and after swapping in a new TCM, BAM, fixed. He had the same situation where he went through water and it filled up the car. See if you can find a cheap used ECU and swap it out.

 

I agree with the above post. Just find a used ecu.

 

ebay, just get the exact same number thats on yours. Theyre usually not very expensive.