Prius fell into a ditch of water, master triangle light, brake ! light, air-bag light on.

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Dav1dNguy3n, Jul 8, 2018.

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  1. Dav1dNguy3n

    Dav1dNguy3n New Member

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    Location:
    Houston
    Vehicle:
    2007 Prius
    Model:
    Base
    So, during July 4th, it flooded here in Houston. As my girlfriend was trying to turn around to escape possible flooding, her car fell into a ditch of water that covered basically half of the front wheels and got into the front driver and passager seat area of the cabin. She got the car towed to her house, but now it has the red triangle light, brake ! light, and air bag light on. The A/C works, and there's no indication of water getting into the engine. The inverter water pump is working. And everything in the trunk area is bone dry (as only the head of the car was partially submerged in water). The regenerative braking system no longer works, and the brakes make an extremely loud screech when the brake pedal is pressed. At this point is the car a total loss?
     
    #1 Dav1dNguy3n, Jul 8, 2018
  2. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    The car would be a total loss if a Toyota dealer has to repair the damage.

    Based upon the symptoms you described, water has gotten into the front wheel speed sensors or the wiring harness connectors, maybe the skid control ECU located near the steering wheel, maybe the yaw rate sensor located in the console between the front seats, as well as the SRS side airbag wiring harness connectors which are located under the front driver's and front passenger's seats. If the car has navigation or the JBL stereo amplifier, those units are located under the front seats and probably also are damaged.

    Of course the seats and carpet need to be removed, dried out and cleaned to avoid further damage, mold developing, etc. Not to mention any part of the wiring harness which was submerged in water.

    You would need to retrieve the DTC logged by the skid control ECU and the SRS ECU to pin down the issues further.
     
    #2 Patrick Wong, Jul 9, 2018
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  3. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    I'd suggest a look at this thread, where posts 14 and 20 refer you to a Toyota TSB (the number is in post 20) all about quickly classifying your car as to the kinds of consequences you need to check for according to what areas the water occupied.

    -Chap
     
    #3 ChapmanF, Jul 9, 2018
  4. Dav1dNguy3n

    Dav1dNguy3n New Member

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    2007 Prius
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    Thank you guys for all the advice! At this point, my girlfriend and I aren't too optimistic of the condition of our 07 Prius. We bought the car for $3500, with 156,000 miles (it now has 166,000), and it was her first car. It's been really emotional for her, but seeing that the repairs will probably outweigh the value of the car, we're thinking of just selling the car for parts to my mechanic and purchasing another used prius today. I'll keep you guys updated on how it goes!
     
    #4 Dav1dNguy3n, Jul 9, 2018
  5. ITBland

    ITBland Active Member

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    Three
    #5 ITBland, Jul 9, 2018
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