Bad day at work

[Randys88Vette]

Well..it happened last Friday afternoon, around 3pm. The beautiful sunny day went to dark, gloomy and torrential downpour in a matter of minutes. It rained until almost 5pm with SEVERE lightning and heavy rains. Hearing the loud thunder clashes inside our building, I quickly ran to look out back and check on the condition of "Baby". I opened the back door at the warehouse and couldnt see the Vette. It was only parked about 15-20 yards away, but the blinding rain was so heavy, visibility was 0. After it let up at around 5:30ish, I opened the door again to see how I faired.

Being on what I thought was "high" ground was not the case. The parking lot was so full of water, our 8' deep loading dock (in the foreground of pic)was flooded and there was about 3' of water in the parking lot. Looking to Baby, my heart started to sink. Water was about 1/4 of the way up the car. Thinking it wasnt so bad, I removed the socks and shoes and "waded" out to her. She had about 1-2" of water inside on the floorboards, and the water was still above the lower door opening. I didnt open the doors nor did I even think about it. The worst part about it was the other people who own big SUV's and Jeeps and such, decided they would just GUN IT and drive out of the lot. And hence.....the tidal waves breaking over her nose, and a water line half way up the car.

Ok....my sob story is over. Baby is sitting at a Corvette Dealer specialist and is being well taken care of. So far, only real problems is the water soaked floor, the door panels are wasted, the electric door locks dont work, and the speakers are a "maybe" She is going to be diagnosed for oil/water engine damage tomorrow and hopefully I will know by the afternoon if she is salvagable. A friend of mine with a Dodge Stratus had water up to the gear shift knob on his car. His car is a total loss. I am keeping my fingers crossed on this and hope my first Corvette survives. No one knew the lot would flood, but now we do. And, the next time I hear thunder...........I'm leaving work and heading for home!!
The pic of her sitting in water up to her underside is after about 3 hours. I had her towed the following day to the dealer and await to hear her fate.

 

[MsSchroder]

That is terrible!

 

[smook]

Let us know the outcome.


Best of luck!!
-Bill.

 

[6 Shooter]

So sorry to hear of your bad misfortune . . .

 

[78SilvAnniv]

Chin up, Randy...

Some years ago (before we married, no other vehicle available) Kenny had to drive the 78 through a stretch of road flooded by a creek to get to work. He was the scheduled supervisor and HAD to be at work, no excuses, so he had to drive through it. The creek had flooded over the gravel road and he slowly nosed into it, water almost up to the midline of the 78, but very little made it's way inside.

Almost 3/4 of the way across the flooded stretch, he felt the backend float up and start to slip sideways toward the ditch. He just held on and the tires touched down and he eased it out...
We wound up losing the PS, the rear end within a year and the engine within 3 years. Tranny had no problems and is still original and in the 78. I do not know how much time passed between that night, number of miles driven w/ contamination, and any fluid changes, I'd have to ask Kenny what he did.

You may be able to have the mechanics see if there was any water contamination...if there was little or none, you could possibly have a fluid exchange and save everything! I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.
Heidi

 

[rrubel]

Man, that hurts to look at it. I hope all turns out well.

While I haven't had my Vette in much more than a puddle, I've driven my Outback through water up almost to the top of the bumper a couple times and have had no ill effects. Make sure you get your diff fluid changed, though - there's usually a vent on the top that will suck water in as the air inside cools and contracts from the cold water around the diff. Same with the transmission, but most people remember that one and not the differential.

Hopefully insurance will foot most of this, right? If you need parts, remember Carlisle is coming up next weekend...
[RICHR]

 

[vett boy]

Terrible,just terrible-good luck

 

[mfi]

I blew my brand new Grand Am's engine that way. Sucked water into the intake and totaly grenaded the motor. By the time I got it back, 6 months later, it was toast. The dealer and the insurance company were fighting over who had to pay for the damage. Bought it for 12K sold it for 6K, 1 year later. Water sucks, unless it's snow. Then it's play time in the jeep.

 

[XLR8]

That's awful... sorry to hear your baby was caught in such a terrible situation. I can understand the ad / :cry

Good luck, I hope it turns out alright for you.

Jane Ann

 

[koolaid117]

I am really sorry to hear about your vette and I hope everything turns out okay, but what about your co-workers? IMO, that was just completely rude to drive through fast enough to send waves crashing over your car!!

Good Luck!!

Jim

 

[Randys88Vette]

Yea.....kind of P***ed me off there when I saw that. IT was just plain unthoughtful and mean. Almost felt like getting even for that too. But, their day will come, I am sure. Cant change how people behave sometimes...can only stick around and wait to see what happens to them next. And then have a good laugh.

 

[Randys88Vette]

OK...picked up the car Friday night. Made it to the shop at 4:55pm-closing time was 5pm. I did a quick precursory check of the radio and door locks and such, and read the engine diagnostics and rear end check. Everything checked out ok. Checked all the lights due to being dark soon and they were ok. Dropped the rental off next door, and then got inside my Baby. Headed down the road and was happy ot have her back. Did find one minor issue though. The electronic A/C-Heat control was set to 75 and I was wondering why it wasnt getting cooler in the car. Pushed the COOL button to try and lower the preset temp and nothing happened. Pushed the WARM button and temp went up one degree as expected. Tried to lower the temp agian but no go.
Now, they had taken the center console out and taken the carpet out to clean and replace the jute. Is it possibel that when the y put the carpet back in and replaced the console that maybe they clipped a wire? OR si the electronic control unit a sealed type unit? Trying to figure out if it is something they did or if it just died from old age.
Next question is, where can I get one or who repairs them? OR are they even repairable? So far, I have been driving her all weekend long and havent had any problems as of yet. I will have to wait and see if anyting develops over the next few weeks. I am keeping my fingers crossed and hoping for the best. I'll keep ya posted!!