Hello I have a 95 Legacy outback that we drove under a underpass with a foot(maybe less) of rain water. The car stopped and wouldnt start, so I got out and pushed it and let it dry on the street for 2 warm days. It still will not start. The battery is fine, it does turn over but not start. I checked the air filter and it was dry. I put a little ether anyway, it did backfire.

 

All this while the power steering go on and I notice a few ounces of power steering fluid on the engine ( very little for a leak)

 

One more thing, when I tried to start the car, there was a wierd clicky/rattling sound from left and below the steering. Now the sound there whenever the battery is on.

 

Any help with diagnosis is appreciated.

the spark plug tube may have water in them, depending on how much water got up on the engine.

 

sound from under the steering, is that on the driver side, left side, of the car?

Hello, thank you for your help. The problem has changed. I removed/connected the battery and somehow got her started. I could drive for a mile and the power steering also works. The check engine light went off ( yes cured!). But it wont idle. Below 2000rpm it shakes violently ( as if metal was going to fly) and just dies. The check engine is back on. It starts after a few tries but sometimes its not possible to keep it at high rpm and it pulls down to 2000rpm and dies.

 

Also at some point after driving there was a weird smell from the engine coming in through the fans too. Not sure if its gone away completely.

Hello, thank you for your help. The problem has changed. I removed/connected the battery and somehow got her started. I could drive for a mile and the power steering also works. The check engine light went off ( yes cured!). But it wont idle. Below 2000rpm it shakes violently ( as if metal was going to fly) and just dies. The check engine is back on. It starts after a few tries but sometimes its not possible to keep it at high rpm and it pulls down to 2000rpm and dies.

 

Also at some point after driving there was a weird smell from the engine coming in through the fans too. Not sure if its gone away completely.

 

No amount of running is going to evaporate the water in the spark plug tubes. Stop running it until you pull all electrical connections and clean and reattach. Do it soon before the water in the oil rusts your crank.

Do it soon before the water in the oil rusts your crank.

 

A real good idea to change the oil asap. You just don't know if your oil is possibly contaminated with water.

it might be possible to have the fan blades 'pull' into the radiator in deep water so, watch for a radiator leak too.