My car stuttered and died immediately after going through a flooded low water crossing (bad idea I know) I believe the motor to be hydrolocked. As of now, I have the sparkplugs and throttle body removed, a brand new starter, new fuses, and a charged battery. The CPU is throwing code P1388, and although the starter seems to engage, the car does not turn over. I haven't let the starter grind for very long, I burnt the last one out trying that. Any ideas to get me running again?

Edit: randomly started working??? no changes, just walked out and it started cranking. The gauges acted oddly on start up, flicking to max, then dropping sharply in increments of about 1/3 back to 0, before registering correctly. I'll try to dry everything out to get it running again but this seems to be an issue other people are having.

 

This is my only vehicle, any getto tips or tricks just to get me on the road again would be appreciated.

 

P1388 is your auto shut down circuit. If you have the plugs out, your engine isn't hydrolocked. You may have toasted your car. Deep water is bad mojo for electronics. You can try to clean the electronics with spray electronic component cleaner. It's fairly pricey and isn't guaranteed to solve your problem, but is something you can try. I think your main computer is high on the firewall. Was it submerged? I'd also try to clean the starter motor too with the cleaner. I'll bet money (and I'm incredibly cheap) you soaked your starter. It's down low and if it's fried, that might be part of the problem. It's easy to bench test and parts stores will test them for free. After all if it's bad and you need a new one, they have them right there.

 

I've replaced the starter, as well as quite a few fuses, and all the oil, oil filter, and air filter. The car does start and run now, although every now and again, without reason it simply doesn't crank.

 

I had a Dakota that did that. I swapped the relay for the starter with one for the a/c and it didn't do it again.

 

starter relay did it. 15 bucks at autozone. thanks!

 

Glad I could help. This car will be a mixed blessing. It's going to nickle and dime you with little things like this. On the other hand, you're going to get a lot of experience tracking down faults.