Good morning, yesterday is stormed really bad when I was on my way back from another city and ended up driving in some deep water. When I got back my truck was struggling to shift compared to usual, would randomly drop RPMs almost to a stall while driving, and randomly accelerate. Does anyone know what could be causing these issues? I checked the trans fluid and it looked red like normal with no white.

 

You said it started after you got home? Right after you drove through the water it drove okay? It definitely sounds like you got water in your trans. Common symptoms are gear slippage or trouble getting into gear. However these symptoms would not be immediate. Was there any noise coming from the transmission like grinding? If you do have water in your transmission you will most likely need to have it rebuilt, or there’s a small chance you can just have the fluid changed or flushed, however make sure the place that flushes it does not use additives when flushing. The issue with water in your trans is that your transmissions bands and clutches have a friction material that when exposed to water can be destroyed. It is EXTREMELY bad to have water in your transmissions. Def do not drive anymore until it is inspected and can be verified that you either do or don’t have water in the transmission, just to be safe.

 

It started almost immediately after I drove through water, my ABS and BRAKE light lit up. I was able to turn the truck off and back on and it all reset and went away but I was having issues with the RPMs and wouldn’t shift until it was high (~3500). It also struggled to start after I got into a parking lot and the starter wouldn’t turn over until I pulled the relay and then plugged it back in. I don’t know if that helps clarify anything but I just wanna see what all it might be because I gotta get this fixed ASAP

 

Check your trans fluid first, see what it looks like.

 

nothing unusual, just the normal dark red it always is. I had to drive it to work and the idle was like 1500RPM when the truck was warm and it usually sits at like 800RPM. Maybe it’s something wrong with the throttle body or something? I don’t know I usually try to work on it myself because of cost but I’m not overly experienced.

 

Likely something got wet, that didn't care for it. One would think that driving it for a while and getting it warm would dry it out.... but, it doesn't always work that way.