Hi , I found myself caught in the huge storm in Sarasota, Fl and ended up driving my 2005 jaguar through a flooded street. Water never got in to the interior of the car and it almost stalled but then pushed through. By time I got back to my garage, the car was shaking. I let it sit for almost 3 days and just tried it. The car started with no problem, but is still shaking with the check engine sign lit. When I popped the hood, the very bottom looked a bit wet, but everything else was dry. Oil looks normal, but I couldn’t open the air filter as it’s very firmly bolted shut. Should I just let it sit and dry out more for the next couple of days before bringing to a mechanic? How damaged might it be?

 

Water and electronics don't play well together.
Might just be water in the 'on-plug' coil in the spark plug wells?
Could be water ingress in a connector or two?

When I worked at the dealer, an S-Type came in on a flatbed/rollback.
Engine was 'locked-up'.
I put it on a lift and found a connecting rod sticking out of the side of the cylinder block.
The customer tried to drive the car through some deep water and 'hydro-locked' the engine.

His insurance paid for a factory reman engine. (minus the return engine core charge)

Check the OBDII for DTCs and start from there?

 

What model & engine is your Jaguar? Do you have a code scanner? You can pull engine codes by either taking the vehicle to a local parts store or purchasing a cheap OBD-II scanner, that may help give an idea as to what is not functioning properly. Is your check engine light flashing or just solidly lit?

 

Carp in the air cleaner. Said you couldn't get it open? May be full of water. And a carp.

 

If you google for Rufford Ford, you will find heaps of videos where people drive thru water - bad idea. But after watching many of those videos I learnded: If you have to, then drive backwards!
Anyway: Most of the time water gets in by the air scoop thru the air filter and and then does some or total damage to the engine: Water does NOT compress like air! The engine can self-destruct easily.

So you definitely will need to open the air filter to have a look. How knows: Maybe you had rats living in there before, and now you got dead and wet rats in there...

PS: It does not surprise my at all, that MC M (above) saw in his workshop a Jag with parts of the pistons coming out of the engine block after someone drove thru water

 

Peter, "If you have to, then drive backwards?" Will that not be harder to keep the engine running since the tips are submerged and easily stall the engine? Or was that a stitch-up?

 

What are "tips"?
The air scoop, which funnel the air from the front of the car into the engine via the air filter gets force-fed with water, if you drive thru the water forward. If you drive backwards, there is a better chance of not force feeding water into the engine...

 

As others have suggested, connect a code reader or scanner to see what faults have been recorded. If the check engine light is flashing, do NOT drive the car as this is a warning of potential catalyst damage.

Most likely you will see a cylinder misfire code, P0300 - P0308, depending which cylinders are affected. In the world of fault codes, misfire simply means low power from one (or more cylinders). Take a look at the ignition coils for standing water, which would affect their output. Hopefully the problem is as simple as wet coils.

Definitely inspect your air filter, too. The entire housing is bolted down, but the cover snaps in place and should be easy to remove. If the air filter is still intact, that should have kept large volumes of water from being ingested. If the filter is dislodged or collapsed, that is far more worrying and a compression check would be the next step.

 

never buy a car from where it floods