volvopentaman

Have salvaged several sunk boats, and the only problem has been cosmetic with black wires. I own a boat that sunk in 2006 fall, and everything still works perfect, just flushed the engine, and cleaned the cable connectors and so on. I had to swap out an instrument with integrated circuitry (=has a PCB in it), but everything else that's water proof works fine, ignition control units etc, and absolutely no problems with electronics. And the boat was 3,5m under water for 8 days, so no "light" dip, thinking that the outside temp was around 0degrees celcius.

So as I said, i think the biggest problem will be unshielded control units under carpets etc. not the cabling.

FlyTyinFool

I have an image in my head of a smart phone that got dropped into the toilet. The comparison isn't too far off.

On the phone, you yank the battery and dry everything really good. Once you're positive it's as dry as it will ever get, you can apply the power and see what happens.

I'm assuming you picked the car up for a song. So give it a shot. You're in for a big project, but it sounds like you're up to the challenge. I'm looking forward to following your progress, and I wish you every bit of luck!


Carry on...

PHATA8L

I must say that all of you are more than willing to help. Thank you all for such good advice. I am up for this job, I hope. It's just about making the time to do this. I am in the middle of building a new house plus a wife and two babies under age two and don't forget work everyday. However, I know I must get this car clean and dry as soon as possible. If it was summer, the car would dry so much faster. Yes the deal was too good to let go. I will remove the interior and clean and dry every single part I can reach. If I get power at that point, I will dump all the fluids and try to start it. If all else fails, the car looks nice as a display just sitting in the driveway. Thanks again. I will post photos as I go along.

volvopentaman

snapdragon linked this to the keyless entry thread, i suggest to PHATA8L to read through this, extremely useful to you, i'd say.

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/1273965/A8L...Components.pdf

GnatGoSplat

Any electronic PCBs exposed to salt water needs to be flushed and scrubbed thoroughly with fresh water and rinsed with distilled water. Taken apart and run through a dishwasher isn't a bad idea either.
You do not want corrosive salt to remain in any connectors or modules. Any kind of condensation or moisture would cause an electrolytic reaction.
I would not let any electronics dry naturally without being flushed and thoroughly cleaned of salt residue.

volvopentaman

The problem is just that the battery has been connected to the car, while it's been submerged, that means total short circuiting everything in the car....

In my boat i have the mains switches off for the batteries, and after submerging the boat, i had to replace the main battery cables, because they had melted, EVEN TOUGH THE MAINS SWITCHES WERE OFF!

So, my thoughts of electronic modules submerged with power on = NO GO.

Edd W

I agree, just about the very worst scenario for expemsive electronics is salt water, then if you add in the fact they were live at the time it just adds up to a lot of work.
I would say that if you value your marriage and the priceless unreplaceable time with your young children, bin the car and strip it for spares, you will never get it running and stay married.

s4master1

Big 2nd.
the day you start this car and it runs is the day your nightmare will begin.
at that point you will be so deep into it that you will wish never started.
good luck.

PHATA8L

Question....What does getting a car running have to do with staying married? First off, maybe some of your wives would have an issue with working on cars for whatever silly reason, "sorry for that" however, you don't know my wife. She has several of her own cars. She is the one who told me to go buy the car and have fun with it! The car was bought for a low price and it's not a waste of time. I will have this car running fine again. I know my limits and I do not have any limits when it comes to cars. This is not a project or a nightmare for me. It's fun. Oh, it was not in salt water as some of you thought. I just bought a 3 month old 2012 Mercedes Benz with only several thousand miles that was also flooded but nowhere near as wet as the Audi. The water did not get in the car. It just zapped out the starter, the battery and a few wires in the trunk. Again, this stuff is fun, not a project.

JohnnyJ A6Q

100 % Agreed

Go for it ! And post some pics already dammit JK would love to see what you got, also where are you and where did it come from , if I may ask ?