I was cruising around town, and it started raining like crazy. The roads became flooded and I drove as slow as possible. The water level was about half way up the doors. Once I got home, I revved the engine to about 2500 rpm for about 5 minuteswith the heater on to dry out the alternator and clear up the belt squeal that had developed. I then took the intake apart and thank goodness no water was even on the air filter. The car still runs great.

Here is my question:
I have a manual tranny 3.8L. Do I have to worry about any water getting into the transmission or rear differential? I know that most trannys and diffs have a breather valve to relieve heat. Does the mustang have these? And if so, are they one way check valves that just let heat out, but won't let anything else get in? Should I just change out the tranny fluid and gear oil to make sure I get the water out ifany got in? Keep in mind that I just changed the tranny fluid 2 weeks ago.

I am a new mustang owner and I oppolagise if this has already been covered. Any advise will be greatly appreciated.

 

I don't think you need to worry about the tranny or rear end.....They are sealed wellto preventwater from getting into them. I would be careful about getting water onto the engines elecrical components...this could create big problems while your engine is running.

 

Diff vents usually have a tube that runs up into a body panel or something, so the openeing is above deep water level. If it's intact then the car would stall before you got water in the diff. It's possible some water could have worked it's way past the seals, but not much. Let it sit for a while then pop the drains on the bottom, if there's water in it it should have settled to the bottom and will come out first.

 

For what it's worth I'd swap out for new fluids.
The only time I'd question this decision is if I just put them in there recently.

 

Yeah, you can never change oil too often.

 

Don't forget the wheel bearings and U-joints.Get water in them and they will eventually use the grit carried in by the water to eat themselves.So won't the transmission and rear end.Small amounts of water will just take longer than large amounts.
Why would you drive through water "halfway up the doors" anyway?????
There are pictures on the news everytime there's a flood showing cars and trucks parked in the middle of the road after the drivers tried to drive through deep standing water.

 

I would do the same. Any time after I take my truck out 4 wheeling and cross deep water I change all the oils when I get home.

 

Thanks for the advise. When I get some time off work, I am going to change out the rear diff and tranny fluids. Kinda sucks that I just changed out the tranny fluid a few weeks ago, but oh well.

Chopper, I will keep the u joints and wheel bearings in mind if I notice anything irregular. As far as me driving with the water HALFWAY UP THE DOORS, I got stuck in the middle of a nasty storm. The water level came up quick, and90% of the roads in my area were this deep. It's always better to keep going than sit in deep water. I consider myself lucky as I know a few others that sucked a bunch of water into their engines from this same storm.

 

thaddawg,
I had the same issue this morning. It came a frog choker of a storm and several inches fell in like 30 minutes! The water came up to the door on my lowered 99 Cobra, and now the belt or something is squealing like a stuck pig. I hope it goes away soon.