Went through carwash...now X5 won't start

[tleisemann]

My 06' 4.8is, which ran great for the last two years that I've owned it, is suddenly giving me tons of problems. In the last 2 months I had to have fixed a major oil leak, replaced ignition switch (causing tons of weird electrical issues), and a problem with the driver side low beam not working. I was going to be bringing it in to my independent mechanic tomorrow to replace the control arms and an oxygen sensor as well.

So last night I gassed up, and the X5 was filthy from salt from all the melting snow here in WI, so I decided to run it through the car wash. Since it was going in for the controls arms tomorrow, I got the 'supreme' wash, which includes the undercarriage wash. Big mistake! Having looked up some stuff on here I now know that a lot of you don't like these touchless washes, but I honestly had no idea...how could a wash hurt your ride?

Well, as soon as I pulled out, I got the warning to check my low beam, and I instantly had an idea of what had happened. Sure enough, the same one that I had previously just gotten fixed was not functioning. I also noticed moisture inside the plastic housing. I will also mention that upon exiting the car wash I noticed what appeared to be steam coming from the front end. I drove the two blocks home (no problem), still seeing this (to a lessening degree), and I THINK it is unrelated, just a function of hot water and cold air. I took a short drive later in the evening, and no problem. Today when I tried to start it...nothing...won't even crank at all, but the lights are going all kinds of crazy.

I think best case scenario is that I fried something in the headlight (which apparently did not get properly sealed), and that caused the battery to discharge. Worst case...???

I'm going to try jumping it in the AM (after letting my portable jump set charge up overnight). If it doesn't work, I guess it'll be taking a ride to my mechanic courtesy of AAA instead of me driving it in.

I feel like a moron for taking it through the car wash, but then again, who would think that washing the darn thing would mess it up??? Anyone else ever experience this?

[Overboost]

Sounds like your battery has given up the ghost. My guess is unrelated to the car wash, just coincidental. Charge her up and check for parasitic drain.

[andrewwynn]

Open up your ebox and air it out. Leave the hood open to let the sun do the job of baking out moisture. I think you said you've got V8 meaning there is a magical box that supplies regulated power to a bunch of things. That box called ivm or something I always forget m since i6 doesn't have it. Anyhow it has a bunch of fuses as well as it's electronic that won't like water.

Odds are good when things dry out it will come back to life but you may likely need to disconnect battery to reset things (good idea to pull the battery cable while waiting to dry it out). Think about how you get in if your key is not working properly without power.

[tleisemann]

Originally Posted by Overboost

Sounds like your battery has given up the ghost. My guess is unrelated to the car wash, just coincidental. Charge her up and check for parasitic drain.

Kinda doubt that it is dead dead...maybe discharged due to something else that happened. That's why I'm going to give a shot at jumping it tomorrow before calling for a tow. It's less than 2 years old, and I got the high end/high capacity one. Definitely shouldn't be dead already, and too much of a coincidence that it would happen the day after the car wash apparently knocked out the headlight. LOL, I would love if it just needed a new battery, but doubt that will be the case.

[tleisemann]

Originally Posted by andrewwynn

Open up your ebox and air it out. Leave the hood open to let the sun do the job of baking out moisture. I think you said you've got V8 meaning there is a magical box that supplies regulated power to a bunch of things. That box called ivm or something I always forget m since i6 doesn't have it. Anyhow it has a bunch of fuses as well as it's electronic that won't like water.

Odds are good when things dry out it will come back to life but you may likely need to disconnect battery to reset things (good idea to pull the battery cable while waiting to dry it out). Think about how you get in if your key is not working properly without power.

Hmm, maybe...that's beyond my scope of knowledge. Odd that it would have started up and driven fine about 2 hours after going through that car wash, but 24 hours later doesn't work. I'll see what happens tomorrow...

[srmmmm]

I got caught in deep water (12-15 inches) during a Texas washout rainstorm and water got into the engine harness connectors. Threw the ECM for a real loop. Luckily, State Farm covered it as "Storm Damage" and the $1800 bill only cost me $25 on comprehensive.

[andrewwynn]

Originally Posted by tleisemann

Hmm, maybe...that's beyond my scope of knowledge. Odd that it would have started up and driven fine about 2 hours after going through that car wash, but 24 hours later doesn't work. I'll see what happens tomorrow...

Not too odd. It can take a while for water to work itself in. Similar to how to fix a phone that fell in water: put in a toaster oven for 4-6 hours at 150°F.

[andrewwynn]

Originally Posted by srmmmm

I got caught in deep water (12-15 inches) during a Texas washout rainstorm and water got into the engine harness connectors. Threw the ECM for a real loop. Luckily, State Farm covered it as "Storm Damage" and the $1800 bill only cost me $25 on comprehensive.

Nice on the $26 ded.

When I hit my windshield my open palm to show my dad is impossible too break a window with your hand (shatters into 40 spider webs), cost me $100 but I got a non pitted 14 year newer windscreen out off it.

I got my deductible reduced to $0.

Cost me $3.50 more/mo! Yeesh why was it an option!?!