electric short... how much damage do you think???

[abendx]

so... i get home from work this evening. get the mail, walk into the house.... and my car starts beeping. assumed i accidentally hit the panic button, go outside, yet can not turn the alarm off (any button or combo)?

then manually unlock the door get in and try the iginition.... no go once again?

open the manual.... see the recommended method of the unlock button, still beeping?

try the ignition again... no go?

read some more, try buttons and finally the ignition once again.... wallah, the alarm stopped.

figuring i am just an idiot and it was a long day in the office.... i go back in the house... then walk over to the neighbor to catch a few minutes of the game. on my walk back home, i notice the interior light on in the car? i get the key and the unlock button will not work? open manually and notice the radio is on and the dash panel is going nuts.... all while i have the keys in my hand and they have been out of the car for a couple of hours?

try the ignition trick again and WHOA.... the car remains running for up to a minute after the key is turned off and removed from the ignition!??!?

now the headlights are intermittently going on and off, the doors unlocking and locking, and the dash lights going to town?

obviously a short somewhere....it is late and i need sleep, so i go into the trunk to disco the battery.... low and behold, the cubby hole where the battery and spare co-exist is three or so inches deep in water???

a leak and the last rain storm did it's trick.

so....what kind of damage do you guys think i have? want to take bets? i guess it could be anywhere between a few buck for a tow, a dry, and a weld or new weather strip to correct the leak.... all the way to a total loss?

i am sure that Chrysler will pick up the tab.... i have not been in an accident, so the car should not leak.... and i guess if they don't cover it, my insurance will.

[HEMEEE]

Wow, abendx, weird story! You didn't name your car 'Christine' by any chance, did you? I have no idea what you might expect, have never heard a similar story, but by all means keep us posted on the outcome. With any luck, it will be the least amount of damage, with the least amount of downtime and covered by warranty! Here's hoping!!

[jaydee]

Now why the dickens is water going in there? another thing for us experimental rats to endure?
jaydee

[CUEBALL]

Man, did you also see Rod Serling standing in the driveway giving a monologue???


You bet I'm checking my trunk in the morning. (Its dark here now)

[Mr.DJ]

Yikes...that's bad news. I just hope that it's an isolated incident and that your dealer will have a permanent 'fix' for the problem. I too hope that it won't cost you anything and hopefully it'll be covered under warranty...please keep us updated.

[300MAG]

Do you have a aftermarket alarm/remote start?

[jjs]

Originally Posted by jaydee

Now why the dickens is water going in there? another thing for us experimental rats to endure?
jaydee

Yeah, I want to know where this leak was.

[charlie D]

Originally Posted by abendx

so... i get home from work this evening. get the mail, walk into the house.... and my car starts beeping. assumed i accidentally hit the panic button, go outside, yet can not turn the alarm off (any button or combo)?

then manually unlock the door get in and try the iginition.... no go once again?

open the manual.... see the recommended method of the unlock button, still beeping?

try the ignition again... no go?

read some more, try buttons and finally the ignition once again.... wallah, the alarm stopped.

figuring i am just an idiot and it was a long day in the office.... i go back in the house... then walk over to the neighbor to catch a few minutes of the game. on my walk back home, i notice the interior light on in the car? i get the key and the unlock button will not work? open manually and notice the radio is on and the dash panel is going nuts.... all while i have the keys in my hand and they have been out of the car for a couple of hours?

try the ignition trick again and WHOA.... the car remains running for up to a minute after the key is turned off and removed from the ignition!??!?

now the headlights are intermittently going on and off, the doors unlocking and locking, and the dash lights going to town?

obviously a short somewhere....it is late and i need sleep, so i go into the trunk to disco the battery.... low and behold, the cubby hole where the battery and spare co-exist is three or so inches deep in water???

a leak and the last rain storm did it's trick.

so....what kind of damage do you guys think i have? want to take bets? i guess it could be anywhere between a few buck for a tow, a dry, and a weld or new weather strip to correct the leak.... all the way to a total loss?

i am sure that Chrysler will pick up the tab.... i have not been in an accident, so the car should not leak.... and i guess if they don't cover it, my insurance will.

@ months ago my benz wouldn't start, had to have it towed to the dealer.To make a loooooong story short,the rear hatch had been slightly sprung ( daughter shopping) and was loaded with water.Shorted out all aspects as well as both computer systems ( battery is in trunk as well).Only 38,000 miles but since it hadn't experienced this before, was considered " abuse" not design flaw. The bottom line was 0ver $2,400.00 out of pocket and that was only with 1 computer chip key.I have since made sure that the seal on both of the trunk lids are tight.
Depending on the warrantee factors that you have, I would strongly recommend that you have your Dealer tech inspect the seal ( in your presence), perhaps you can be more fortunate than I was and have it picked up due to " an improperly tight fit seal".BTW the insurance won't cover it unless you have flood insurance and your car was compromised ( my agent kind of laughed at me when I gave it a shot.At any rate, keep me, as well as the rest of us updated on your progress.I hope that my info will be able to at least put you in the right direction.

[abendx]

ugh... that is not good news. i don't recall having left the trunk open (ajar) at all. so i hope they don't come back and try and tell me anything like that.

anyhow... the dealer has the car now and i hope to hear from them later today. it was sad seeing my car taken away on a flatbed.

[urbanchemist]

i had a weird situation with the trunk on my car. during the last hurricane i had checked outside the window about 45 minutes prior to the hurricane making land fall and my trunk had somehow come open. i dont know if the strong winds had done it or if something had been flying around in the storm made the trunk open. luckily i saw it before the hurricane passed through or i would have probably had a similar problem. i hope they find the can find the location of your leak and fix it and also take care of the electrical problems. best of luck