:eek: My girlfriend drove her VW into a rather large flooded portion of road. The car stalled at the stop light after the puddle. It won't start now.

Anyone have any idea what the prognosis is? It's sitting in a parking lot now. I'm hoping it's just "wet wires," whatever that might mean.

(As a side note, my *sister* drove *her* VW into a flooded part of road a few weeks ago: it also stalled, and was towed to a garage where she was told to replace the water pump at a cost of $800. Does that sound reasonable? Do VWs always flood? Do all of the women in my life have to drive VWs? Are my ladies incapable of avoiding driving into lakes? Ack!)

I would remove spark plugs, and crank engine over to be sure cylinders are clear, check plug and clean or replace. Then remove distributor cap and dry well or replace along with rotor, give engine a try. You need 3 things to make it run.
1 Fuel
2 Compression
3 Spark at the right time. Good Luck

Allow the electrical system to completely dry out, before attempting to do anything. Otherwise, you run the risk of shorting out the ECM, alternator, or some other component. After it completely dries, check all under-dash and under-hood fuses with a test light or multimeter. Here's how:

https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/cars-trucks/faq-how-troubleshoot-repair-maintain-hondas-46563-3.html#post252145

Strat: does it matter that when I looked under the hood, the cylinder head was dry, as was most of the upper 2/3 of the engine? (There was some water around some exposed wires lower down in the engine, though.)

TX: Got it. By the way, my girlfriend tried several times to start the car: it did try to turn over but wouldn't catch. *Once* it did start, but as she put it gear, it stalled.

That's an indication of possible electrical problems. Be sure and check all fuses. Getting flooded vehicles to run again can be very challenging. Good luck.

Did you check under distributor cap for moisture? Plugs will also be an indicator.