Hi Scotty:
My 2017 Rav4 SE Hybrid and I were were coming over the causeway off an island during high tide and a storm. When we got to the rotary at the end we had no choice but to drive through 2 Feet of saltwater to get to dry land. The car seems to be running fine but I'm wondering, besides spraying down the undercarriage etc with fresh water, is there anything else I should do? I remember one of your videos talked about water possibly getting into the transmission via the breather valve.
Thanks!
Tom from Boston, MA.
please provide your miles per the instructions please
Yes the transmission has a breather tube. If you have an AWD drivetain, then there could be other breathers as well.
Did water get in? Well you'll have to find out. See if you can find it, and check how high off the ground the opening is. It also depends how fast you drove through the water. Breathers have little caps that should shut and keep water out, but you never know... They get dirty. The only way to know for sure is to drain off some or all of the fluid and inspect it, so you might want to take it to a mechanic. Heck maybe it's time for your service anyway if you've never done it. If seawater got into the transmission then it's done.
