Water in the Engine!

Hintza · 19 January 2009 at 11:16AM

My other half was driving us home from trhe Rugby club yesterday (why oh why did I have that beer!), when we hit a flood i told her to carry on but instead of taking it easy she floored it. Needless to say the inevitable happened and the car is now on a low loader awaiting delivery to the garage.

Depoth of water was about knee high but she hit it with such force the bow wave went right over the car.

My question is what are my chances of escaping without a new engine and a hefty insurance claim?

Jeep Grand Cherokee (not yet a year old) with the Mercedes 3.0l CRD engine

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers! · 19 January 2009 at 11:22AM

Your chances are quite low. Hydraulic lock can be terminal.

She should have driven a little more carefully, and made a wave ahead of the car.

Hintza · 19 January 2009 at 11:39AM

Oh you don't need to tell me! Lay awake last night thinking why didn't I suffix it with keep going nice and easy!! :mad:

SailorSam · 19 January 2009 at 12:01PM

I think there is more chance that the water has only got into the electrics, and that is the reason you have broken down, it would need to have an awful lot of water to do any permanant damage. The most common way that water gets into an engine is when your head gasket blows, and even then you can drive around for a long time, gradually the car will be going worse and worse untill it breaks down, but this could take weeks.
What you need to do, drain the oil. Expect to get out a gallon or so, if you finds it's got 5 gallon in there, ok you know now the engine has got water in, but don't start stripping the engine, put fresh oil in and see what happens. Chances are it will go, but you're not going to do any damage trying.
If it does'nt start, check your electrics; plugs; points; etc etc.

Quietmanc · 19 January 2009 at 12:30PM

Hintza, if the engine was turning over on the starter,you may have got away with it-however, as PPP Lasers says,if it ingested water and went into hydraulic lock,it wouldn't turn over.That would be the bad news.Hope it works out OK for you.

Hintza · 19 January 2009 at 12:55PM

Thanks for the replies. Needless to say being under warranty I won't be touching it. I'm just trying to get a feel if I have bent it and whether it will be an insurance claim. Fingers are crossed but the bill is already at £280 for the tow. Why do these things always happen at 4:30pm on a Sunday!

It still hasn't been delivered to the garage yet which is a bit annoying so I doubt it will be looked at today.

credit_crunch_victim · 19 January 2009 at 2:07PM

do you not get breakdown cover on a new cherokee jeep

Pyewacket338 · 19 January 2009 at 2:11PM

Worse case scenario, water enters your cylinders, the pistons can't compress the water and you bend your con rods...... but I doubt that has happened, the majority of the water would have gone over rather than into the car, driving fast through deep water results in water splashing upwards onto the engine from below the engine bay rather than through the front, the air intake uses a small area to intake air, it usually has a length of ducting leading to the air filter which would be unlikely have allowed water past it and your air-box will be quite deep and any water that did get through the filter would be sloshing around at the bottom. The electrics are what would have suffered the most, especially if your engine managment system wasn't well protected.

Lorian · 19 January 2009 at 2:15PM

I think I'd have tried WD40 before getting the tow.

pogofish · 19 January 2009 at 2:37PM

Bluntly, if a new Jeep falls over at a couple of feet of water, I'd be having words with the dealer. Are they not supposed to be able to run more or less right up to the intakes?