worried after driving thru flood water

AdrianC

colino wrote: »

but then again 1600cc is the capacity, or swept volume of the bores, not the entire free space in an engine.

Which is, in this context, the relevant volume.

Either way, unless its an emergency, you don't take modern cars swimming, if they don't ingest it and wreck the engines, their many electronics are just looking for a way to check out early.

Yep - that's the other factor, of course. And that's why any car that's been for a swim is definitely going to be a CatB write-off, no matter what it is, no matter how new, no matter how expensive.

Richard53

My rule is, if the water is over the whole surface and I don't know the road, I stay well clear. As others have said, water can hide a multitude of nasties (coverless manholes, debris, ditches) that you won't know about until it is too late. If I have seen another driver clear the flood, I would probably have a go. If it's a road I know, I will have a good idea about where the driveable bits are and how deep they are likely to be.

For vehicles with a tall, flat front profile (most 4x4s) driving fast enough to create a bow wave, perhaps 10 mph, creates a dip in the water level behind the grille (look at the side of a boat under way to see how) and this prevents water getting to the fan and being sprayed round the engine bay. I wouldn't think a normal car would benefit from this, though. And common courtesy would say you don't do this near pedestrians or people's gardens.

If you absolutely have to drive through, no alternatives, then I would suggest getting out, taking off shoes and socks, and walking the flood with a stick to test the depth. But the easiest way is to park up for a while and watch a few others have a go. You'll soon learn whether it's possible and what line to take.

bigjl

Another vote for if nothing happened at the time then you are fine.

A mate had his BMW ingest water a few months ago near Esher.

61 plate 730ld.

Bill was £13000 for a new engine!!!

Never made it out the puddle

Main dealer had several others in at the same time for same thing. All needed new engines at huge cost.

pd52

OK update , air filter was dry and is still running fine, so the pug 207 hdi 110 GT can do 10 inch flood at 25 mph without issues..............on this occasion (and never again):o and still starts 1st time too

i think what really scared me at the time was the water that came up over the windscreen and whole car when i hit it , i thought that was the end

Upon investigation the air intake is at bonnet level

On another note it was be interesting if someone could explain; when you see 4x4's such as the LR disco , free lander / audi Q7 etc going thru floods at the bonnet without a snorkel , how is the engine/ electrics protected?

pd52

cootuk wrote: »

If it was a narrow country lane, at least you didn't end up piling into a car coming the other way.

i was doing 25mph not 60, and seeing as the national speed limit of 60 applies on this road i think 25mph was reasonable, and as mentioned earlier this road never floods and was clear of floods a few hours earlier.

pd52

pvt wrote: »

From that description I assume that if a car ahead of you had gone around this bend and had stopped on seeing the water, you would have slammed into the back of it?

Sorry to disappoint you, but this is a thread about the flood water I drove thru and the consequences that may of occurred to my car due to this , not about an accident that didnt happen, but thanks for your non -helpful post, but we aren't all super human drivers like you who never make a mistake!

Richard53

pd52 wrote: »

On another note it was be interesting if someone could explain; when you see 4x4's such as the LR disco , free lander / audi Q7 etc going thru floods at the bonnet without a snorkel , how is the engine/ electrics protected?

Can't speak for the others, but if memory serves Defenders and Discos have an 'official' wading depth of 50cm to start with. That's twice your 10". Air intakes are generally at bonnet level as standard. If you get the right speed, the slight bow wave ensures that very little water gets into the engine anyway. There are a host of things that you can do to waterproof the electrics (one of the funniest is a washing-up glove on the distributor of a 4-cyl - a finger for each HT lead and the thumb for the coil lead - yes, it works) and anyone taking a Landy into seriously deep water will have done a lot of preparation beforehand. If you see a 'shiny' Land Rover being driven through bonnet-deep water, I think you are probably looking at someone who mistakenly thinks 4x4 = invincible, and who may be getting an expensive bill before too long.

Nodding_Donkey

pd52 wrote: »

On another note it was be interesting if someone could explain; when you see 4x4's such as the LR disco , free lander / audi Q7 etc going thru floods at the bonnet without a snorkel , how is the engine/ electrics protected?

Look at the picture attached to post #46

pvt

pd52 wrote: »

Sorry to disappoint you, but this is a thread about the flood water I drove thru and the consequences that may of occurred to my car due to this , not about an accident that didnt happen, but thanks for your non -helpful post, but we aren't all super human drivers like you who never make a mistake!

The observation I made was in regard to the excuse you offered that you didn't have time to stop.

I doubt that you do drive so fast that you wouldn't have time to stop for a hazzard as soon as you see it, so my guess is you saw the water and decided to gun it.

pvt

Gloomendoom wrote: »

To be pedantic, fluids may be compressible... liquids are not.

That's not pedantic, it's just wrong.

Fluids are compressible, it just requires an enormous amount of pressure to do it. Far far more than a piston and conrod can exert.

A singularity or black hole would do it....