Re: Flood damage to car engines


"Jules" <julianhales@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:eEQei.103059$hj5.82529@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Jeff Strickland" <crwlr@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:aNDei.3455$5h6.837@xxxxxxxxxxx

"bradthomas" <brad@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:173e02d8df1e714561a26bbdf4911224@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Due to the recent downpours we have had there has been lots of flooding
> country wide. Unfortunately I drove my 6 month old BMW 335d Coupe into
> such a flood. Other cars were passing through it and once my turn came > I
> atempted to go through the flood about 1foot high. My car stopped dead
> about 5m into the flood and I phoned BMW emergency who took my car to a
> dealer. I have since found out that the engine as been wrote off along
> with turbo's and intercooler and the bill is above 15k to repair the
car.
> At the BMW garage they have had above 10 cars this week with the same
> problem and my friend who is the head mechanic at the local Mercedes
> garage has had over 40 with the same problem. Apparently the water goes
> through the air intake into the engine prevents the piston compressing
and
> then the con rods go through the engine sides. What I cannot understand
is
> why do they not tell you this? If you new the damage that could be done
no
> one would attempt to go through floods. The other thing is this is a
> modern
> car problem as older cars air intake was on top off the engine and no
such
> damage ever ocurred. I am covered by my insurance but have obviously > got
> to pay my excess. I feel this is a scam by the car manufacturers and
> dealers because there must be a way of preventing this from happening
but
> its obviously not in there interest to prevent it as the income that it
> generates for the garages is an income paid by the insurance. I.e free
> turnover! I would just like someone who as expierenced this or nows > more
> about it to enlighten me as to why this is happening???
>
>

You are supposed to know that driving in deep water is bad.





in all my 70's celicas i had, i used to blast through floods, hell the water
was higher than my car with the spash...theres a couple of road sin
Sheffield that always flood, ones under a bridge in a dip, i always went
through it, the other cars had to goto the middle of the road slow, and
still conk out, i used to just keep going, only problem i had, was the force
on the streering wheel, or if i forgot to shut the window...

good fun....



For future reference, sucking water into the motor can be fatal for the motor. This is not something that is new. The term of this is hydrolock. Water does not compress as the piston rises, the resulting solid block that forms between the top of the piston and the bottom of the cylinder head can cause any number of horrible things to happen. Typically, a connecting rod will break.

When you drive into water and make a splash that washes over the hood, there is an air pocket around the engine intake, but if the water is deep enough, when the pocket collapses water can get sucked into the motor. If the motor is spinning slowly at that point, it may only stall out due to the intrusion of water, but if the motor is cranking at a high speed then the solid block of water will do serious damage. It you are lucky, the distributor gets wet and stalls the motor before any serious damage can result. Of course, at that point water is high enough to seep in around the doors and soak the carpets, but that can be dried.










.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Flood damage to car engines
    ... Unfortunately I drove my 6 month old BMW 335d Coupe into ... atempted to go through the flood about 1foot high. ... My car stopped dead ... through water, and how to minimise the risk of damage if you have to (e.g. ...
    (alt.autos.bmw)
  • Re: Flood damage to car engines
    ... My car stopped ... You are supposed to know that driving in deep water is bad. ... Sheffield that always flood, ones under a bridge in a dip, i always went ... sucking water into the motor can be fatal for the ...
    (alt.autos.bmw)
  • Dealing with flood cars
    ... and I thought it might be helpful with all the jerks trying to sell flood damaged cars. ... unscrupulous dealers who don't let the customer know the car was involved in a flood. ... If the oil is cloudy or milky, that is a sign of water in the crankcase. ... These are things that will help you avoid buying a flood damaged car that you are unaware of. ...
    (alt.autos.bmw)
  • Re: URGENT! Please help. drove car thorugh a flooded region and it stopped. now it wont start.
    ... >i drove the car through a flooded under pass. ... >the water was but apparently it was about 2 feet. ... My wife did this through a ford in flood some years back. ... water into the engine which usually bends the conrods as it stops the ...
    (uk.rec.cars.maintenance)
  • Re: Flood damage to car engines
    ... Unfortunately I drove my 6 month old BMW 335d Coupe into ... atempted to go through the flood about 1foot high. ... My car stopped dead ... You are supposed to know that driving in deep water is bad. ...
    (alt.autos.bmw)