idiot got stuck in water needs advice

On my way home after a 5 hour park on the M5 (Worcs) I decided it would be a great idea to drive through a river that had broke over a road. It wasn't a fast moving river but unfortunately it was deep enough and I drove too fast and the car stalled.

So I got a push out by the good bloke who was pushing all the people out who had done the same thing. Hint - when you see lots of cars parked near one of these situations, well they aren't parked, they've broken down. I don't know why that didn't occur to me. Oh yes, it's because I'm an idiot.

So is this a case of the electrics got wet (the splash was quite high), or have I damaged something bad?

It's a Rover Coupe (yes, it's also lower than some other cars, yes I know, idiot).

Thanks, Rich.

Reply to
RichGK
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Compression Lock. Engine screwed.

Or electrical and will take an age to fathom out.

Reply to
Matt

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Reply to
Matt

Cheers for that. I'll phone the rac then I think and let them fiddle with it.

Reply to
RichGK

Learn something every day on here. I will NOT be attempting the above maneuver even if it seems like fun at the time....

- steve steveevans org

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Reply to
Steve Evans

We don't know, the only way to find out will be to examine the engine. You could be lucky or unlucky.

Reply to
Depresion

You'd think, in this day and age, that maufacturers would be designing engines which could be safely driven through a puddle.

Reply to
R D S

It's fairly easy to do - it's just impractical to equip every vehicle with snorkels and high-level exhausts.

Reply to
SteveH

So, I need a bit of advice. My cars exhaust is now under water, but as far as I know the air intake is not. Is it ok to start the car or should I have a paddle and push it out of the water first?

Reply to
PB

They used to be that way. There was a small trumpet-like affair on the air filter. Nowadays, to make the intake quieter, it's attached to trunking which goes to the front of the car, ie where the bow wave is. Naturally when the bow wave reaches it the water is sucked in and there you go.

You never saw for instance a mk2 escort or something of era that had a trashed engine from sucking water in. When they got wet they stopped, and when they got dried out they started again.

(cue all the nutters who will say "I saw that loads of times")

Steve

Reply to
shazzbat

Firstly remove the airbox lid and see if there is water inside, if so dry it out, you may need to remove some hoses to be fully sure.

If it was wet, pull out all the plugs and ensure there is no water in the cylinders. Dont attempt to turn it over until you have done so.

If the airbox is dry, and it will turn over, then you have wet electrics which is preventing it starting. Plug wells could well be full of water, so check.

Tim..

Reply to
Tim..

It floods round here occaisonally, nothing too serious.

I can remember driving almost bonnet deep in a Jetta with no trouble, wondering how long I could go before water would come in through the doors. Unless the entire engine is submerged there is no excuse for it sucking in water IMO.

Reply to
R D S

Did you drive it in to the water, or was it parked somewhere that flooded?

If you drove it in, push it out and follow Tim..'s advice earlier.

If the water arrived when the car was parked, it *should* be OK to start it where it is, but I would still push it out first if it was mine.

Chris

Reply to
Chris Whelan

There is a road near me that floods 2 or 3 times every year. It has never stopped me driving through it, as, at most, it is 18" deep for 6 foot or so, but usually around a foot deep. Then I got a new Berlingo diesel van. No problem, diesel engine wont cut out etc. What I didnt realise was the air intake was so low, that the bow wave created was above the air intake, and water got sucked in. And of course, the engine locked, and I was stuck in the middle. It wasnt that deep either - it wasnt even above the door cills.

IMO, it is a very poor design - for 20+ years I have driven through the floods there in s**te old Cortinas, Capris, Cavaliers, Rover 216, Astra and a couple of other cars I've had without any problem, yet a new van cannot do it. Alan.

Reply to
A.Lee

You might be surprised about the air intake. Some years ago my wife decided to attempt to drive through a ford in flood in a ZX, thinking "it's a diesel, it can handle the wet". What she didn't realise was that the air intake was behind the bottom of the front bumper - pretty low!

Result: water sucked into engine. Engine shagged, and the damage compounded by freezing the next day.

Fortunately the insurance shelled out for a new engine, but the car interior was never the same again (the water was up to the top of my wellies!).

There was a funny follow-up to this story. At the time, I hauled her out with my LandCruiser, and, as you do when you don't realise what's happened, had a peek under the bonnet. An AA man nearby came and stuck his head under the bonnet and told us he thought there was water in the cylinders. We pointed out that we weren't AA members and could manage to get the car home and off we went.

Two days later we had a visit from an AA person asking what had happened. It turned out another dark-coloured Citroen had got stuck in the same ford and they had called the AA. The patrolman had seen ours, didn't check details but assumed it was the one, and left. The original driver ended up waiting 6 hours!

Reply to
asahartz

The trick is to create a bow wave then drive in the depression behind it.

Reply to
Depresion

But by the time they dried out the bodywork had crumbled away because of rust!

Reply to
SimonJ

The message from snipped-for-privacy@italiancar.co.uk (SteveH) contains these words:

My shop-vac has a float in the intake which slams shut if the water gets that high.

Reply to
Guy King

What diesel Berlingo was it?

Reply to
ThePunisher

1.9 N/A. I beleive they call it 'the slug'. For a 1.9l engine, it doesnt seem to have much power. Alan.
Reply to
A.Lee

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