Car's engine underwater.

Sounds iffy to me.

the immediate problems of a very wet (immersed) engine are electrical (ignition and ecu's) and mechanical (water into the combustion chamber usually via the air intake can kill an engine instantly.

the longer-term problems are water in the oil which seriously affects the oils ability to lubricate. damp in the electrical system (again ignition and ecu's).

engines and indeed cars should be fine in 'normal' weather conditions which includes heavy rain. if an engine is to be submerged (off-road driving perhaps) then there are things to do to make it safer.

the only problem I can think of where humidity would cause long-term problems concern the fusebox's, relays, ecu's and ignition system which can usually be dried-out and re-used.

this is all just my opinion and I may be talking crap.

Regards. Mark.(AKA, Mr.Nice.)

Not necessarily - topgear tethered their toyota pickup at low tide in avonmouth I believe, immersing it overnight, and then got it going the next day.

I'd think a lot else would need replacing - like all the interior trim, etc. A new car that had been underwater would probably be an insurance right off and sold off cheap.

If it was fresh water, I'd say the engine itself would come to no great harm provided it was dried out and the oil changed etc ASAP.

if your engine ingests water through the inlet system then it's goosed otherwise it's fine and dandy (unless the electrics start to play up)

The message from "Alex Blekhman" contains these words:

No. However, there are some parts of a modern car engine which will often not survive immersion, like some flavours of airflow meter and obviously much of the electronics.

Worse, if the water's got so high that the engine's underwater then the interior will have got wet which may mean new carpets, new electrics etc.

Generally - modern cars are not economically recoverable after immersion.

Guy King ( snipped-for-privacy@zetnet.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

dealer's

Only just lol! From the way it was running I wouldn't bet my life on it's reliability!

Not selling it afterwards, well that might be true.

Water inside the engine itself isn't a problem as such, but you would need to dry it out properly if it got immersed. And it wouldn't do you a lot of good particularly if the water was salty.

That's really no different from a head gasket failing in a big way and filling the bores with water. Provided you remove the plugs squirt loads of oil into them then turn it over carefully (having changed the oil first) till you're sure all the water is out, it should come to no harm. Run it for a few minutes then change the oil and filter again.

I held my last companies record for smashing a company car (10k repair bill on a 6 wk old car) until I left, then I heard that one of the engineers subsequently put a 2 wk old TDi octavia in a river... it was a write off.

The message from "Tim S Kemp" contains these words:

There's a hell of a difference between "Getting it going" and being a car I'd want to own!

Even if the engine was fine, as noted elsewhere most of the rest of the car would be ruined.

Well, me too, but having seen what that pickup went through I'd have one... :)

Nah, that's not right - worst case is that the engine would need to be taken apart fully if not partially.

As others have said, it's the rest of the car that would be of more concern.

Funnily, provided electronics are rinsed in clean water then dried gently but completely before being powered up, they'll usually be ok. Most make the mistake of powering them up while still wet.

Now I've heard that if your car's *running* and the engine block is immersed, the temperature change will destroy it. Or somesuch?

Personally I've always liked the idea of owning a car with full snorkel* gear, although obviously I'd never use it to its potential. Pictures of the camel trophy get me going though...

Nick

• not sure if this is the proper name - basically engine is waterproofed and the exhaust routed so that it's out of the water

... but not *that* one

i bent a rod through hydrostatic lock up though i can't understand why the water wouldn't go back into the hole it came out of :)

BTDT - one of our computers is still going despite being flooded in somewhat grotty river water a few years ago. I washed it in water then meths to shift the water, then dried it rather carefully. It also hadn't reached any of the drives - it just got to the modem and motherboard.

I'd be concerned about connectors, and any wires where water had wicked up inside the insulation.

cheers, clive