What are the chances he got away with it?

If the ignition gets wet enough to stop the engine before the water enters the air box, you will generally get away with it. If it sucks water in whilst still running, a bent conrod is likely to be the minimum damage.

Longer term, the problems are likely to be with corroded electrical connections, particularly on a car not noted for the robustness of its electrical systems!

Chris

had a vauxhall corsa come through the workshop yesterday, dragged in by the RAC, lady had driven through a ford, must have been bloody deep as the water came up halfway to the doors, flooded everything, took the plugs out, span it over & water shot out like a water cannon & hit the workshop ceiling, which i have to add is very high !!!

eventually got all the water or most of it out of the ports, drilled a hole in the silencers to drain the water, replaced the sodden airfilter & dried the plugs out, refitted & it spluttered into life, eventually !

but she managed to flood all the electricl connections, ecu's, airbag modules ect ect, possibly might have problems later on down the line with electrical problems.

If it ran without sounding like a bag of hammers then the engines probably fine, the electrics are another matter

I had a run in with a flooded road one dark night, water came over the bonnet and up the windscreen (it looked like a flat road) I drove through it for about 10 yards and out the other side, car spluttered for another 20 yards or so then ran fine for two and a half years when the head gasket went wile my father had borrowed it. Course the car was German not French, and lord knows where it was getting the air from to run, it must store it some place like a gerbil.

Years ago I hit a flooded patch of road about 2ft deep in a Berlingo Diesel van, doing about *ahem* mph on a dark night. The rest of the road was bone dry, I had no reason to suspect a flood..

Cue one very written off Berlingo engine..

Mike P

I wish I still had the engine, could have been proof of these run your car on water posts. :)

Ouch. I thought I was unlucky when I bust a radiator on my Triumph Vittesse in similar circumstances. The plastic cooling fan had tried to act like a propellor, pulling itself forward through the water, causing the blades to bend and gouge into the radiator. No other damage though, thankfully.

It's ok, it was a company van, not mine :-)

On the older Berlingo diesel (I'm not sure about the newer ones) the air intake was down low, it just sucked loads of water in and seemed to stop dead.

Mike P

Thus spake Chris Whelan ( snipped-for-privacy@prejudicentlworld.com) unto the assembled multitudes:

I would imagine water has found its way into the sump too, so I'd change the oil as soon as poss if I were the owner, before the water gets into bearings etc. In fact I'd even consider changing it twice: once before running it for a few miles to heat and flush through, and then change again. Will costs a few quid on oil but cheaper than a wrecked engine.

If you get the engine hot enough then the water boils off in any case. Although it is quicker to change it, I agree.