Fording Floods.

[Flanders.]

I'm shortly moving to a little village where the main road in and out likes to flood during the winter. Does anybody have any idea how well a MK2 Sprinter will cope with fording floods, I can't find any information online and I really don't want to wreak my new company motor!

[orangesrule]

Acquaint yourself with where the air intake is. Im sure a sprinter van would be able to wade up to 1.5-2ft though, and i wouldnt want to go much deeper else you might start floating if the vans unloaded.

[Nickyboy]

I used to drive the same a few years ago, when we had severe floods a while back i drove through water that was close to the top of the bumper with no problems. Took it slow though, the road was under water for a good half mile

[vikingaero]

If it's going to be a regular occurence then it might be worth bodging a snorkel.

[Mcbeth]

Mine's an '11 reg so I'm not sure if earlier ones have traction control or not. If so I'd recommend turning off the traction control in all challenging scenarios especially going through water, snow and mud. it tends to intervene at the most welcome times killing power apruptly and making you loose momentum. It's easier to make progress using your own throttle inputs IMO.

[Kev T360]

you need the top gear hover-van.

[Puddenchucker]

I think the Sprinter's wading depth is something like 500mm.
We have a couple at work and this was a question that came up during floods a year or two ago.

Edit:
This is from the online owner's manual on the Merc website:

Owner's Manual said:

If you have to drive on stretches of road on which water has collected, please bear in mind:

•the water level of standing water should not be above the lower edge of the front bumper

•do not drive faster than walking speed

Edited by Puddenchucker on Sunday 17th November 14:26

[David87]

I've done a lot of fording, but only in Land Rovers! The official wading depth of Freelander 2s, Range Rover Evoques and Defenders is 500mm (1ft 8in), so there's no way I'd be taking a Sprinter through something 2ft deep. It depends on where the air intake is, but I wouldn't be comfortable with anything over about 9in-1ft, to be honest. If you can find a manufacturer-approved figure from Mercedes, however, go with that as it may well be capable of going much deeper than my own cautious limit!

You'll want to enter the flood at about 1-2mph and then accelerate to 3-4mph once you're in. Use the middle of the road. Before you enter deep water, turn off as many electrical items in the car as is possible, and switch off the engine for a couple of minutes or so. Re-start the engine and away you go! The reason for shutting down the engine is to let it cool slightly to ensure the radiator fan isn't on as, if it is, submerging it in water tends to smash its plastic blades up.

P.S. If you think those Land Rover depths sound a little low, they're very conservative in terms of fording. The reason for this is the way they're determined by Land Rover is by driving into the water, turning off the engine, opening the door and getting out of the car, and then returning 30 minutes later to re-start the engine and drive away!

Edited by David87 on Sunday 17th November 14:27