Filled All 4 Pistons Up with Flood Water Today and......
Discussion
Driving under a railway bridge through deep but not excessively deep puddle in my VW Passat diesel estate, 2nd gear, high revs & nice and slow. Deeper than I though and bow wave poured water into the air filter intake....car cuts out mid puddle. What a f
king numpty!
Called out RAC thinking the worst i.e bent valves & knackered engine. Out with the glow plugs and turned the car over....a LOT of water shoots out of every glow plug hole, keep turning it over and the water becomes diesel. So, back in with the plugs and the car starts first time. LOTS of smoke/steam ensue for about 20 minutes, not taking the engine over 1500 rpm, a quick drive up the road and hey presto, the cars runs as good as gold.
Must admit, I was thinking the engine would be brown bread and obviously I wasnt looking forward to flat bedding it home and having to decide whether to scrap a very nice, albeit old (175,000 miler) Passat or pay for a replacement engine! Very relieved right now.
Just a warning to you all, IF IN DOUBT TURN AROUND A FIND ANOTHER ROUTE.
king numpty!Called out RAC thinking the worst i.e bent valves & knackered engine. Out with the glow plugs and turned the car over....a LOT of water shoots out of every glow plug hole, keep turning it over and the water becomes diesel. So, back in with the plugs and the car starts first time. LOTS of smoke/steam ensue for about 20 minutes, not taking the engine over 1500 rpm, a quick drive up the road and hey presto, the cars runs as good as gold.
Must admit, I was thinking the engine would be brown bread and obviously I wasnt looking forward to flat bedding it home and having to decide whether to scrap a very nice, albeit old (175,000 miler) Passat or pay for a replacement engine! Very relieved right now.
Just a warning to you all, IF IN DOUBT TURN AROUND A FIND ANOTHER ROUTE.
It just begs to ask why even risk it in the first place. It's usually crystal clear if its worth the RISK or not.
If you do end up in such a situation you need to 100% commit to it.
Anyway going to your car, I'd be tempted to replace all filters, leave it open, clean the MAF sensor, give the engine a good clean, replace gearbox fluids etc.
Your enemy atm is drying up and leaving crud behind.
If you do end up in such a situation you need to 100% commit to it.
Anyway going to your car, I'd be tempted to replace all filters, leave it open, clean the MAF sensor, give the engine a good clean, replace gearbox fluids etc.
Your enemy atm is drying up and leaving crud behind.
Good to hear you got it going again, have seen a few cars come to grief at our local station where the flooded road has been since before xmas, the water is not deep at all but long enough and just deep enough to kill quite a few cars. You can walk through with welly boots but that is enough to kill a Merc or BMW (so it seems from the cars I've seen stuck).
Sump said:
Love it when people make up statistics on the spot 
Brings joy to my ears.
well its true, most people in the UK do not have the training or experience and are stupid. Here is a ford near me, it even has a nice handy depth gauge so you know how deep the water is. I bet most people don't even know what their owners book stats as the maximum wading depth. Why people blindly drive into water when they don't know the most basic things like, how deep their vehicle can wade and how deep the water is........Just drive around it ffs, it means you get home quicker, dryer with no risk of life...and it means some poor b Brings joy to my ears.d does not have to come out in the middle of the night and rescue you getting cold and wet because your stupid...I have alot experience and training.
and whats worse with all these bloody idiots is the huge depth gauges
but its OK mate...... just keep the revs up and drive though init! Edited by TLandCruiser on Saturday 1st February 19:31
TLandCruiser said:
Here is a ford near me, it even has a nice handy depth gauge so you know how deep the water is. I bet most people don't even know what their owners book stats as the maximum wading depth. Why people blindly drive into water when they don't know the most basic things like, how deep their vehicle can wade and how deep the water is........
I'm so sorry but I don't live anywhere near a ford, you're right I have no idea what the 'wading depth is' whatever that is and no, I'm not going to look in my owners book to find out! I havn't got a 4x4 and I have no intention of off roading. I drove into the water, it was too deep, I felt stupid but the nice RAC man sorted it all out, end of story!Next time you drive into town message me and I'll give you some tips like how to navigate a box junction, what a bus route looks like and what to do when a pizza delivery boy on a scooter cuts you up.
Edited by Lordbenny on Saturday 1st February 19:56
Willy Nilly said:
I'd be inclined to change the engine and transmission oil, not to mention air filter(s). It may well have water in the fuel tank too depending on how high the breather is.
Good advice water gets into everything pretty quickly. Certainly a sensible precaution. I used to live near a ford (near Alcester) which could very quickly rise with rain and I regularly pulled day trippers and injudicious neighbours out of the ford when the river was high. One old couple in a Matiz managed to drive into the middle when even I with a Landrover was very doubtful with the river in full spate. The farmer's tractor got there for a rescue but by that time the car had floated or been pushed by the river under the bridge at the side. Fire Brigade job the couple were OK but the car was a W/O. It is better not to risk trying deep water but it is a mistake easily made.Sump said:
Anyway going to your car, I'd be tempted to replace all filters, leave it open, clean the MAF sensor, give the engine a good clean, replace gearbox fluids etc.
Your enemy atm is drying up and leaving crud behind.
Now I can understand swapping filters, definitely engine oil.... But gearbox oil? Are most gearboxes not sealed units now? Your enemy atm is drying up and leaving crud behind.
Just started it from cold & taken it round the block for 10 minutes and its running beautifully if not a little loud because I took the air filter out. I will replace the engine oil and air filter but cant see why I'd have to replace the transmission oil. Just to recap, the water was only about 15 inches deep and the car wasn't sitting in the water.
Lordbenny said:
Next time you drive into town message me and I'll give you some tips like how to navigate a box junction, what a bus route looks like and what to do when a pizza delivery boy on a scooter cuts you up.
Thank you for the kind offer, however I must respectfully decline it due to your inept ability to use common sense and I fear we may be involved in an embarrassing situation involving, pizzas, scooters and boxes let alone navigating something advanced as a bus route. Would you like me to come round one evening and instead of reading you a bed time story, I will read your car owners manual? I can also provide custard?Lordbenny said:
2 or 3 cars in front of me went through without any issues. I was just unlucky! I drove the car home 70mph on the M23 with no issues. Why replace the gearbox oil?
The problem with Passats is that they have been designed with performance in mind. All components are low down and that is why you got stuck and the other 'non-performance cars' got through the water.....Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff