2003 Ford Fiesta 1.4 TDCi - Flood Damage
Discussion
Hi all,
My girlfriend recently drove her car through a rather large flood on the way to work a week yesterday. She went through in second gear and the car stopped about halfway through the water which was apparently up to the bottom of the door. Some rather nice gentlemen helped her push the car out and onto a dry area of the road. She had tried to start the car whilst in the flood. By the time i got there the car still wasn't starting, it would turn over slightly and then stop. Eventually the car started, but there was a large amount of smoke coming from the exhaust and from under the bonnet. Also, it was running very flat and there didnt seem to be much power.
After getting the car home, i left it running on the drive for over an hour, after which it was idling normally and there was only a small amount of smoke coming from the top of the engine. I removed the air box and checked the filter, which seemed to be dry. We thought at this point that maybe the car would be ok and just needed to 'dry' out.
Whenever you start the car now, white smoke comes out of the exhaust and also a small amount comes from under the bonnet. It also lacks power and there is a definite rattle coming from the engine. After you leave the car running for 10 to 15 minutes it improves to the point that it almost runs normally, if not slightly more underpowered than before being driven through the flood.
The question is, what is wrong with the car? A small amount of research and speaking to different people suggests it could be anything from a bent con rod to bent valves to problems with the injectors or broken piston rings?
Ideally, we would like to try and fix this ourselves, as her insurance excess is £550 and with Christmas coming up we could do with saving as much money as possible. I have a week off work starting on the 17th December, so time shouldn't be too much of an issue, especially if me and her Dad both have a crack at it.
Cheers for any help anyone can give.
My girlfriend recently drove her car through a rather large flood on the way to work a week yesterday. She went through in second gear and the car stopped about halfway through the water which was apparently up to the bottom of the door. Some rather nice gentlemen helped her push the car out and onto a dry area of the road. She had tried to start the car whilst in the flood. By the time i got there the car still wasn't starting, it would turn over slightly and then stop. Eventually the car started, but there was a large amount of smoke coming from the exhaust and from under the bonnet. Also, it was running very flat and there didnt seem to be much power.
After getting the car home, i left it running on the drive for over an hour, after which it was idling normally and there was only a small amount of smoke coming from the top of the engine. I removed the air box and checked the filter, which seemed to be dry. We thought at this point that maybe the car would be ok and just needed to 'dry' out.
Whenever you start the car now, white smoke comes out of the exhaust and also a small amount comes from under the bonnet. It also lacks power and there is a definite rattle coming from the engine. After you leave the car running for 10 to 15 minutes it improves to the point that it almost runs normally, if not slightly more underpowered than before being driven through the flood.
The question is, what is wrong with the car? A small amount of research and speaking to different people suggests it could be anything from a bent con rod to bent valves to problems with the injectors or broken piston rings?
Ideally, we would like to try and fix this ourselves, as her insurance excess is £550 and with Christmas coming up we could do with saving as much money as possible. I have a week off work starting on the 17th December, so time shouldn't be too much of an issue, especially if me and her Dad both have a crack at it.
Cheers for any help anyone can give.
Thanks for all your replies guys, ill try and provide a bit more information below.
The air intake on the Fiesta is at the same level as the grill. As i said she was going through in second gear so whether her speed was enough to create waves and bring the water up to that level im not too sure. The smoke smells of fuel/oil in my opinion, im pretty sure it's more than just steam.
We were hoping the chap we took it to yesterday was going to compression test it but it turns out he didn't. We have gone to another local mechanic for a second opinion so maybe he will compression test the cylinders to get a better idea.
It has been on a few longish half hour runs since this happened and the same thing happens every time, it runs fine after warming up, then the next day when you start the car from cold its an absolute bag of nails again.
No dash lights are on whatsoever. Also i know the chap we took it to yesterday has diagnostic equipment but not sure whether he used it or not, ill have to double check that.
What's a leakdown test? Also what sort of things would you be looking out for once you removed the head?
I've kept an eye on the oil level since the incident happened. The oil looks as black as ever, no milky residue in the filler cap or any sign of water getting into the oil from checking the dipstick. The level did drop after the incident but has since stayed stable at about halfway up the dipstick. Not too sure what to make of that.
Coincidentally, her old man took it for a blast, think my girlfriend said he got it up to about 4000 in 2nd. His thinking was that if it was gonna go bang then it would have done it then. It didn't so i guess that must mean something.
All i know is they told her that her excess is £550, therefore if we can sort it out for less than that then it would make sense to avoid going through the insurance company.
The air intake on the Fiesta is at the same level as the grill. As i said she was going through in second gear so whether her speed was enough to create waves and bring the water up to that level im not too sure. The smoke smells of fuel/oil in my opinion, im pretty sure it's more than just steam.
We were hoping the chap we took it to yesterday was going to compression test it but it turns out he didn't. We have gone to another local mechanic for a second opinion so maybe he will compression test the cylinders to get a better idea.
It has been on a few longish half hour runs since this happened and the same thing happens every time, it runs fine after warming up, then the next day when you start the car from cold its an absolute bag of nails again.
No dash lights are on whatsoever. Also i know the chap we took it to yesterday has diagnostic equipment but not sure whether he used it or not, ill have to double check that.
What's a leakdown test? Also what sort of things would you be looking out for once you removed the head?
I've kept an eye on the oil level since the incident happened. The oil looks as black as ever, no milky residue in the filler cap or any sign of water getting into the oil from checking the dipstick. The level did drop after the incident but has since stayed stable at about halfway up the dipstick. Not too sure what to make of that.
Coincidentally, her old man took it for a blast, think my girlfriend said he got it up to about 4000 in 2nd. His thinking was that if it was gonna go bang then it would have done it then. It didn't so i guess that must mean something.
All i know is they told her that her excess is £550, therefore if we can sort it out for less than that then it would make sense to avoid going through the insurance company.
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