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.
The white smoke is probably left over water/moisture within the system.
As for performance definitely check compression/possibly replace plugs
if all appears ok id take it for a brisk drive up the motorway, get it nice and hot and go through all the gears.
One other thing to check is, are any dash lights on? could the ECU have gotten wet?
it could be running in a safe mode so would be worth checking that out.
As for performance definitely check compression/possibly replace plugs
if all appears ok id take it for a brisk drive up the motorway, get it nice and hot and go through all the gears.
One other thing to check is, are any dash lights on? could the ECU have gotten wet?
it could be running in a safe mode so would be worth checking that out.
I can't really see how water that shallow could have damaged the top-end? Or indeed damaged the engine at all.
If the internals are damaged, you're going to be looking at more than your insurance excess to fix it anyway (unless you're very handy with a spanner) so I'd just go and take it for a longish drive and see how it behaves.
If the internals are damaged, you're going to be looking at more than your insurance excess to fix it anyway (unless you're very handy with a spanner) so I'd just go and take it for a longish drive and see how it behaves.
Edited by kambites on Tuesday 4th December 11:21
Starting a stalled car in a flood is a bit risky. If the end of the exhaus pipe is submerged, then there is the possibility you can suck water into the engine. Even if you drag it out, remove the spark plugs and spin it on the starter, because the exhaust system could be water filled.
Marky Mark88 said:
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.
The bit in bold is a classic sign of water in the cylinders, which would lead to a bent rod.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.
White smoke from a diesel is unburnt fuel - a pretty good sign of poor combustion, and a sign of possible mechanical damage
Compression test as a starting point would be a good idea.
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