Flood water in my HDI engine....

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Nuneatonrob
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Flood water in my HDI engine....

Post by Nuneatonrob »

Hello...Had a bit of an incident on Saturday...drove through about a foot of flood water...quite a long stretch of it...the car in front stopped and as I slowed behind him, my engine management light came on, and next thing it shuddered to a halt.

I tried to start it and the starter motor just clicked. Tried again and same thing. Got towed out of the water, tried starting again, and it turned over...turned it over a few more times and it spluttered back to life....very steamy and not running well at first but came back to life....Let it tick over for a bit and it seemed to be running ok except for the engine light been on and a very steamy exhaust.

It seems fine now...drove it again on Sunday and the engine light was off and all seemed ok.

Is there anything I should check or change as a result of this? Do you think it will be OK? I know I'll have to change the air filter cos that's old anyway and was soaking wet.

I think I may have been VERY lucky with this. My mate wrote his 306 offf in the same way.
'99 Xsara HDI SX 90
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Post by Peter.N. »

You were very lucky, the last time that happened to me I had to take the engine out and replace a couple of con rods!

Just check your oil and see that you dont have water in it, although if you have been driving it, its probably all evaporated now.
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Post by handyman »

Hello Rob, there is a little trick here to remember when fording a stretch of water. NEVER enter the water if there is another vehicle already fording the water, in either direction. Just wait until it is clear as you will not need to stop. If there is a car already stuck in the water, do not enter it, unless you know you can easily pass it!

If you are following another vehicle through deep water, you risk sucking water up the exhaust system, due to the low pressure wave you will be following. Equally, never drive fast through deep water as it creates the same effect. If it gets into the engine, you will bend the con-rods due to hydraulic lock and that will write off your car.

On exiting the water, apply gentle pressure to the brakes whilst still going forward, to dry out the pads and discs. If you do not, they may not work well if you need to use them.

I had an idiot tail-gating me on Saturday through deep standing water and I was expecting his car to expire. He did back off when the wash I was creating broke over his bonnet.

I find it more and more nowadays that drivers without experience of driving in adverse conditions taking foolhardy risks. It endangers not just their lives but also others who may well be injured if things go wrong.

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Nuneatonrob
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Post by Nuneatonrob »

Hi Handyman, thanks for the advice. I shall take heed in future. I wasn't expecting the car I was following to stop, being a small suzuki santana jeep, but he ran out of petrol!!!
The water didn't look deep on his vehicle so assumed, wrongly, it would be OK to follow at a distance.

I think my car has suffered no long term ill effects from this as it's been running fine since. I think i will treat it to some fresh oil and new filters this weekend, just to be on the safe side.

I think I was increadably lucky because it definately took water into the engine because it refused to turn over for the first 4 or 5 attempts at starting, the air filter and top of the air box air flow meter etc were soaking wet inside and steam was coming out of the air intake ducting that leads to the engine. I think the fact the engine was running at tick over when it stopped meant it didn't bend the con rods. I hope so anyway.

Would the engine give any tell tail signs if a con rod had been slightly bent? ie rough running or anything? I am just worried it has damaged something and the engine is now a time bomb waiting to expire on me, which is something i can ill afford, certainly at this time of year.
'99 Xsara HDI SX 90
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Post by wheeler »

The main signs of a bent conrod is smoke out the exhaust & rough running. The other thing you may find in the near future is the engine management light on & a fault with the airflow meter, they are quite sensitive to water & you may find rust starting to form on it.
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