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Last saturday evening I was coming home in my Mondeo diesel through my village when I came around the corner to find the road flooded. I inched into the water and had only travelled a few yards when the car stopped and refused to start, the starter motor just clicked. I knew straight away that the engine had ingested water this was confirmed by the AA patrol. The car was recovered to my Ford dealer and I have been told it is ready for collection no damage was done to the engine just a case of removing the water! The water I entered was no deeper than 6 inches the airfilter is housed on the nearside of the car and fresh air appears to be ducted from infront of the nearside wheel the ducting is hidden in the inner wing but appears to be quite lowto the ground. Surely this is poor design. In view of what has happened to me I would not even attempt to drive through a ford and attempt at all times to avoid driving through any puddles no matter how deep.
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The best car for driving through a flood seems to be the Subaru Legacy Outback on which the air intake is on the top of the bonnet. (A photo of one almost up to bonnet level in water is coming up in my column.)
Drivers of Citroen Xantias should remember to raise their cars on the suspension before traversing a flood. But the problem of water ingestation is often due to a poor low level seal on the air inlet trunking rather than the height of the inlet itself.
HJ
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Martyn, be careful to check the level of your intake, some RAV4 engine variants had it very low as well.
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This happened to a friend of mine some time ago in a Ford Sierra 4x4. He was in 1st gear at about 2000 RPM and the engine was a write off. This seems to be a Ford problem, though I'm sure tey are not alone.
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The air intake on my Polo diesel is about 6 inches from the floor in front of the o/s/f wheel. It seems stupid to put it there when the best place to put it is on the slam panel level with the top of the front grille, as my Corsa diesel was.
Driving a diesel does give you some confidence when driving through water, but always be wary where the air intake is ! I'm considering asking my local dealer to alter the level of the intake, but i'm worried if it affects my warranty and whether the dealer would do the work and alter the original specification of the car.
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Richard
No, they are not alone; I know someone who wrecked a Cavalier engine in a not-very-deep flood. It's not just cars though - I recently spoke to a guy who'd done the same thing to a VW Van, which has more ground clearance than the average car.
Fording is a big risk - it takes very little water to hydraulic an engine.
regards
John
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Most cars now have a swoopy low level bonnet. herefore you get a low level air intake.
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Swoopy bonnet okay so why don't the manufacturers locate the air intake higher up rather than lower down, what's wrong with locating the intake in the front scuttle below the windscreen that's where most cars draw fresh air for the cabin.
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Also, immersion can wreck the CATs on petrol cars. Maybe fording is a thing of the past.
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AFM wrote:
>
> Also, immersion can wreck the CATs on petrol cars. Maybe
> fording is a thing of the past.
Judging by today's weather forecast, fording is very much a thing of the present and a sign of worse to come.
At the risk of repeating myself, I bought my Toyota Rav4 to cope with the floods of last winter, and it managed very well. The biggest problem appears to be the fact that the Rav is so well built the cabin is air-tight, and beyond a certain depth of water the whole thing floats off and loses traction.
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Having thought about this one, I might be drawn to the conclusion that a vehicle which cannot cope with six inches of water is unfit for the purpose sold under the Sale of Goods Act.
Pugugly or Martin (Brazil) ?
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Brian wrote:
>
> Having thought about this one, I might be drawn to the
> conclusion that a vehicle which cannot cope with six inches
> of water is unfit for the purpose sold under the Sale of
> Goods Act.
> Pugugly or Martin (Brazil) ?
Hey, Mark... is he confusing you with me? I should hope not, after your unflattering remarks re brains and beauty last week!
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Sorry Martyn, BRM and Mark (Brazil).
My brain missed a gear.
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Brian wrote:
>
> Sorry Martyn, BRM and Mark (Brazil).
> My brain missed a gear.
Line up for lessons in double de-clutching!
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As I have mentioned here before, the damage caused by hydrulic locking on my diesel Clio cost £2200 to repair. It too had the intake down by the front wheel. It was paid by my insurance company for which I was grateful.
I was told that the intake is sited there in order to increase the flow of air into it given the amount of 'fresh air' needing to be 'forced' into more modern engines. Make of that what you will.
I can understand the use of more 'water resistant ' vehicles in out of town areas as referred to by Martyn BRM. Some manufacturers quote maximum wading depths. The maximum I've seen quoted is about 500mm on 'proper' off-roaders. Horses for (water) courses.
KB
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Even Land Rovers (without a snorkel kit) have a wading depth officially quoted at 500mm (20 inches). That's only about knee deep but we all know they can do better that that in real life!
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Charles
Don't forget the other factors involved in wading. At 500mm all sorts of components are starting to become submerged (gearbox, differentials, brakes etc) and this is not good news if water and grit are washed in. So, particularly on 'normal' cars, it's really best avoided, even if you don't ruin the engine.
Certainly a Landrover with the greater ground clearance is much more able to cope, but even they provide a 'wading plug' to prevent water ingress to the clutch housing, and also have a recommended maintenance regime for vehicles subject to regular use in this manner that would make the 20,000 mile service brigade faint!
regards
john
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Anyone who's interested in, or affected by the consequences of fording/'wading', there was some good advice given in the thread at this address:
Cliff Pope mentioned the possibility of attaching plastic ducting to raise the air intake in an emergency. This is a good short-term fix, but make sure, though, that the ducting you use is fairly rigid ('hard suction'), or it will collapse once the pressure of water is added to the negative pressure in the pipe as the engine breathes. (KB will know what I'm talking about here. Ask him about the elephant's foot!)
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Martyn,
If you're feeling it (RAV4) start to float off time to pop a compass and life jackets in the back.
You'll soon be bobbing off the south coast and branded an irresponsible channel crossing attempt by the coastguard.
;-)
David
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Indeed I do have one or two recollections about the use of an 'elephants foot' - some of them at 3 o'clock in the morning. Strange you should mention it Martyn, it was something that felt like a real elephants foot that dropped on to MY foot 15 months ago which resulted in me being as 'indisposed' as I am today. It is now 100% definite that I shall not be pumping anything out of anywhere anymore.
Perhaps you will explain to anyone who asks what an elephants foot is (not that anyone is likely to!)
Regards, KB.
PS. You know of course that in the unlikely event of anything going wrong with the delightful Tracey's Rav4, it will be entirely your fault. It's tough at the top. :-)
Hope she enjoys it as much as you like yours.
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Sorry, Dearies, I don't intend clutching either of you.
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MBM
VMT for the very timely reminder on avoiding getting out of your depth - food for thought this weekend.
Salaams
Ronnie
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MBRM
Oops! Humble apologies - MBM should stand for My Blasted Memory!
Ronnie
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