For those of you that have not had to venture out, there is a LOT of surface water on the roads, with occasional LARGE puddles and water running across the road.
I saw one car that had aquaplaned and skidded off the A12 early this afternoon.
It doesn't look as if it is going to get any better by the morning so if you are back to work take extra care and maybe look at sticking to main roads rather than short-cutting across country.
You may find that your usual route is impassable. I'm just off out to check!
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Just got back from checking.
All is passable with care, but landed up helping extract a couple of elderly gents whose car had ended up in a ditch full of water.
Fortunately no injuries other than a soaking, but the car is going to want pulling out in the morning and a lot of drying out, provided nothiong vital has been damaged.
When we were dragging the passenger out there were still vehicles going through creating a tidal wave. Some people!
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Another good reason to own a good old fashioned LR.
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Can anyone advise if floodwater can damage the catalytic converter? I remember reading that it could cause damage due to thermal shock.
Thanks,
P.
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Can anyone advise if floodwater can damage the catalytic converter? I remember reading that it could cause damage due to thermal shock. Thanks, P.
I have also read that somewhere, so you are probably right.
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It's the thermal shock from a sudden and substantial dowsing that can damage a hot converter.
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>>Another good reason to own a good old fashioned LR.
Couldn't agree more, mine is indispensable in floods but, make sure the wading plugs are inserted.
VD5D.
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Before drivers indulge their macho inclinations and plough through a flooded road, they would do well to remember the effect caused when the bow wave they cause arrives at the front door of the house which faces the street.
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It is safer to drive slowly through a flood. Apparantly the bow wave generated by a high speed dash means the water gets higher up in the engine area and hence more danger of damage. (Good fun though! Sigh. Why are most fun things bad for you?)
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I think the air intake on the Fiesta is fairly high, I've driven through some shallow flooded roads and had no problems....yet!
Except the other day I accidentally hit a huge puddle with the left side of my car at about 30 mph. The Fiesta seems to send water upwards and I heard a HUGE splash on my roof as a tonne of water fell on it and my windscreen was completely obscured for a few seconds... an interesting experience when you think you're driving through the City Centre and not an off-road adventure. :)
Blue
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I used to take a short cut to work via a country road which had a ford which tended to run high during the winter. One day while running late I sped up a bit and as soon as my back wheels hit the ice, which for some reason i had forgotton formed from cold water, at the side of the ford my car went sidewise into the ford and out the other side stopping about a foot away from the base of a tree. At least it was cheaper to change my pants rather than the door.
I avoided the ford for the rest of winter
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Your story of splashed flood water reminds me of a time I was driving down the dual carriageway into Windsor (A308?). Anyway, I was driving there to visit a girlfriend at the time and it had been pouring down for days. I was overtaking another car and happily making good progress in a brief respite from the rain.
Anyway, on the other side of the carriageway, a car (doing more than 60mph) shot up the overtaking lane. This enormous splash of water travelled across the central reservation (it is only a short verge with crash barriers). It hit my car absolutely square on at the front covering my windscreen with crappy muddy water.
Cue a change of underpants as my car was doing 60 and I was suddenly blind for the time it took for me to get the fast swipe on and copious washer jets water to get the muddy gunge of my screen.
Needless to say, my heart was in my mouth for a while and I got to my girlfriends still shaking at the experience.
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Thought I was gonna come a cropper in a Chrysler Neon the other year - flood looked shallow (judging by water to welly level on people nearby!!) - anyway went slowly through, the engine changed to a gurgling sound, as the water lapped over the front bumper, but we got through. Only damage was water got in the headlamps - and they were a pain to dry out!
Some advice too... if you do venture in be sure to keep the revs up to ensure the output from the exhaust keeps water from backfilling your system.
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On the London bound M4 somewhere about J5 or 6 there is a right hand curve under a bridge. The outside lane always suffers from flooding and there is a large puddle (over half the lane) which takes time to go away.
Further back, the matrix signs are on showing lane three closed. Seen a few drivers ignoring the warning (- I can't see anything, so where's the problem?) only to swerve into lane 2 at the last minute when they see the pond, or gaily steam through the water (with the attendant aqua planing).
The moral being - don't ignore the matrix signs, even though you may not be able to see the hazard.
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Dear All,
Only a few months ago one of the local B roads flooded.
SHMBO happens across the scene and decides to follow the car in front through the water.
It is only when water is rising dramaticaly and she is about half way through that she works out that the Honda Accord she was driving may be lower than the Land Rover she was following!
Fortunately she got away with it. She is, however, a lot more aware of the possible risks of just following the car in front.
Mind you, there but for the grace of God.....
On the upside, its been very nice here on the moral high ground.
Tee hee
Vercin
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Has anyone tried driving along a road running parallel to a sea front during a gail force 8?
It's quite spectacular when you get hit from above by a wave that has come off the sea wall! The water (several gallens of it) hits the roof panel with the same noise level as a 30MPH shunt. As with other examples, visability is completely gone for several seconds - in all directions.
Not only that but you need to give the car a good hosing down ASAP to get rid of all that salt.
H
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What a cool idea...where can I find a sea wall to parade along?
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More than once.
The trouble is the amount of stones and other debris in the water. I lost the hatchback window and an awful lot of water came in.
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Very true Mark.
Once drove along Scarborough seafront after a big storm and saw two rocks the size of refrigerators in the middle of the road.
The missus will confirm this is not imagination.
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FiF
Sure these were not from the overhanging cliffs?
DVD
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You would be surprised at the size of rocks that waves can shift.
If you are behind a sea wall on a shingle beach, every wave that comes over in a storm will have shingle in it, probably up to about three inches in diameter. And it will be coming down from maybe fifteen feet above. This will be what smashed Mark's window.
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DVD,
They were on the North bay, sort of half way between the cliff section and the roundabout in front of the cafe at Peasholm park end. You know the bit where the "cliffs" behind the road have a fairly shallow slope and grassy.
Also the rocks had very rounded corners, just like monster pebbles really.
Seemed to me and er indoors that they came from the sea, and they certainly did not have a white bikini on. ;-)
arrivederci,
FiF
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I have just read your comment about your Fiesta my son has a 2 year old 1.6 zetec Fiesta with a hydro locked engine (needs a new engine)
He drove through 5 or 6 inches of standing water and blew a hole in the engine, other cars drove through it without incident.
The garage suggested that even puddles were a problem for his Fiesta as the air intake valve is VERY low on this car and that it shouldn't be taken out during rain (seriously)!! I can just imagine his bosses face when he calls in to say that he won't be in work because it's raining and too risky to drive his car to work!
Do any car reviews currently include this information in their write ups as the roads in our area are flooded everytime it rains and I don't envisage this changing.
What I don't want is to go to work in the morning and be faced with the dilema - do I take a chance and drive through a puddle or leave my car and walk try to arrange for someone else to collect my daughter whilst I walk home.
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I used to drive Willys Jeeps on roads frequently flooded. I slacked off the fan belt before entering the water, to avoid kicking it all over the engine and drove slowly but with a slipped clutch, to keep revs up, and kept going until the engine had dried out. I never got stuck.
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Can remember a good few years ago hitting some surface water rather rapidly in my old Fiat Strada. Did not realise that in true Fiat style that the floor pan had rotted through in the driver's footwell. I got absolutely soaked. My initial reaction was to switch the wipers on, but this didn't do much for the trousers. I nearly peed myself with laughter, if I had no-one would have noticed!
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If flooding is going to become more common as we are told, then it would be worthwhile making up a simple air intake extension from an old hoover snake and keeping it handy. Also maybe quick-release nuts to release the fan belt.
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