lunar tick

iTrader: (2)

As above really. On a remote country road tonight in appalling weather (MY03 UK STI), rounded bend to find myself in major flood. Engine started spluttering. Could see the other side and thought better to try and get there than to stop in the middle and then reverse , so tried to press on, but engine died. Had to get out and push car through to other side (about 25 metres).

Waited for while in the hope that the residual engine heat would help dissipate some of the water and after 5 minutes and 3 attempts, got her going again. Spluttered along for the next 8 miles or so then settled down, but ECU has thrown a fault code. Got home and engine idling perfectly, but am wondering what damage if any I might have done. I'm wondering if the MAF is stuffed (I have a wing mounted AIK) and also what are the effects of running the engine on a 50-50 water-petrol mix for a half a minute or so? Any thoughts?

Timo.

I dont think I would have driven it any further personally.

Bent con rods would be the worst scenario I can think of at the minute, which aint good.

My sister hydraulic her scooby a few years ago, luckily she was going very slow when the water went in. Plugs out, intake cleaned, oil/filter changed and engine left to dry out for a few days. Car was fine afterwards.

T.

briforbes

If it's idling fine now then it sounds like it'll be ok. Reset the ECU and see if the management light stays off. If it does, I don't think you'll have done any damage.

555Rob555

Apparently, a teaspoons worth of water in the cylinder can bugger it right up.
Bent rods, the works. Having a wing mounted IK makes it easier to swallow water than the normal snorkel.

If it's running ok now, it probably isn't too major. Get the fault code checked, and stop playing in the water.

AFRIKANZ

MAF hates the smell of water, dry it out properly.

rossi_classicwrx

Run the fault code and see what it comes up with mate. Theres a guide on here somewhere i think. Hopefully you've got away with it fine. If its running fine now and not making any bad noises i would say your likely to have come away with no serious damage but best to have it all checked out anyway

lunar tick

iTrader: (2)

'Kin ell! The thought of bent con rods has made me feel queasy How would some water getting drawn into the engine cause this?

Sounds like I've been lucky as the engine seemed to be running fine within 10 miles or so, although I took things gently for obvious reasons. It must have swallowed a bit of water however as there was a fair bit of steam coming out of the exhaust when I fired her up again. Will reset the ECU tomorrow and see what happens. Thanks for feedback

555Rob555

If you remember back to your school days, you will remember that you cannot compress a liquid, that's why hydraulics work. Your poor piston, designed to compress a gas, gets stopped by a wall of water, and the momentum of the rest of the engine just folds the con rods up.

lunar tick

iTrader: (2)

Of course! - compressibility of water virtually zilch compared to air. Here's hoping I've had a lucky escape....

donnas roo

if i was you i would get the ecu read first and then hopefully the misfire will go away. although as other people have said, the worst case scenario is the bent con rods

Tidgy

if it had a bent rod it would be ideling like a bag of poo, get ecu falt code checked out but sounds like you might have got away with it, other thana possibly a buggered sensor

andythejock01wrx

Incidentally, have seen this kind of damage paid for my insurance as accidental damage. Takes a kind insurer though !

The cases I've seen involved bent conrods, but they knew about it by the time they got home !

every1sgottablue1

These are supposed to be rally cars ffs!

davedipster

The air filter element could be soaked, have a look and buy a new one £11 from a dealer.

scoobynutta555

They are based on rally cars. They aren't submarines.

SPEN555

The rally cars run a snorkel though when such things are likely.

lunar tick

iTrader: (2)

Thanks for feedback guys. I'm having a compression and leak down test carried out on Monday by Steve Cotton at Cotton Competition. I've got my fingers crossed that the rods are OK, but prepared for the worst just in case Mind you, looking on the bright side, if one or more rods are bent and I can claim off the council (there was no warning), it could be the ideal opportunity to drop some forged pistons in and have the head fettled...

PMSL about the submarine comment above

andythejock01wrx

You mean it's not a real rally car ?

scoobynutta555

Not unless it has a bit of paper stuck to the rear screen that says it is

RLE

iTrader: (2)

Thats one way to cool the FMIC Andy

As the saying goes but for bad luck you'd have no luck at all

cuprajake

iTrader: (11)

you should be ok,

when i had my lcr i also had a low mounted air intake, and it drank half of the flood, i filled both intercoolers up, all ther pipes and the cyclinders, so drainded it all, took the spark plugs out and dried everything, the car started first time, no fault codes

was very lucky i dint bend anything inside

hats of to the germans for making one strong engine

i didnt try to turn the engine tough, i think it suffercated be fore it drowned thus not doing any damage lol

jake

lunar tick

iTrader: (2)

Yes Rob, I did notice the charge temperature was particularly low while I was sat in the flood

Bizarrely, I took the car down to the garage today and found that after 10 minutes, the engine managment light went out; no fault showing at all now. Engine sounds as sweet as a nut, so I've got my fingers crossed all is OK

andythejock01wrx

Phew !! Glad to hear there were no big bills Andy !

Andy

Shark Man

For crying out loud don't let the alarmists waste your money on compression checks etc.

Yes you can get hrydro lock going through water. But if you did and it bent a rod, your engine would be dead, full stop, it would not run now, nor would it run ever again. If it runs fine now, it hasn't happened so breath a sigh of relief. What you have seen happen is your filter and air flow sensor has been soaked in water.

The MAF has probably dried out by now, but the air filter could be still be damp or sodden so needs to be checked and replaced, if needed. I would expect any water that made it past the filter would have been injested by now, so I wouldn't bother checking the intercooler and other hoses etc.

lunar tick

iTrader: (2)

Cheers Andy, but the compression check has yet to be carried out, so although it seems fine, I'm not going to celebrate just yet

Shark Man - The car was already booked in for some work (new plugs, brake pads etc), so while the plugs are out, they're going to check compression - ie the check won't cost me anything extra. I agree that it's very unlikely they'll find anything majorly wrong, but given the car is quite modified, I'd rather be safe than sorry

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Chances are you aint done any damage to your car, the only bit I would be worried about is the alternator, they dont like getting wet (im not telling you the price for a new one but its not cheap )

Tony

Fizz

iTrader: (1)

ECU will throw up a code when a misfire occurs, which obviously it has!!!.... ECU reset and see....