jasonius

iTrader: (1)

Old mans 330d died whilst going through a flood..!

He kept revs up as you do (no gear changes) but water got so deep it came over bonnet and then cut out..!

Most likely it's got into intake.. .

What's the damage likely to be..?

Also, is this type of thing normally covered by insurance (presuming the worst of course)..?

Luckily the fire brigade came along and pushed him out as water was halfway up the door (he said the car was starting to float about)..!!!

J

ScoobyDoo69

iTrader: (17)

This wasn't up in Perry Barr was it? I was up there today and Walsall road and the surrounding areas were terrible ! Felt like my car was going to drown. But only a little splutter from the exhaust as it kicked all the excess water out !!

Bubba po

If I were his insurance, I would refuse to pay out. Did he think he was in a BMW 330 unterseeboot?

Shark Man

Its a gamble, but the prognosis isn't good. BMWs have low mounted air intakes.

Case of remove injectors and inlet pipework (intercooler etc) and crank it over and see what comes out....providing it will crank over, or doesn't make bad noises whilst cranking, in which case if it does: one new engine please.

Don't try cranking it whilst the injectors are still in place, otherwise you could make it worse .

Btw, tell your dad he's a feejit And no, this is not an excuse to buy an X5.... they are almost as bad

Robocop

Sounds like hydraulic lock to me.

Gear Head

iTrader: (2)

Tell him it's the perfect excuse to buy a 'proper' car!
Think the technical term is 'hydro-lock' or something.

Bubba po

It sounds like someone taking a road-going vehicle for a sailing trip. To me.

Kinell!

Bubba po

He's asked for a prognosis, which is an assessment of likely outcomes. Stop giving him diagnoses.

The rookie

iTrader: (1)

Prognosis - engine buggered with bent rods, insurance company will refuse to pay out as he wasn't taking adequate care, looking at a £4K bill....

Simon

charlieparker

this happened to a friend of mines brand new Jag, good news is his insurance company wrote it off.

jasonius

iTrader: (1)

Thanks guys, and the last post sort of shows how much some of you DON'T know..!

FWIW, there were plenty of other cars going through in front and indeed after, so this thing about BMW's having lower air intakes sounds plausible.

Would agree that hydraulic lock is probably the most likely scenario but as he there wasn't much load on the engine at the time, hopefully there won't be any serious damage..??!!

This was near Dosthill btw, not far from Kingsbury water park, lol..!

The Zohan

If it got into the intake then could be bent rods, etc. Water does not compress much

it might be it has shut down to save more damage.

talk to your local dealership, if bent rods then likely to be a lot of ££££'s.

If he drove it into the the water then insurance not likely to pay out i am afraid.

just reminded my of the bit from risky business when they sunk the 928
"Ok, which one of you is the U-Boat commander?!?"

Shark Man

Normally with waterlogged engines: One can hope it just soaked the air filter, drawing water mist and basically staving the engine of air. Water doesn't go through air filters very easily - saok the air filter on your vacuum cleaner with water and you can see for yourself (don't tell teh missus though ). Think of trying to suck through a blocked straw.

However the vacuum of the engine and turbo on boost can be enough to tear through the air filter allowing large volumes of water to gush through instead of a atomised mist - and thats the killer, so keeping high revs in some cases is not a good thing. If your lucky, somtimes the inlet hoses collapse or split instead (re: blocked straw analogy).

I'll lay odds on 50:50 dead engine.

ZEN Performance

that is not "going through a flood"

that is being stupid.

bent rods and generally dead engine would be my guess.

bmac800

My cousins Mondeo was written off no problem by Norwich Union last year when it got driven through a flood and sucked up water through the air intake knackering the engine it was worth about £9k.Generally it is easier for insurance companies to write off a flood damage car especially if the water has got into the car and possibly the electrics,ecu etc.

Microstar

Diesel engines have a high compression ratio (18:1 on this particular engine). Even a teaspoon-full amount of water will do damage.
The engine also has a turbo, and I image that the thermal shock of cold water on the turbo won't have done it much good.

My guess is a wrecked engine and a c.£5k or more bill. The issue will be whether his insurance company want to put it down to 'misuse' - could have a legal battle on your hands there.

jasonius

iTrader: (1)

The thing is there were plenty of other cars (note cars and not 4x4's) getting through no problem, before and after so it would seem the poster who said earlier that BMW's have a low intake was correct..!

It's not like he's gone through at even 10mph. He waited and saw that there were others getting through OK so followed thinking he'd be fine. In fact his is the only car that got stranded..! (obviously no other BMW's tried it). The conditions in the Midlands over the last 24hrs have been severe so I'm sure there will be plenty of other similar incidents (the FB actually said it was their 7th car pull out that evening..!)

I know someone who recently put petrol into their diesel knackering the engine on a 6 month old Renault scenic. The insurance paid out c.£3k no problem. Now if that isn't negligence I don't know what is..!


lol, those of you who claim he's stupid I'd like to see you say it to his face (even though he is 70)..!

Microstar

With all due respect you did say:

"but water got so deep it came over bonnet and then cut out..! "

- in your first post. If the water really came up that high then I think it was inevitable that damage would be done.
Going through even 'shallow' flood water in modern cars is bad news because of the thermal shock of cold water landing on very hot and delicate components like the catalyst and turbo..

SVXNUT

My Mondeo diesel, hit a large puddle at at approx 60mph on the Mway (My mother was driving!!) Water was forced into the air intake, (its in the nearside front arch!!) and blew the cylinder head into six different pieces and killed the turbo!!. Caused and interesting jam and oil slick on the M6. Insurance argued but paid out 2K for a new engine and turbo under the flood cover.
If you are lucky it might only be the CY Hd Gasket and BMW's management system has shut the engine down as he was at low speed. Check before you initiate a claim.

charlieparker

...

Mo.k

iTrader: (5)

i agree with that

Simon 69

You mean hydrolock. The prognosis isnt good, Ive seen the cylinder head blown right off the engine block on a Porsche!

Robocop

In automotive terminology, a hydrolock (short for hydraulic lock).
Taken from here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydraulic_lock

craigdmcd

iTrader: (2)

I would doubt if it will be anything but a damaged engine. In most cases (and I've seen many of this situation as a Merc mechanic), the insurance company will pay out, and unless a compression tests proves conclusive, then they will ask for the head to be removed. A check of piston heights is usually a good quick measure of damage to rods and/or crank. If damage is found, usually at least a short block or full engine is ordered. Been, seen and repaired this scenario more times than I care to remember (we even had one guy who only had the car a matter of days, killed the engine driving through a puddle at 30mph and the recovery driver wouldn't even take his truck through it because it was so deep. He then tried to blame the salesman for not telling him that he couldn't drive through puddles!!)
Good luck
Craig
PS, try taking the pipe off the lowest end of the intercooler and see how much water comes out - usually a fair indication of how much has got to the engine.

jasonius

iTrader: (1)

Craigmcd, thanks mate..!

Nice to hear from someone who has plenty of experience dealing with this sort of thing..

I'll update this thread as things unfold (just to provide those 'helpful' posters, who seem to know everything, with some facts for a change..!)..

bluenosewrx

iTrader: (2)

Well, you did ask and we all know you will get the closet mechanics coming out,lol

Good luck anyway.

Mac

Simon 69

Misread, sorry.

jasonius

iTrader: (1)

Right time for an update me thinks (and a laugh)..

Insurance not a problem, car at main dealers (although ins co. wanted it to go the Mitchell Auto's..lol..!).

Initial assessment by dealer: new engine, turbo, IC and inlet manifold ffs..!

So how much do you recon they're estimating cost to be..? Nearest to within a grand wins a lollipop..!

BTW when car was dropped off yesterday at dealer the service manager said it was the 4th in that day and 10th in since Thursday with same problem, all awaiting new engines..!!! Oh dear, anyone smell a money making scam..?

Shark Man

Crate engine is close £5K IIRC, not sure if that includes the turbo, so factor in another £1K, then £500 for the odds and sods, plus about 8 to 10 hours labour at BMW's full rate. Which brings us to a nice total of about £7K

I like the way they say they are knackered before even inpecting it, still, insrance job, may as well get a new engine.....Kerrr-ching!

Turbotits

iTrader: (2)

£8.5k