Big Puddle...

jNx

Active Member
May 4, 2006
241
0
M25 J13
www.surreymodified.co.uk
... in the airbox!

Hit a massive massive puddle (didn't see it until late!), managed to downshift into 2nd but had to keep the revs in to get through (it must of been atleast 2 or 3 feet deep it took up the whole road!) and felt the car bogging out (even in 2nd) but didn't at any stage touch the clutch..

Well problem I've been left with this evening is the car runs like a bag of ****, doesn't rev past 3k and spits all over the place (idles ok!)

Cracked open the Airbox, panel is soaking wet and inlet pipe to MAF is lined with water.

Air Filter's in the airing cupboard and there's no water left in the airbox.. The car runs better after a 30 minute dry out but it didn't like load at all...

Whats the extent of the damage? Will just drying it out overnight cure the problems?
 

leegt5

Full Member
May 17, 2006
232
0
Lets hope it didn't ingest any water as this can cause serious damage as I understand !! You could take the maf off to dry out and get rid of any water in the intake !!

Was hammering it down on my way home from work today almost terrential !!
 

jNx

Active Member
May 4, 2006
241
0
M25 J13
www.surreymodified.co.uk
Your Cat maybe fooked too

3ft deep! the water must have nearly been over the bonnet


Yeah it was, I could see it on the end of the bonnet and knew it was gonna be bad news.. But it was far too late to stop... I was in it before I knew it!

I didn't put the clutch in at any stage! Had to give it pretty much full beans in 2nd

After half an hour I started it up again, loads and loads of steam from the exhaust and a rough smell of CAT but it idled beautifully, drove beautifiully for about 5 minutes and then it stalled out

I've been out in it this morning, CAT stinks but it runs fine now with no splutters.

I'll keep you posted !
 

Riddick_m3

Full Member
Mar 17, 2005
339
0
Sudbury, Suffolk
lol i done the same thing in an m3 hit the water at the last moment and carried on ploughing through it ran like a bag afterwards, i gave it a few revs the next day to try and clear it and shot a rod through the block, great
 

m0rk

sarcasm comes free
Staff member
May 19, 2001
27,787
33
Clanfield, UK
you'll be wanting to do lots of careful inspection before turning it over.... as you have injested water (else it wouldn't be up your exhaust) you need to be a) worried b) careful

if it were me... I'd trace it from MAF to exhaust, draining (potentially) the IC out, and just seeing how far it's got.

It might just be that the electrical connections got a good soaking.

but a 3 foot puddle you didn't see? good job it wasn't someone crossing the road!
 

jNx

Active Member
May 4, 2006
241
0
M25 J13
www.surreymodified.co.uk
you'll be wanting to do lots of careful inspection before turning it over.... as you have injested water (else it wouldn't be up your exhaust) you need to be a) worried b) careful

if it were me... I'd trace it from MAF to exhaust, draining (potentially) the IC out, and just seeing how far it's got.

It might just be that the electrical connections got a good soaking.

but a 3 foot puddle you didn't see? good job it wasn't someone crossing the road!

It was running ok this morning... Checked the oil though last night and the oil levels are fine.. The only thing was a little bit of film (bout a mm, maybe less) that was sitting on top when I checked the dipstick..

Checked the coolant aswell, it's still pure pink (no contamination)

As for not seeing the puddle - it's difficult to explain but it was just over the brow of a hill, with no street lighting, I wasn't the only one having troubles there was 2 people pulled over just up the road
 
Last edited:

acidstrato

My Fast says shut up!
Dec 9, 2004
5,942
0
Newport, South Wales
if your wrong, u could be saying good bye to your engine so be thorough with your checks!

although if it had got in you would have had starting trouble from the very beginning, but it could still be in the turbo's system and cooler
 

Rick-24

Full Member
Feb 24, 2005
443
0
giving it full beans half way thru the puddle was the smartest thing to do.... would of better off not droping to second and leaving it and keeping ur speed up then let off the throttle as u go thru, surely if air filter has got wet, u have must sucked water in to the engine, which is can lead to some serious damage, smashed pistons, bent con rods n bent valves, but seem like ur lucky if its running could be just electrical, i know my boss drove thru a puddle in his rover 200, and completely ****ed the engine
 

Jonzy

Guest
Id drop the oil for a start, ive hydrolocked to engines.... bent rods and then ran like ****
 

davidol

New ghetto whip :)
Aug 17, 2004
1,978
0
Cardiff
lol ive done this before, easy to misjudge the depth, mine was fine after a good ragging to build some heat up in the engine bay to dry everything off, not my cupra by the way!
 

cupra_matt

Audi Technician
Dec 15, 2004
1,362
0
Carlisle
You should never rev and engine going through a puddle, it should always remain at idle so if it does take in water you have the best chance of not destroying your engine.

Not to put a downer on anything but i will be very very supprised if it hasn't bent a con rod. Does it run lumpy? like a missfire?

Change the oil, remove all charge pipes and turbo intake pipe and clean out, remove the intercooler and drain it out. Remove all electrical connections and clean with contact cleaner to prevent corrosion. Get the compressions checked (important).

The majority of engine failures i have had in at work have been down to water injestion.

Too be honest, the damage will already be done if its taken water in.

I will keep my fingers crossed for you.
 

jNx

Active Member
May 4, 2006
241
0
M25 J13
www.surreymodified.co.uk
You should never rev and engine going through a puddle, it should always remain at idle so if it does take in water you have the best chance of not destroying your engine.

Not to put a downer on anything but i will be very very supprised if it hasn't bent a con rod. Does it run lumpy? like a missfire?

Change the oil, remove all charge pipes and turbo intake pipe and clean out, remove the intercooler and drain it out. Remove all electrical connections and clean with contact cleaner to prevent corrosion. Get the compressions checked (important).

The majority of engine failures i have had in at work have been down to water injestion.

Too be honest, the damage will already be done if its taken water in.

I will keep my fingers crossed for you.

It runs fine now as if nothing happened... I haven't got the luxury of a boost guage so I can't really see exactly if anything's changed... Feels the same though!

With regards to the incident it's self.. I really didn't see it until it was too late, dropping it down as many gears as possible was an instinctive reaction. There was water bonnet high and the revs where going the wrong way even with my foot in...

Will get those things you've all mentioned looked at this week though, thank you everyone for your help!
 

ibizacupra

Jack-RIP my little Friend
Jul 25, 2001
31,333
19
glos.uk
water being non compressable will likely have bent a rod if enough got into your cylinders... hope not for your sake.
compression test (not boost gauge) will show a cylinder which has lower CR

fingers crossed for you.

lucky lucky escape is so...
 

Forbez

Huge Member!
Feb 11, 2004
5,878
1
S.Wales
Visit site
Have a look at this in regards to water ingress and compression:
javascript:showVid('http://streaming.discoverynetworksinternational.com/uk/TheGarage_Ep3_GFX2.wmv','Compression','360','333')

Copy and paste the whole link

Not the best, but a good example of what can happen.
 

20 valve ted

boorrrrm ttsssshhhh
Jul 22, 2007
187
0
huddersfield
i did exactly the same last week but i have k&n typhoon (filter is about 15-20cm off the floor) mine wouldnt start at all for about half hour but think i was lucky. my bro on the other hand wasnt... hes got polo gti on a y reg and a typhoon he went through a puddle an hour after me and hes now got a nice hole in his block and a snapped conrod = new engine.
 

Ninja

Cupra now gone :(
Oct 1, 2005
1,182
0
Reading
www.peugeot-gti.net
not nice reading all the horror stories... Ive had to drive through a flooded road on the way to work a couple of times.. I just waited till i could use the middle of the road and no cars coming the other way.. sounds like you didnt get that option though :(

Hope its sorted now and you dont get any issues with it :)
 
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