Arghhhhhh Knee Deep Puddles

[suhinaffy]

Hey has anyone got any tips on starting a car after plowing through deep water and getting everything wet?
Battery power is low and it clicks when the ignition is turned on, this is after trying to leave it to dry for an hour and then trying to start it.
Its a 325 touring, any specific areas I should be attacking with the wd40 etc ?

[320iAN]

i feel your pain .. just had to go rescue my Daughters wee Punto after it died from driving through a flooded bit of road, i checked all engine electrics & components, dried of the coil pack's then sprayed everything with "SILK" (if you can get this stuff then get it, far better than WD40) put a set of jump leads on it & it coughed & spluttered back in to life .. after 10mins of ticking over very roughly it smoothed out and i drove it home with out any fault

good luck

[suhinaffy]

I'm hoping to get back along to the car tonight to get it started, Its currently abandoned in the middle of nowhere next to a couple of other cars that drove through the flooded road and conked out.
Wd40 is all i have at hand at the moment, Any ideas where i can get this SILK that you mentioned?

[badassyas]

If it's been in a flood first and foremost what you want to do is take the spark plugs out and dry/change them. Whilst plugs are removed, turn the crank Manually. If it locks up, you'll know a conrod Atleast will be bent. If so far so good, then turn the engine over by the key. If nothing seems out of the ordinary, put the plugs back, wd40 the leads, undo any visible connector plugs and displace the moisture. Then cross your fingers and attempt to start!!! If it locks up whilst the plugs are out then method of figuring which cylinder is fubarred without dismantling the engine is, stick a screwdriver in to each cylinder with the intention of touching the piston. And see how it compares in how much the screw driver goes down the hole compared to the other piston. Pistons that will be the same height are. 1-6 2-5 3-4

[brooklynballer]

check your filter.hedrove through a puddle badassyas not the english channel i cant really see him doing real damage.Just go back with a fresh charged battery/Jumpleads and another car and try to just start it normally

[johnl320]

If he has driven through a puddle that was knee deep then I'm with badassyas on this one, better safe than sorry

[brooklynballer]

Oh bloody hell I didnt read the knee high bit.Exhaust would be full of water

[pac1982]

never ever try and start a car after the engine has cut out due to driving through a flood. you need to make sure you dont have any water in your cylinders. If you have got water in there and you try to start yout engine its bye bye engine

[suhinaffy]

looks like its bye bye engine. oops.

[320iAN]

looks like its bye bye engine. oops.

wow! did you have to leave the car in the flood? or were you able to get through it with the engine still running then it spluttered to a halt?
my daughter got her Punto through the flood she hit and kept her foot hard on the accelerator while she used some clutch control to let the car creep out the flood, then her's spluttered to a halt.. by doing that she stopped any water getting up the exhaust, it was good to see she listened to me at some point in the flood was a lovely new shape Saab, stalled and soaked

[suhinaffy]

My car stalled halfway through, i had to get out and push it the rest of the way out of the flood and up a hill , I've had a look today and 5 out of 6 sparkplugs were wet, air filter, afm and all rubber hoses pished out water when i took them off.
It's not looking good.
Question is do I pay around £600 for another engine plus fitting, Frag it or put in an insurance claim for accidental damage and hope they dont fuck me over?

[brooklynballer]

Why not turn it upside down and get the water out

[suhinaffy]

Maybe I will.

[Brianmoooore]

Give it a good cranking session with the plugs out, put the plugs back in, give it a bit more cranking, take the plugs out, dry them off, connect up a plug lead to one spark plug, lay the plug on the rocker cover, crank the engine with the ignition on, and see if the plug sparks every second turn of the crank.
If it does, screw all the plugs back in, connect the lead up, and see what happens. You don't have much to lose.
Insurance companies always almost declare flood damaged cars Cat B write offs, in my experience, as they don't want the hassle of corroded electrics coming back to haunt them.

[schnaarf]

if, after doing the cleaning / drying set out above, it starts then get the oil and filter changed.

[suhinaffy]

I've had the plugs out but had absolutely no success with turning the engine either by manualy with a 22mm spanner, tow/bump starting or jumping as the battery has went flat.
Its a shame as it just passed the mot last week.

[Green]

If you are in need of a new engine it doesn't cost too much, that and it's a pretty easy DIY job if you've the time.

[lugy]

I feel you're pain too, last week (Wednesday night though) I got caught out on a back road I use, my car didn't drink any but water seems to have got in somewhere and now the idle is fubbared . My solution is to fit the B25/later electrics I am getting this weekend instead.

I should know better after drowning my Saab (caught it quick enough, stopped the engine, took the plugs out, cranked over and got away with no damage) then killing the V8 in my Disco in a quite deep puddle off road.

[suhinaffy]

My new engine should be going in next week if all goes to plan, pity i couldnt get a bigger engine than a 2.5 for cheap.

[schnaarf]

How does the price of a good m20b25s compare to a good m50 these days?

[suhinaffy]

I have no idea, I just thought the cheapest/easiest would be a straight swap.

[MrBenn]

I have no idea, I just thought the cheapest/easiest would be a straight swap.

Definitely. If you've done it before, it can easily be done in a day.

M50 is getting easier with the likes of Danthe supplying specialist conversion parts, but its by no means plug and play.