the Prius and water

[jimmylozza]

Last Friday I drove through some pretty scary stuff. I drove slowly and could hear it on the floorpan. A Corvette driver was not so lucky. At a stop sign not far from where the water receded, his car completely died and would not restart. He was also driving through the water too fast.

[Soylent]

I dunno... but I'd assume the Prius high-voltage cables are waterproof. What if you drove into a canal or off a dock? Would you get electrocuted? That would be quite a liability for Toyota if that were the case.

[ZA_Andy]

It seems to me that the spray caused by driving on wet roads would be as much of a hazard -from the electrical standpoint- as from standing water driven through with care, and since the Prius is obviously designed to be capable of being driven in the wet, there's no reason to think it a problem to drive (carefully) through standing water as long as it's not too deep to cause the engine to bog down or the car to float away!

[tochatihu]

Electrocution would not be an issue, assuming the electrical leakage detection circuits are working correctly. But if water does intrude into high-voltage areas, those same circuits will take your car offline. Thus I would expect it to be potentially slightly more sensitive than conventional gas only vehicles.

I have been in about 5 inches, and would not do much more, except by mistake. This is 'still water', and slowing down so as not to wash the engine compartment excessively.

In rapidly moving water, of essentially any depth, the rule would be 'don't do it'. Remember it's not just water and mud in there. Sticks and stones.

[hobbit]

The HV cables that pass under the car are fully shielded. The main
thing I'd worry about would be the motor-control connectors on the
transaxle -- those lose their signal, and you go nowhere. Spring
'06 brought a huge flood to my area; I managed to slosh through
water up to the floorboards a little way into my neighborhood and
then back out through the same stuff, because another part farther
in was *much* deeper and I figured I'd drown everything if I tried
it. But the up-to-the-hubs water didn't see to affect anything.
That was coming home from the last totally-soaked Tour de Sol; it
was quite a week...
.
_H*

[justlurkin]

My Apologies for reviving an old thread...

Today in the New York City area, we were hit with torrential thunderstorms and many of our roads were flooded. The police officer who was directing traffic waved for me to go through water that is scary deep. I REALLY didn't want to do it, but he was like, "move it unless you want a ticket for obstructing traffic!"

So I did, under protest. I was REALLY nervous, went as slow as I could (less than 4 mph), and my Prius seemed to be OK afterwards. The water was deep enough to cover half the wheel.

I am still really worried about potential water damage to my Prius, so I want to ask you pros what I should be looking for when I check my car tomorrow morning (it's night already by the time I got home).

Is there any special maintenance I should be doing after getting my Prius soaked like that?

Thanks in advanced for any tips.

[Patrick Wong]

It sounds like you handled the situation well. If your car runs OK, then you should not have to worry at this time. No special maintenance is needed.

If in the near future you find that a wheel bearing has failed, that probably can be attributed to your driving through deep water.

[Shawn Clark]

Personally, if I'm not comfortable with it the cop can kiss my a**. I'll take the ticket and beat it in court because he's not responsible for your vehicle. He's not going to pay your costs if he is wrong. A flooded vehicle is a bigger obstruction anyway. Besides, he's bluffing as he's got no time to be farting around with tickets while he's directing traffic.

Typically the authorities admonish you not to drive into water like that.

[JimboK]

Originally Posted by Shawn Clark

Personally, if I'm not comfortable with it the cop can kiss my a**. I'll take the ticket and beat it in court because he's not responsible for your vehicle. He's not going to pay your costs if he is wrong. A flooded vehicle is a bigger obstruction anyway. Besides, he's bluffing as he's got no time to be farting around with tickets while he's directing traffic.

Typically the authorities admonish you not to drive into water like that.

Agreed, though obviously not an option now. Justlurkin, I would at least write a tactfully worded letter to the police chief, copied to his boss(es) (mayor, town manager or council, whatever), and perhaps even copied to the local media.

[That_Prius_Car]

I have herd of Prius'es (prii) going through water up to the middle of the door, no lie. The car (if being powered soley by electricty) can go through pretty deep water.