Handles well in deep water and flooding

[seeh2o]

Wow, talk about seeing H2O! LA has really been hit, and today has been especially bad. I drove through Elysian Park this morning (by Dodger Stadium) and there were trees down, mudslides, new water falls and creeks running through the park and creeks running across the road where there were no creeks before. The Prius handled very well going through heavy fast moving muddy water. I, on the other hand, got out to try to catch a lost dog and am now stinky and soggy AND the dog got away. I turned around and went home, I wasn't sure I'd be able to get home from work if I went (I work in the Valley).

Trying to dry off now!

[bookrats]

Kudos for your attempts at canine rescue, seeh20!

If that's not worth 100 points, I don't know what is...

[tag]

I'll "see" that and raise you a hundred!

Valiant effort WRT the pooch, seeh2o!

[daniel]

Someone once told me that if you drive through deep water fast enough to splash water up into the air intake, it will destroy the engine. (Refering to any internal combustion engine.) He was emphatic that water will destroy an engine, not merely that it can.

Anybody know for a fact about this? Is this true, or just an item from the Fearmonger's Shop?

[DanMan32]

Well, my Honda Accord wasn't totalled for sucking up water when I ditched it, but rather frame damage from, what I believe, pulling it back up onto the dyke overpass. granted, the engine wasn't looked at, but if water would destroy an engine, they would have instantly factored the engine as part of the repair cost, which they didn't. The engine did crank, though it didn't start.

I had made a U turn in the dark, not realizing I was over a dyke overpass without guardrails. Car went down head first, with back wheels still on the bridge. Engine had a carburator. It stopped immediately, but had full electrical power (dash lights, radio playing, tail lights lit.

I wasn't hurt, but got wet almost to my knee in getting out.

[ratrent]

Is it time for the obligatory warning that you should never drive into standing or moving water unless you're absolutely 100% sure how deep it is and how fast it's moving? I wouldn't try anything more than a couple of inches, myself.

[hdrygas]

I think I remember a bit on car talk on this. What usually happens is that a smaller amount of water usually stops the engine but if you get in deep enough fast enough you can do damage. Most cars that drive off in to steams they just drain the water out and the engine is fine. It is the inside the takes the big hit. Most people who get in trouble misjudge the depth and then get stuck or worse swept away. We get a lot of flooding around her every year. There is a required news clip you see on the local news of salmon migrating up stream across the road. All local TV new departments are required to show it on the evening news. People who get in trouble fall in the above categories. It is not a smart thing to do.

[bethmaup]

Daniel,

My son was driving my husband's 1990 Caravan through some streets in South Austin. He followed some other cars through an intersection where the water was up to the curb. Water did splash and get into the air intake and seize the motor. We had to get the motor rebuilt. (We were assured that later Caravans did have the placement of the air intake raised, and we had no similar experiences with any others.) Insurance covered the repairs under comprehensive coverage, since there was no collision.

[Canuck]

Not being a certified mechanic I may be wrong but if you get water in the top of a cylinder in any running engine instead of a fuel/air mixture the likelihood of a lockup and a broken rod/maybe crank is very possible. Not necessarily the end of the engine but very costly. I had a boat diesel ingest a load of salt water and that cost me $2000.

[DanMan32]

That is a good point. Water doesn't compress. The starter probably won't have enough force to turn the engine over with a flooded cylinder, but if the engine is already flying, it may have already enough momentum to break a piston or connecting rod, and if any cylinder is still functional while another is fluid locked, it could force something to break, much like what happens when timing belt or chain breaks in a high compression, no valve clearance engine.

Diesel is a bit different though, such as higher compression ratios.