Flooded cars (with water)

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Sun 25 Nov 2012 20:39
Flooded cars (with water) - John Boy

In events like we've had recently, you go to where you left your car and find that the water level has been up to about the bottom of the windows. What happens next?

For example

Is the car a write-off?

Will the water have reached the same level inside the car?

How do insurance companies react?

I'd like to read some personal experiences of these catastrophic circumstances.

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Sun 25 Nov 2012 21:11
Flooded cars (with water) - injection doc

Working in the trade i am amazed at how many people try and buy or do buy waterlogged cars thinking that when they dry out they will be fine !

Sewage is one of the big issues ! Health hazard ! wiring harness tend to just corrode out, apart from water ingress into diff's gear boxes, engines, ECU and hydraulic componest of brakes and much much more.

I have seen a few that customers have bought cheap and they are so smug when they are proud to show you a bargin ! till the engine stops and you discover the fuel system is full of sediment and rust and its game over !

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Sun 25 Nov 2012 21:18
Flooded cars (with water) - RT

Over time, the water level inside and out will equalise.

I had to leave a Hillman Imp in those conditions many years ago when I aquaplaned off into a ditch - next morning I got the car towed back onto the road - opened the doors and removed the floor bungs to drain the water out, started the engine and drove home.

Once home I changed the engine oil and had to remove the carpet and sound-proofing for about 2 weeks to dry off in the garage - the plastic trim was just wiped down.

I saw no need to make a claim on my insurance so I've no idea how it would have been treated.

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Sun 25 Nov 2012 23:06
Flooded cars (with water) - bathtub tom

>>I had to leave a Hillman Imp in those conditions

A Hillman Imp wouldnt've had ECUs and all the the other gubbins associated with modern cars.

Would you be prepared to do the same with £?k amount of modern technology?

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Mon 26 Nov 2012 10:35
Flooded cars (with water) - SlidingPillar

Generally a flooded car is a insurance write off. Got a idea the DVLA rules say it has to be for health reasons.

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Mon 26 Nov 2012 11:01
Flooded cars (with water) - Bromptonaut

Have once seen a car, some sort of Saab, hauled out of a basement car park flooded from a burst main.

Even though the initial source was clean it picked up loads of silt and stuff that was flowing out of every orifice when dragged out was filthy.

I woulldn't have had it at any price.

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Mon 26 Nov 2012 12:15
Flooded cars (with water) - bathtub tom

Didn't a number of lorries that were on the capsized ferry turn up?

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Mon 26 Nov 2012 17:21
Flooded cars (with water) - craig-pd130

My brother-in-law had a 2.0 petrol Focus and misjudged the depth of a ford (no pun intended) after heavy rain. Water levels were above sill height, and it started coming in past the door seals etc.

He kept moving and the engine didn't drown, so he got out the other side with no apparent ill effects apart from damp carpets.

However after a couple of weeks he started getting all sorts of random electrical niggles, from windows not opening to misfires, so excess water obviously got into various control modules, connectors and wiring.

That was after maybe 10 seconds of exposure to deep water, so I wouldn't like to try and revive a modern car after a even a few hours submersion.

Edited by craig-pd130 on 26/11/2012 at 17:22

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Mon 26 Nov 2012 21:45
Flooded cars (with water) - Avant

You were lucky with your Hillman Imp, RT - most Imps used to flood their carburettors all on their own, without help from the elements.

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Tue 27 Nov 2012 00:38
Flooded cars (with water) - SteveLee

You were lucky with your Hillman Imp, RT - most Imps used to flood their carburettors all on their own, without help from the elements.

What? Did they have special "Imp" carburettors which no other car had? I've had at least six Imps in one form or another covering all carburation combinations, single solex, single Stromberg and twin Strombergs and I don't remember any examples of your flooding phonominon.

Edited by Avant on 27/11/2012 at 23:15

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Tue 27 Nov 2012 02:09
Flooded cars (with water) - unthrottled

Common carb problem. The carb float gums up/obstructed by debris and doesn't close reliably. Float bowl floods. Can happen to any carb.

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Tue 27 Nov 2012 08:44
Flooded cars (with water) - TeeCee

More usually the needle valve that gets stuck than the float itself.

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Tue 27 Nov 2012 11:04
Flooded cars (with water) - oldtoffee

>>>He kept moving and the engine didn't drown, so he got out the other side with no apparent ill effects apart from damp carpets.

He should have bought a Passat. As many on here will know, VW in their infinite wisdom put the CCM (Comfort Control Module) that runs stuff like immobiliser, central locking, alarm, windows lights and other non-essential functions in a not so waterproof module under the front passenger carpet. Good news is that you didn't have to go out risking life and limb driving through deeper than expected fords to knobble it, just leave the car out in the rain for a day or two and the water will run over the blocked drain holes right into the footwell, job done.

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Tue 27 Nov 2012 18:50
Flooded cars (with water) - injection doc

The reason hillman imps suffered with carb issues, particularly flooding was the pressure created by the pump so close to the carb, 2nd by the heat from the engine with the exhaust directly below and no through flow of air and 3rd, the engine used to suffer with excessive fine vibration which created all sorts of issues along with the fuel control valve vibrating in the carb causing flooding

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Tue 27 Nov 2012 19:39
Flooded cars (with water) - unthrottled

Didn't a lot of engines have an SU carb perched on top of a stubby exhaust-heated inlet manifold?

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Tue 27 Nov 2012 19:46
Flooded cars (with water) - RT

Didn't a lot of engines have an SU carb perched on top of a stubby exhaust-heated inlet manifold?

Before the Ford Crossflow, all volume-built engines had that layout - quite vital really in those days to get good vapourisation from the exhaust heat as carburettors were quite crude in operation.

The only carburettor problem I ever had with the Imp was the float chamber and main barrel being separate castings with a small length of hose joining them - as the hose aged, it leaked fuel onto the exhaust !!

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Thu 29 Nov 2012 17:37
Flooded cars (with water) - John Boy

There's a Daily Telegraph article which is relevant to this topic:

www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/insura...l

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