Flooded engine - how much trouble am I in?

Vonhelmet said:
Not sure what you mean. Perhaps I've neglected to say that the road is pretty seriously cambered on that bend, so the passenger side would be lower than the driver side.
Click to expand...

Gotcha - I realised as I posted that the road might have been uneven, but it didn't read like that :)
 
[TW]Fox;22847374 said:
Why would that make any difference - you have not taken a duty of care if you drive into a wall at 30mph either but thats covered, as is flinging your car sideways off a roundabout into a streetlamp or reversing it into a bollard.
Click to expand...

Yeah but most people don't deliberately drive into a wall - if it's intentional then the insurer can reject the claim!

Vonhelmet said:
I've just got off the phone to the insurer. The guy didn't bat an eyelid about it.
Click to expand...

Nice one! Glad it's gonna get sorted for you!
 
Gaygle said:
As it was only a foot deep, i would imagine water has been sucked up by the exhaust. Did you slip the clutch keep the revs high as you went through the water? Although this doesnt explain why the hazards are staying on and the elextronics are goosed. Are you sure it was just a foot of water? If it ateamed when you went through and the electrics are done, i would guess it was at least 2ft+
Click to expand...

Intake.. :D
 
I did this too a van once, took a back road and went through a ford that I had been through literally thousands of times before.

I just used to blast through it and create a massive splash and give myself a little chuckle.

This time however it was a little deeper than normal and I was going a little too fast and the water came right over the bonnet and up the windscreen so I had to slow down as I couldnt see, stalled, water settled and washed back up and the battery shorted.
I got a tow out and got it bump started but it had sucked a bit of water in and wrecked it.
 
Vonhelmet said:
I've just got off the phone to the insurer. The guy didn't bat an eyelid about it, and I have read anecdotal stories of people successfully claiming for this sort of thing from Direct Line, who we're with. .
Click to expand...

I was with Direct Line with my 206, and they had no problem, as I say it was wrote off and cost me 50% of my NCB so hopefully you wont lose all your NCB.
 
I've just been to the garage to get some stuff out of the car - head unit and a bunch of other crap - before the insurers pick it up. The guy did indeed just charge me £35, which seems a bargain. As said, the engine won't turn over and he listed a few things that could be down to - timing bolts, con-rod, etc - but said it's most likely he insurers would look to just replace the engine entirely. He said an engine would probably cost £2k+ plus labour plus VAT... The carpets are soaked so they'd need replacing and the brakes look all rusty, so they'd probably need something doing, I don't know. He said that the rule of thumb he's come across is that if the cost of fixing the car is over 60% of the value of the vehicle then the insurers will write it off, and when the car is probably only worth £4k, give or take, a write off seems likely.

He showed me where the intake is. It's low on the passenger side, which fits with the road being heavily cambered in that direction and the water being deeper on that side.

Right. Now I work from home and wait for the hire car to get sorted.

As far as insurance and NCB goes... I'm only a named driver, and my wife is the main driver. Direct Line do NCB for named drivers, so would that mean this will only nuke my NCB or will it affect he whole policy?
 
Last edited:
Vonhelmet said:
I've just been to the garage to get some stuff out of the car - head unit and a bunch of other crap - before the insurers pick it up. The guy did indeed just charge me £35, which seems a bargain. As said, the engine won't turn over and he listed a few things that could be down to - timing bolts, con-rod, etc - but said it's most likely he insurers would look to just replace the engine entirely. He said an engine would probably cost £2k+ plus labour plus VAT... The carpets are soaked so they'd need replacing and the brakes look all rusty, so they'd probably need something doing, I don't know. He said that the rule of thumb he's come across is that if the cost of fixing the car is over 60% of the value of the vehicle then the insurers will write it off, and when the car is probably only worth £4k, give or take, a write off seems likely.

He showed me where the intake is. It's low on the passenger side, which fits with the road being heavily cambered in that direction and the water being deeper on that side.

Right. Now I work from home and wait for the hire car to get sorted.

As far as insurance and NCB goes... I'm only a named driver, and my wife is the main driver. Direct Line do NCB for named drivers, so would that mean this will only nuke my NCB or will it affect he whole policy?
Click to expand...

It will effect both of you
 
It will effect the policy holder. It is her policy at the end of the day.

A lot of making up to do my friend :)
 
AshD93 said:
Gaygle said:
As it was only a foot deep, i would imagine water has been sucked up by the exhaust. Did you slip the clutch keep the revs high as you went through the water? Although this doesnt explain why the hazards are staying on and the elextronics are goosed. Are you sure it was just a foot of water? If it ateamed when you went through and the electrics are done, i would guess it was at least 2ft+
Click to expand...

Intake.. :D
Click to expand...

Nope, exhaust was right. OP says earlier that his intake was way above the water level and that he changed down to 1st in the middle of the puddle. As some people have already said, changing gear can change the pressures within the exhaust (which was under water) causing it to suck inwards.
 
kinobestew123 said:
Nope, exhaust was right. OP says earlier that his intake was way above the water level and that he changed down to 1st in the middle of the puddle. As some people have already said, changing gear can change the pressures within the exhaust (which was under water) causing it to suck inwards.
Click to expand...

Garage man thinks it was the intake, based on where the water was, and it fits with the intake being low on the passenger side, where the deeper water was.

It probably went in the exhaust too, mind you. I imagine it went in most places by the end of it.
 
Vonhelmet said:
Garage man thinks it was the intake, based on where the water was, and it fits with the intake being low on the passenger side, where the deeper water was.

It probably went in the exhaust too, mind you. I imagine it went in most places by the end of it.
Click to expand...

Ahh apologies Ash.

Nightmare! Water, water, every where, Nor any drop to drink. :D

On my Fiesta ST, I have a really short intake which keeps it high up in the engine bay, probably not great for heat soak but I like the comfort that it is unlikely to get wet.
 
Right, the insurers have picked up the car, and we've picked up our hire car - crummy Chevy Spark again, but at least it's a car.

I'll post back when the insurers get back to us, and we get to bickering over the payout, and then we can have a bit of spec me a replacement car fun.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom