My car + water. Uh oh

[ChristopherP]

Anyone know much about cars here?

I was on my way home from work tonight, drove through a HUGE puddle, couldnt swerve outa the way as someone was coming.

Now it sounds like a 2CV, has NO power (just enough to get me home) and smelt quite bad.

Any advice? or is it screwed and beyond repair?

 

[V_R]

Sounds liek it may have go some water in the engine or something??

Not too sure but me bro is a mechanic, so will ask him when i see him....

 

[Adywebb]

Chris, water has probably got in through the air intake which means it is struggling to get the right mixture of fuel/air to combust etc.
That being said I have no idea what you have to do to fix it, but it shouldn't be beyond repair- unless its an old banger....

 

[ChristopherP]

Well it's all computer controlled...

Its a 1995 Peugeot 306 XR 1.6i (the TU5 engine) It's (well...was) a beautiful car.

Maybe the heat from the engine after turning it off on my drive will dry it all out or something... I can just hope and prey she fires up on all cylinders and purrs like a kitty again tomorrow morning... though i doubt that would be happening.

Dad said you can do serious damage with water... said something like you will ruin it...

 

[floppybootstomp]

I had similar problems with a Mini once, the water had soaked and penetrated distributor cap/plug leads.

Let it dry out overnight and start it again in the morning.

If it still the same, let it just run/tickover for a while, it may clear.

Those are my gut reactions, but not really sure tbh.

 

[ChristopherP]

I think you could compare what it got to taking a high pressure jet wash, opening the bonnet, and cleaning the engine till it looked new. all over. I hit this puddle/lake/ocean pretty damn quick... well quicker than i should have, i just didnt see it. i hope i didnt break anything major...

Thanks Flops - will try that... i REALLY didnt like the way it sounded though, if its expensive i'm screwed.

I may check see if the air filter is wet and soggy... that might be choking the engine if it is...

eurgh... I was meant to be at work by 9 too... it will be a miracle if that happens...

Thanks all

 

[ChristopherP]

No such luck.

Will take to the garage, if it hasnt shaken itself to pieces like it was trying to do idling.

 

[Frodo]

Lots of WD40 everywhere under the bonnet check the air filter is dry look in the oil filler cap to see if it's sludgy if it is it shows water is in the oil,this either means a blown headgasket or water has gone up the exaust and into the engine
(unlikely but should be checked).If you have a catalitic converter this may also be scupperd.The most likely thing is water on the electrics though like i said dry everything off with an old towel and spray WD40 all over.

 

[ChristopherP]

I took it to the garage at 8:25 and basically they said if water is in the air filter it's a writeoff...

All i can say is it better b****y not be.

they said hopefully its just water in the ignition system - meaning all cylinders aren't firing... HOPEFULLY

I hope the so called "compression test" isn't expensive...

 

[Frodo]

Compression test isn't expensive it's the labour that will sting but you need your car going,would be very suprised if it's a dead engine!!

 

[Becky]

Oh dear!

Next time you go through a big puddle, slow down, change into a low gear and keep your revs high - then this won't happen again

 

[ChristopherP]

I kept my engine going the whole time... it didn't die at all... i just didnt see it coming

We'll see... its in Autodans hahds now...

 

[Becky]

It doesn't matter that it didn't die - if revs drop too much water gets sucked into the engine (if the water is deep enough).

Hope you manage to get it fixed for a reasonable price!

 

[ChristopherP]

Instinct isnt to floor it as soon as you hit a lake at 35/40 in a high gear though unfortunatly...

thanks for advice guys I'll let you know how it ends up.

 

[Me__2001]

you have lost a cylinder, all of the water should be out of it by now, change the spark plugs and check the ignition and let it dry out, if its still like it you may have bent a valve or its still got water in it, even worse is its not firing but still getting petrol into it and will wash all of the oil out of the cylinder and the piston rings will lose their seating the petrol then leaks past them into the crankcase which gets hot and it all goes BANG

 

[ChristopherP]

Its a distributorless engine if that matters... hope the garage have all the spare kit... i dont... and have no way of getting to halfords!

Sure iv'e lost only the one cylinder!? It literally had NO power... 25mph and struggling

It would suck to see it go as spares and repairs though... i can't really afford more than a couple hundred to get it going again.

 

[Me__2001]

it could be two but i cant say for sure, computer controlled engines are not good with water if its the ECU then its really expensive but it could be the ignition module or coil, im not sure of the price of these but its the labour for the time it takes to diagnose and fix it thats going to be expensive

 

[ChristopherP]

Iv'e heard about french electrics...

 

[itsme]

Iv'e heard about french electrics...

Chris I doubt it would be a write-off; the electrics are the main problem you have? Though possibly some mechanical probs as well, with the mechanics drain the entire engine I.E. oil>water> petrol and or diesel and clean it,

Let me know what the garage says, the car electrics are like lets say a keyboard on a PC if you spill fluid on it what do you do? Dry it out; you have an electrics central control on the car it looks like a fuse box, if that gets wet you have to either replace it or dry it out and go from there.

 

[ChristopherP]

Good news - it's not a write off - no water was sucked into the filter

£41.12 got the leads and plugs dried, and hooked up to the diagnostic computer.

but

Driving it home it still doesn't feel 100% right... acceleration is incredibly unsmooth with lots of flat spots where it has to think for a second... The computer picked up a MAP sensor error, which was making my car a little jerky under load before this, but that fault has always been there...

I'll have my dad look at it tomorrow... and if its still not right then back to Danny it goes!

edit: forgot to add... no wonder it was running rough - it was running on **TWO** cylinders!!