Advice Pls - Driven thru flood water - now worried!

frazman

Guest
Hi All, I have just driven thru some standing water under a bridge - loads of other car were going thru but not sure how deep it was. I went thru slow an guess it was prob upto half way up the wheels.

My car is a Cupra 160 - does anyone know how high or low the airintake is on this model as i'm abot concerned water may have ingressed. Car drove fine immdeiatley afterwards and when left and re started. If i had damaged the engine would i have had a problem immediatley or may i have a nasty suprised round the corner?:cry::cry::

Fingers crossed it will be ok. thanks for any help in advance.

regards fraz
 

kriso

_______ C U P R A _______
Jan 29, 2007
2,325
4
Brighton
Probably nothing to worry about if the car is running fine. It does say something in the manual for the Cupras about driving slowly through water, I think because of the front mounted intercooler. The air intake is in the front grill, next to the Seat badge.
 

topleya

MK5 Ibiza FR Black 1.2TSI
Nov 23, 2007
78
0
I've driven my car through a local ford and it was fine, usually if water gets into the engine then it usually stops pretty soon rather than later.
 

frazman

Guest
Many thanks for the replies folks - i just did some reading around on the net about it and apparantley turbo charged and diesel engines are the worst affected by driving thru water - which was reassuring as i've got a turbo charged diesel! However it did state that certain models were more easily affected than others but didn't stipulate any!

I drove slowly and followed another car which broke the water so to speak. Fingers crossed and as you say i'd expect a light on the dash or some nasty noises fairly soon after if it was a major prob.

thanks again
 

topleya

MK5 Ibiza FR Black 1.2TSI
Nov 23, 2007
78
0
and hey, it may coz an excess fee, but what insurance for? lol. Good luck
 

rashcupra

MV AGUSTA & 1.8T DUB MK4
Oct 15, 2006
6,517
2
crawley
should be fine mate as the air intake is as kriso said next to the S grill on the front so wouldnt of got that high by your description and if it had it would of done damage a while back by now! as water dont compress and would crack the engine head and good by cupra :lol: wouldnt worry tho bud!
 

Aimez

Active Member
you would know, I remember I was working in a off license a few years back and everywhere was flooding (including next doors bloke's MR2!) people were driving through a puddle outside and breaking down as soon as they drove through!
 

Cupra_power

torque ain't cheap
Nov 1, 2004
517
1
the burbs...
if you injest a large amount of water into a diesel, it goes bang straight away. Water is not compressible and if you get a decent quantity in the combustion chamber, it will bend con rods or crankshaft as it tries to compress the liquid in the chamber. Can happen to petrol engines as well.
 
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Fl@pper

Back older greyer and less oilier but always hope
Jun 19, 2001
12,370
26
Gloucester
driving through it carefully isnt usually a problem if your sensible it will be teh car coming the other way causing a wave that will kill it - stone dead if you get water inside a derv motor

when we had floods round here i gave up trying to tell the audi/vw tdI know better drivers that 3ft water isnt the best thing to drive your new car through

one leaned out the roof and demanded we pushed him - not until he waived £50 out the sunroof - served him right
 

Ant FR

Full Member
Feb 15, 2005
2,861
0
Kent
however if you can keep behind the bow wave then you can go through deeper water than you technically should.

However hydroblocking an engine is quite pricey
 

frazman

Guest
this is a weight off! I read on one advise site that an egg cups worth of water could nail the engine? - this got me in a panic - then thanks to the earlier reply i was reassure to find the air intake was set up in the front grill. Good old Seat!
 

Ant FR

Full Member
Feb 15, 2005
2,861
0
Kent
it can do indeed, in fact much less, you see thats only if it gets into the intake, purely because once it gets intot he bore and when the piston compresse the water will not due to being a lot denser than air, thus it will hydrolock, where another part of the engine will break. not good and will usually mean a complete new engine unless rather lucky.
 

Mr Cellotape

AKA Mr Ribbed
May 9, 2006
1,283
2
Warwickshire once.
I went through loads of deep water In my TDI Cupra on Friday night.

Just took it nice and steady and kept moving.

The only time I thought I was gonna be in trouble was when a whole load of cars coming the other way went through whilst I was halfway through. They went through at about 30+ and my car got washed completly with lots of dirty water.

You can try all you like to do the right thing, then you meet a bunch of half wits and all your efforts are wasted.

Still the cars running ok.
 
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