HELP ...water in engine due to flooding

Altreab

Hello all
I have a serious power problem with my octavia diesel. Last night when on way home i had to go through some flooded roads. to make a long story short when i was out of the water the car just stopped and took quiet a bit to get started again.
Loads of smoke as i pulled off and well down on power for the remaining few miles home. This morning when i drove to work (had no choice in the matter ) it spewed out a load of whiteish smoke and then it cleared. Power is still down.
When i checked the air filter it was damp from water taken in the previous night. I dried it (will get a new one ASAP). Power is still down and spluttering. 0-2500 Revs okisk then no power...then low power at about 3000Revs ....i havent revved it past that.
Its running a bit rough but no knocking sounds.
Anyone know what could be wrong with it? Conrods? Valves?
Anyone know a good independant mechanic in Galway? I really dont want to have to bring it to the main dealers unless i have to.

Thanks in advance

crosstownk

First of all be very careful. Water ingestion usually destroys an engine :eek: Replace the air filter, dry out all the intake pipes that you can access, change the oil. Let the engine idle for a while at normal temperature in an attempt to turn as much of the water as possible to steam - leaving the oil cap off may help some of the steam to escape but it may splash oil.

The air mass meter could be damaged as a result of the water ingestion and water may have some adverse effects on the turbo.

Once your happy that the water has cleared it might be an idea to change the oil again.

The fact that the engine runs is good news. I reckon you should be OK.

Altreab

crosstownk wrote:

First of all be very careful. Water ingestion usually destroys an engine :eek: Replace the air filter, dry out all the intake pipes that you can access, change the oil. Let the engine idle for a while at normal temperature in an attempt to turn as much of the water as possible to steam - leaving the oil cap off may help some of the steam to escape but it may splash oil.

The air mass meter could be damaged as a result of the water ingestion and water may have some adverse effects on the turbo.

Once your happy that the water has cleared it might be an idea to change the oil again.

The fact that the engine runs is good news. I reckon you should be OK.

Actually i forgot to mention earlier that i had indeed dried out everything i could....local guy who did it for me said it was 3rd car he had dealt with today. He told me to get a full service and change of air filters ASAP.

So does anyone know a good independant mechanic in the Galway area?

stratos

well at least the engine runs doesn't sound too serious, you could try running it without the air filter to see if thats the problem. the air filter may have swollen and not be letting enough air in. This will cause the diesel engine to smoke be and down on power.
I used to have a sherpa van smoked coughed all the time it used to suck the crappy insulation off the bonnet into the air filter and block it. it eventually suffered an oil leak when a piston left through the side of the block.:eek:

Darragh29

First you should change oil, fuel & air filter. Run the engine for 20-30 minutes at idle and change then turn off the engine and change the oil again. If you want, you can use flushing oil to flush out any water that might have made its way into the engine. After you've changed the oil, let the engine warm up to operating termerature and make sure the fan comes on. If there is water damage, it might not, especially if it has been submerged in water and the motor is fu*ked. I wouldn't worry about your MAP sensor as it is usually up at the top of the engine and I'd be surprised if the flood you went into was that deep. If there is any sign of overheating, switch off the engine and call your mechanic.

Altreab

its officially dead ....bleching out blue smoke .....compression on 1 cylinder out and no power from it.
Anyone got ideas where i can get a reconditioned engine?
Its an Octavia 1.9 TDi ...90BHP Diesel engine. Any estimates on cost of full installation?

mike65

Oh dear, Recon engine or just a used engine? The latter could be sourced from a breakers yard for a pretty reasonable price but no with come-back of course. Would a whole engine be required or just a new head?.

OT why oh why do so many cars have low air intakes? and second why do people insist on driving through flood water? Its rarely neccessary and as you've found out very expensive.

Mike.

cantdecide

that's very bad luck but as mike65 says, people often think their diesels are impervious to floods and some are very susceptible because of air intake location.

a couple of years ago i looked for a 90bhp tdi engine for an A4- i located two and they were both about a grand. they both had around 70k/80k on the clock and both sellers would "work something out" if it was a dud.

as regards where to get one, it's luck of the draw just get out the phonebook and start trying.

DublinDilbert

I'd guess part of your head gasket around cylinder one has gone... it sounds like there is oil getting into the combustion chamber on cylinder 1...

When the water gets into the air intake and gets sucked into the cylinder, it doesn't compress, unlike the air fuel mixture, hence puts a huge amount or pressure on the HG.

I'd say it would be well worth changing the HG. The head shouldn't need skimming, as the engine didn't overheat... not sure how much it would cost to change the HG on a TDI.

Altreab

mike65 wrote:

Oh dear, Recon engine or just a used engine? The latter could be sourced from a breakers yard for a pretty reasonable price but no with come-back of course. Would a whole engine be required or just a new head?.

OT why oh why do so many cars have low air intakes? and second why do people insist on driving through flood water? Its rarely neccessary and as you've found out very expensive.

Mike.

Right now im willing to look at recon and/or a used engine. Been quoted around €1000 so far. However if the headgasket is the problem it may not be so expensive. Will have to investigate more.
Anyone know a garage in Galway that does this type of work?

OT I too wonder why the air intake has to be so low .....In this case it was necessary ....normally i just park up until the floods ease.


EDIT: Has anyone heard of a group called API in Dublin who fit reconditioned engines? If so what have you heard about them and the quality of their work?

colm_mcm

It's possible that the blown head gasket is all that's wrong. This exact thing happened me before on a Brava JTD.

Altreab

colm_mcm wrote:

It's possible that the blown head gasket is all that's wrong. This exact thing happened me before on a Brava JTD.

Methinks it might be an idea for me to get a second and maybe even a 3rd opinion here!!!
How much did it cost to repair the Brava?

JHMEG

If the air filter is wet, good chance water got into the cylinders. Flushing oil and all the won't clear that out.

Water doesn't compress very well, and with the high comp ratio of diesels, well...

As colm said, check the head gasket. Leaking is happening somewhere if compression is gone on 3 cyls. HG is an easy fix, but you should be able to see inside stuff when taking the head off anyway.

JHMEG

If the air filter is wet, good chance water got into the cylinders. Flushing oil and all that won't clear that out.

Water doesn't compress very well, and with the high comp ratio of diesels, well...

As colm said, check the head gasket. Leaking is happening somewhere if compression is gone on 3 cyls. HG is an easy fix, but you should be able to see inside stuff when taking the head off anyway.

antodeco

Slightly OT, but does this mean once you keep your airintake out of the water, you can basically submerge the car??

Rovi

antodeco wrote:

Slightly OT, but does this mean once you keep your airintake out of the water, you can basically submerge the car??

Basically, yes. It's entirely possible to waterproof an engine to the extent that it's possible to drown the driver long before the engine.

Many well set up off-roaders will happily plug along with a river flowing in one window and out the other.
It's much easier to do with old fashioned mechanical injection diesels than modern ECU controlled ones, and spark ignition (petrol/lpg/etc) engines are even harder; they can be done though.

Capt'n Midnight

antodeco wrote:

Slightly OT, but does this mean once you keep your airintake out of the water, you can basically submerge the car??

http://www.landyworld.co.uk/diydiscosnorkel.html - DIY snorkel

other tips - lots of covering stuff in grease and replacing bearings afterwards
http://www.landroverclub.net/Club/HTML/water.htm
http://www.landyworld.co.uk/landroverwading.htm

hiluxman

thats all well and good but the electrical block conectors and relays will suffer, i waqs plagued with stuff not working after my jeep got wet inside