Driving Through Floodwater

[scotthunter]

Topical conversation here.

The weather of the past few days has caused flooding chaos on many roads in Devon and Somerset.

Driving home from work tonight on some country roads with standing water, in places up to a foot deep, made me wonder: can driving through this cause damage to the car? Where on the Fiesta is the air intake? Does anyone have any tips on driving through flooded roads, apart from the obvious turn around and find another route?

Also does turning on the air conditioning with the heater on make any difference when trying to dry wet seats and clothes after getting into the car when it's chucking it down? Or is this just wasting fuel?

[sambooka]

Yes having the air con on does help as it drys the air out. The fiesta air intake is to the right of the ford badge.

[Stoney871]

The general rule for driving through standing water is that if it's up to the lower wheel nuts you shouldn't, but if you have to then keep your speed low and constant so as to form a bow wave and avoid building a wall of water on the front of the car which could result in the water level becoming effectively twice the standing level.

[DieselPig]

If your unsure of the water depth:

1. Turn round and find another route.

2. Watch some other chimp drive through (or hydro-lock their engine!) to gauge the depth.

[Marcr1]

Or follow the car in front close ish so they part the water and take the brunt of it

[b1g_dav3]

Or get out and see for yourself how deep it is? If you're not prepared for this when you live in an area prone to flooding, you need to be beaten with a stick.

[1989jeffrey1989]

I'd also recommend squeezing your brakes after going through a deep puddle to make sure you have decent braking! Mine felt abit odd this morning and i'm going to put it down to going through big puddles last night on the way home! Also any residue picked up on the way through could damage the disc and pads so hopefully it can get rid of this . Any body else have thoughts on this?

[Stoney871]

A good pressure wash of the discs and pads won't hurt them and will clear any crap off, especially from abs sensors.