Hi folks the mrs has drove her focus through some flood water this evening resulting in the car cutting out and now it won't restart.We have had it recovered to home so watch should I be looking for in the morning? Although now the battery seems discharged to some extent will it be that? 

Any help appreciated 

cheers Paul

you may have hydrolocked engine not good depends how deep it was  google it

it will tell you what hydrolocked engine is good luck

Water in the electrics/fusebox most likely.

It will need a good drying out and fuses/relays checked.

Hopefully nothing went into the engine via the air intake.

Pull the air filter out to check if it's dry just to be sure.

Sent from my SM-G930F

Thanks for the input guys illl check the air filter in the morning and take it from there 

2 hours ago, MrRedman said:

Thanks for the input guys illl check the air filter in the morning and take it from there 

A few years ago, someone broke down outside my house after driving through a flood. He flattened the battery trying to start. I got out charger, spare battery, leads, and we tried a few more times. It would sometimes fire, cough & stall. We took out the air filter, it was soaked, and effectively blocked by water. So as soon as the engine fired, it ran out of air & stalled.

Without the filter, it started quite easily, and after a bit of hesitation ran ok. I do not think enough water had got in to cause a hydrolock. He drove home (a few miles) without a filter. But as everywhere was sodden, there was little dust or flying dirt about to get into the engine.

He was lucky to breakdown outside the house of someone with the kit, and a little experience, to get going. But he was not the first or last. We get a couple of breakdowns a year, typically, within 100m of my house. No, I am not a wicked wizard putting a jinx on them , at least I hope not! It is just a busy junction near a main road.

 

Why can't there always be a flooded area outside a vauxhall Dealership, it would save us from the Corsa Brigade.

15 minutes ago, Stoney871 said:

Why can't there always be a flooded area outside a vauxhall Dealership, it would save us from the Corsa Brigade.

I remember my old corsa, drove through a puddle too fast and it ripped the wheel arch trim right off!

Thankfully my Focus doesn't suffer from this issue of water removing trim...

4 minutes ago, Stoney871 said:

Why can't there always be a flooded area outside a vauxhall Dealership, it would save us from the Corsa Brigade.

It's funny you should mention that, in Wimborne right next to the river Allen, there is a Vauxhall dealer.  On Brandy's Sunday morning walk there was less than 3 feet between the  ever swelling river and the Vauxhalls, The riverside path was already underwater, with all the subsequent rain, it may well be flooded now

Just now, GMX said:

It's funny you should mention that, in Wimborne right next to the river Allen, there is a Vauxhall dealer.  On Brandy's Sunday morning walk there was less than 3 feet between the  ever swelling river and the Vauxhalls, The riverside path was already underwater, with all the subsequent rain, it may well be flooded now

We can live in hope.

7 hours ago, Micro said:

I remember my old corsa, drove through a puddle too fast and it ripped the wheel arch trim right off!

Thankfully my Focus doesn't suffer from this issue of water removing trim...

That's not limited to Vauxhalls...happened on Dad's Mondeo earlier in the year...  He had the bright idea to wedge it in with a multi-tool...you know those metal tools with sharp pointy bits everywhere, right above the tyre...   Worst part is he forgot about it until the car went for a service, it was flagged as a dangerous fault.  

 

OP - A wet air filter doesn't necessarily mean a hydrolock.  Few years back my mate was running with half an airbox (don't ask!) and the filter got sodden and the car cut out and wouldn't start during a flood...  Turned out the wet filter had nothing to do with it, a hidden branch in the flood water had pulled a fuel line off underneath!   I doubt you've done any major damage, most likely something electrical just needs to dry out as suggested above.

From what I've seen on the TV people drive through floods far too fast. Many years ago I occasionally had to drive my Mini through flood water on the way to and from work. I always took it very slowly, no more than walking pace, slipping the clutch if necessary to keep the revs up and prevent water from entering the exhaust, to avoid creating a lot of wash. I never had a problem with wet electrics (and bear in mind that water getting into the distributor cap and onto the HT leads was a weak point with early Minis).

Ok apart from the Vauxhall stuff on this thread !

 

 

the car is terminal I took the plugs out and rocked the car back and forth the jets of water I can only liken to those at San Antonio bay in Ibiza!

The insurance are hopefully going to write it off....

Oops!!  How deep was the flood!?

 

Ok apart from the Vauxhall stuff on this thread !

 

 

the car is terminal I took the plugs out and rocked the car back and forth the jets of water I can only liken to those at San Antonio bay in Ibiza!

The insurance are hopefully going to write it off....

Bad news indeed.

I think that serves as a warning to everyone here.

Basically, if you wouldn't walk through it - don't drive through it.

Sent from my SM-G930F

Only a woman though  

Tbf, I regularly drive through flood water that I wouldn't walk through, not much choice on some of the low lying single track round here...  I don't just floor it through though, as mike said there is a knack to it lol.

Just tonight on the news I saw a Merc creating a big bow wave, about two-thirds of the way up the radiator. I thought "you're pushing your luck".

I saw it too.

Though I did walk through a stream waist high in my younger days. I was lost as I went through a country route short cut in the black country. I know it sounds silly but I had recognized some building and I had to cross it than I knew where I was. People thought I was mad, but it was at night and I was lost.

depends on vehicle how deep you can go, in 2007 we had major floods appear while we were at work. i was given a ranger to get my manager and another lad home, after dropping manager off the road we used washed away and had to divert to another route , the flood water came over the bonnet!! would never have tried it in a normal car.

Update

Sheila's wheels paid out £2000 minus £250 excess so more than the car was worth,it went on an auction site in Chester called Copart and I think it went for around £200 as a cat C so guess it will go back on the road.Some interesting stuff on Copart worth a nosy 👍

That's not to bad stay out the water now  lol 

Normal people can't buy from copart though iirc?

It'll be bought by a scrap yard and stripped for parts I'd imagine. 

Oh right wasn't sure might not get fixed then 👍

Just drove through a horrendous rain storm. A few miles later, the rain had stopped. I felt a loss of power, every warning light available came on the dash and the speedo and rev counter zeroed. I pulled over and switched the engine off for 10 mins then it restarted without any problem. Does this point to an electrical failure, should I have this checked out.