6 Series Flooded

jamieh

Hi all,

Like an eejit my Dad tried driving a 630i through a flood yesterday and flooded the engine.

It's with the main dealer now.

Would this usually mean a write off or what's the story?

keithclancy

jamieh wrote: »

Hi all,

Like an eejit my Dad tried driving a 630i through a flood yesterday and flooded the engine.

It's with the main dealer now.

Would this usually mean a write off or what's the story?

Depends really .. how deep was the flood .. Might have just got the sparkplugs wet and hence the car died .. If its gotten into the ECU, interior it could be more serious.

Neilw

If it took water in through the air intake it could be very bad news, water does not compress like air does. The piston moves up tries to compress the water in the cylinder, something has to give in this situation which is usually the conrod bending.

Best to wait and see what the garage says the problem is.

R.O.R

Check if it's covered under insurance. One of our customers took his new 520d through a rather sizeable puddle (after seeing a Punto do the same) and got the €17,000 bill for the new engine covered by the insurance company.

analfabets

Friend of mine flooded Audi TDI engine. Water went in trough the air intake. Stupid enough he tried to start it again, but engine wouldn't turn over because as mentioned - you can't compress water. He didn't have any money to bring it to garage. Two days later he tried to start it again, it started. There was no damage done to the engine at all. I told him to change the oil because that water was most likely in oil sump at that stage. I think he didn't brake the rods only because at that moment engine was near idling revs. So there is also good news sometimes.

Eoin

ballyboggan1, please contact hello@boards.ie if you wish to advertise here.

Petrol engine will cut out before any major damage is done, unless he literally was under feet of water ???

bogmanfan

My Dad did something similar a few years ago and wrecked his car. Insurance covered the cost of the new engine though.

blastman

When you try to start the car, what happens? Does it try to turn over or do you get noting at all?

I did this to my car a couple of years ago during the flooding. If the car dies at low revs due to taking in water through the air intake, it is possible he hasn't done any major damage. Take out all the plugs and turn the engine over. This will clear the water out of the cylinders (and give an impressive fountain effect!). Remove excess water and put a drop of lubricating oil into each cylinder. Replace plugs and see if you can start the car again.

If this happens at high revs, though, you can end up in a world of trouble.

Motorcheck

Did any water get into the main cabin? Was the water in the flood contaminated or fresh water? If it was contaminated and got into the car there's every likelihood that it's a write-off. Extract from our blog below;

Fresh Water
This is a vehicle that has been damaged by fresh water with no evidence of sewage contamination. In most cases this type of damage will occur out of town and be connected with a river flooding. If the vehicle has been totally submerged it will most likely be written off as a category “B“. This means that the bodyshell should be crushed. The vehicle should never reappear on the road, but it can be broken for spare parts plus any residual scrap metal. This category of ‘write off’ is reported to the Department of Transport and subsequently made available in a Motorcheck report.

Where the water level is at the level of the dashboard or below, an insurer may opt to write off the vehicle as a category “C” or “D“. The status chosen generally depends upon the estimated cost of repair and the vehicle’s pre-flooding value. Worryingly category “C” and “D” ‘write offs’ are not reported to the Department and may not be detected on your Motorcheck report.

Salt Water
Vehicles with interior salt water flooding should always be dealt with as a ‘total loss’ and written off by an insurer. They will normally be categorised as “A” or “B” depending on the level reached by the water in the interior of the car. In some cases where there has been only minor low level flood damage to the exterior of a car, consideration might be given towards a possible repair but this would be highly unusual and should be taken on with extreme caution and only by a professional.

Sewage Contaminated
Where there is evidence of sewage contamination within the interior of a car, including the boot area, a vehicle should always be dealt with on a ‘total loss’ basis and will be categorised as “A” or “B”.

jamieh

Motorcheck wrote: »

Did any water get into the main cabin? Was the water in the flood contaminated or fresh water? If it was contaminated and got into the car there's every likelihood that it's a write-off. Extract from our blog below;

Fresh Water
This is a vehicle that has been damaged by fresh water with no evidence of sewage contamination. In most cases this type of damage will occur out of town and be connected with a river flooding. If the vehicle has been totally submerged it will most likely be written off as a category “B“. This means that the bodyshell should be crushed. The vehicle should never reappear on the road, but it can be broken for spare parts plus any residual scrap metal. This category of ‘write off’ is reported to the Department of Transport and subsequently made available in a Motorcheck report.

Where the water level is at the level of the dashboard or below, an insurer may opt to write off the vehicle as a category “C” or “D“. The status chosen generally depends upon the estimated cost of repair and the vehicle’s pre-flooding value. Worryingly category “C” and “D” ‘write offs’ are not reported to the Department and may not be detected on your Motorcheck report.

Salt Water
Vehicles with interior salt water flooding should always be dealt with as a ‘total loss’ and written off by an insurer. They will normally be categorised as “A” or “B” depending on the level reached by the water in the interior of the car. In some cases where there has been only minor low level flood damage to the exterior of a car, consideration might be given towards a possible repair but this would be highly unusual and should be taken on with extreme caution and only by a professional.

Sewage Contaminated
Where there is evidence of sewage contamination within the interior of a car, including the boot area, a vehicle should always be dealt with on a ‘total loss’ basis and will be categorised as “A” or “B”.

Thanks everyone for the replies.

As far as I'm aware it was fresh rainwater. Just a high volume of rain and insufficient drainage.

He let it dry out for a few hours and changed the spark plugs but no joy.

I'd say there's probably water in the cylinders.

If it needs a new engine is it worth the hassle. Would the insurance deem it a write off?

It's a 2005 model so given the cost of the engine/labour it could be over half the value of the car

robtri

Motorcheck wrote: »

Did any water get into the main cabin? Was the water in the flood contaminated or fresh water? If it was contaminated and got into the car there's every likelihood that it's a write-off. Extract from our blog below;

Fresh Water
This is a vehicle that has been damaged by fresh water with no evidence of sewage contamination. In most cases this type of damage will occur out of town and be connected with a river flooding. If the vehicle has been totally submerged it will most likely be written off as a category “B“. This means that the bodyshell should be crushed. The vehicle should never reappear on the road, but it can be broken for spare parts plus any residual scrap metal. This category of ‘write off’ is reported to the Department of Transport and subsequently made available in a Motorcheck report.

Where the water level is at the level of the dashboard or below, an insurer may opt to write off the vehicle as a category “C” or “D“. The status chosen generally depends upon the estimated cost of repair and the vehicle’s pre-flooding value. Worryingly category “C” and “D” ‘write offs’ are not reported to the Department and may not be detected on your Motorcheck report.

Salt Water
Vehicles with interior salt water flooding should always be dealt with as a ‘total loss’ and written off by an insurer. They will normally be categorised as “A” or “B” depending on the level reached by the water in the interior of the car. In some cases where there has been only minor low level flood damage to the exterior of a car, consideration might be given towards a possible repair but this would be highly unusual and should be taken on with extreme caution and only by a professional.

Sewage Contaminated
Where there is evidence of sewage contamination within the interior of a car, including the boot area, a vehicle should always be dealt with on a ‘total loss’ basis and will be categorised as “A” or “B”.

Is that not the UK catergory system.... we dont have one here.....

DublinDilbert

jamieh wrote: »

Thanks everyone for the replies.

As far as I'm aware it was fresh rainwater. Just a high volume of rain and insufficient drainage.

He let it dry out for a few hours and changed the spark plugs but no joy.

I'd say there's probably water in the cylinders.

If it needs a new engine is it worth the hassle. Would the insurance deem it a write off?

It's a 2005 model so given the cost of the engine/labour it could be over half the value of the car

Did he remove the plugs and try turn it over? This should expel a lot of the water.