Has anyone had experience with flooding water and the damage that occurs? On the commute home she ended up in maybe 3.5 feet (1 meter) deep. She sputtered and steamed to a stop. Carpet did stay dry. Once out of the water it only clicked, never would turn over. Next week I guess it’s towing her 300 miles (480 kilometers) to the dealer.

Does anyone have an idea what I should be prepared for? Didn't think about the turbo charger until I searched the subject.

Thanks for any ideas while I await the dealer word!

 

Yowzers.....

Big question I think is gonna be whether the water was deep enough to flow through the air intake and into the throttle, supercharger and engine. If so, you could have BIG problems.... hydrolock (which can pretty much destroy an engine when it tries to compress water instead of air...) if not, could be as easy as drying everything out or replacement of individual electrical parts (i.e. alternator, power steering fan, etc.). According to this thread it may only take several INCHES of standing water to create a hydrolock condition... a meter would almost certainly do it...

 

First off, sorry to hear about this. If you have a turbo, than you don't have a cabrio, so wrong forum.

 

3.5 feet submerged?! how did you figure it was ok to go thru the water?

 

Where was this at? I rarely see puddles that are super deep like that?

 

Based upon michaelk7's previous posts, it appears he has an 06 MCS hardtop, so I'm moving the thread to Coupe Talk.

michaelk7 - all 1st Gen MCSes have a supercharger, not a turbocharger.

Incidentally, how in the world did you manage to get into 3 feet of water in the first place?

 

Blimey thank you for the information and moving of the post Edge.

In a downpour being stuck between semi trucks, stalled traffic, on a road going under a street level over pass it turned from bad to worse. The county officer stated the pumps just could not keep up.
Your harsh and unpleasant posts are sincerely desired and appreciated. Reflecting, I thought the worst had taken place after telling the wife. Thank you, I will withdraw and learn from observing on your great forums in the future.

 

michaelk7 - Sorry for your misfortune and for the poor manners of some folks around here. Hope things work out.

 

michaelk7, I too am sorry about the less than supportive comments. I left my windows and sunroof open and it POURED one day. My dad said, "Why did you leave your car open?" I wanted to punch him. That was the last thing I needed to hear after that. I would rather he told a dumb joke and told me that is not how to clean your interior.

I feel for you.

Hope it all gets fixed.

Blake

 

If these guys are worse than your wife, then we need to trade wives!

I'd probably not hear the end of it if I came home with the same story you did

I'm curious as to what the dealer comes up with for damages. I'm also curious as how the damages could have been minimized? Turn off the motor and become a sailboat instead of a power boat??? Seems that what might be safe for the Mini wouldn't have been safe for you.

 

ouch. that much water has got to hurt the insides.
hopefully everything inside isn't messed up.
hope everything gets fixed and you're back to 100%

but dont mind people's comments. sometimes people are just blunt.
there's the 'why'd you do that' kind of people. and the caring ones.
and sometimes a mix of both.

but i'd be scared to drive in that water..(im scared of deep water..just thinking about it gives me chills)
if i drove through that i would have thought..'omg wat if a big ugly scary looking fish swims by???' throughout the whole time. :impatient

 

harsh and unpleasant? awwww... you poor thing. just kidding buddy

i honestly don't see any harsh or unpleasant posts in this thread, but i understand that reading a post is not the same as hearing a person speak. it's all good. im not hating. i don't think you're stupid for driving thru 3.5 feet of water, a mere accident that hopefully can be avoided next time. sorry for your misfortunes, best of luck to your beloved MINI's revival

 

It sounds like that this wasnt your fault and that it was simply an example of a wrong place wrong time situation. Really unfortunate.

Alright here is the deal.

The good news is that water didnt get inside the cabin. This means that mold and stuff like that isnt going too much of a problem.

The bad news: You probably are hydrolocked, your electrics are probably pretty messed up and this stuff isnt likely to be covered under warranty (however your insurance may take care of it).

I am hoping for the best here.

 

Seriously, here are some things you can expect when an auto has been under that much water.

1. little electrical problem here and there. Contacts corrode, especially in the fuse box, connections inside the clear plastic sleeves, light bulb sockets, and switches. You may find some appliances like CD players don't work. You may find motors HVAC duct flaps and JCW air box don't work.

2. you'll find silt on the top side of many surfaces. Not necessarily damaging, but highly annoying. Silt is usually inside the HVAC ducts and engine's air intake.

3. you may find the carpets are dirty.

4. you'll find water in all the fluids.

5. Your seats cusions are wet.

6. the door insides are wet.

7. Lots of lubes surfaces aren't and are also dirty.

8. Paper air filters require replacement.

Things that I do when this happens is open the auto up as quickly as possible. This includes pulling the carpets out. Then I spray as many electrical contacts as I can with contact cleaner. This includes pulling all the fuses and going after all the switches. After things are dry, I brush and vacuum as much of the silt out that I can find. I'll pull the HVAC ducts out and clean them with water. I clean the carpets with soap and water. Lots of water. I change all the fluids as soon as possible and don't run the engine until this is done. Fluids include engine oil, coolant, washer fluid, transmission oil, brake & clutch fluid, and, if the auto has a differential on the rear axel (MINI doesn't), change that fluid, too. Of course, I remove the seats in order to remove the carpet. I'll take the seat covers off, even if it means I need to have an upholsterer put them back together. The seat cusions and the covers must be dried. I pull the interior panels off the doors to clean them and speed drying within the doors. There are window motors in there that need to be dried, lubed, and contacts cleaned/dried. All kinds of things have to be re-lubed. Things like door hinges, shifting linkages, window guides, hood hinges and latches. Use WD-40 to clean the mated surfaces. Then apply old fashioned motor oil or white lithium grease (depending on the application). I also like to use Armour All or something like that on all the rubber surfaces to clean and treat them.

If I'm not living in a hot dry place like I do now, I place fans in the auto after the carpets and door panels have been removed to hasten drying. If things stay wet too long, you can get black mold growth. That can make bad smell and even make you sick.

It isn't the end of the world when this happens, but it takes a lot of time to clean up and make all things right. But, be sure not to run the auto until you change the engine oil.

 

Forgot to mention...

9. wheel bearings need new grease

10. suspension component pivots need new grease

 

In other words you need a major exam for moisture control. Even if you look "dry" on inspection.

Hope your MINI checks out without too much damage from the water.

Sorry to hear about the Noah's ark like flood you encountered.

Water that deep or even half that deep is always bad for cars with low clearance. My MINI is 2" off the ground in the front. I would not have survived.

 

toast engine, lots of minor work.

Best case, lots of minor work.

If insurance will cover it, push HARD for a total, if the engine is toast.

Matt

 

+1 ^

My best guess is that your engine hydro-locked. Bent rods = toasted engine.

You insurance should cover you. Like Matt said push hard for them to total it. Lots of water damage takes some time to show up.

 

Could i get a little more information on this? How much water would cause a need for new grease....how much exposure? Thanks

 

IMO that wouldn't be too much of a problem on our MINI's. The wheel bearings are sealed to keep the grease in & I believe the water wouldn't hurt them. Now if your MINI was parked with water over the hubs for an extended time, yep that could cause a problem.

 

I think the idea of pressing for it to be totalled by insurance is probably the best idea. With that much water you could end up with troubles for years to come. My guess is that when selling the vehicle down the road local laws will require you to disclose the flooding damage and I wouldn't be suprised if that ruins the resale value.

 

[GameshowHostVoice] A New Mini !!! [/GameshowHostVoice]

 

Sorry to hear about your problems and hope they work out for the best. From the sound of your events the water was ponded and not moving, and so presented a different concern, but reminds me of a situation which happened to me 15 years ago. I drove through an intersection which was in the early stage of a flash flood. I was second in line watching the water rise up. When the car in front of me went through there was about 6” whipping through it. The car in front of me did it pretty easy so I figured why not try it. My Accord made it through, though I could feel the car beginning to loose traction at the deepest section. The Ford (quite a bit larger) behind me didn’t make it and was washed down the road a block or 2. It looked like the water was over 1 foot by then. Ever since I have been a lot more respectful of water and what it can do.

One thing I find perplexing about your plight is that you were able to drive through the pond. 3.5 feet of water would be above the base of the windows. You were really lucky that your interior remained dry, but that means that you should have you should have floated across the pond. In essence the buoyant forces of the air in the cabin in 3.5 feet of water would be greater than the weight of the car. I’m guessing there was less that 3.5’ of water. I don’t mean to take away from your situation and it certainly doesn’t change any part of your damage, but my guess is that the water reached halfway up the door, probably 1.5 – 2 feet IMHO. Sorry, just the engineer in me.

BTW, I have seen/heard of water damage in many forms. You were really lucky that the interior stayed dry. Water getting in the interior could have totaled the car (just as the people in New Orleans what standing water can do). I am not a mechanic, so I don’t know technically what occurs but my understanding is that a car can go through standing water at low speed as long as the end of the exhaust pipe remains above the water. If the tail pipe gets submerged then it sucks water into the engine which will likely ruin it. I can’t imagine what would happen if water came through the supercharger air intake, but it can’t be good. Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

 

Just wanted to give my two cents on the getting caught in water thing, and how easy it is to happen. Flash flooding is exactly that. When I was about twelve, I was with my aunt in an old pickup truck. It was raining really hard and just starting to pool. We were going through a four way, and all of the sudden the water had risen from about 2 inches deep to being halfway up the doors. It went back down as quickly as it had rose, but it was a very scary experience, and to this day I can't stand to drive in rain.

When i was cheerleading in HS our choreographer, Vinny, was killed in a flash flood the day before we left for nationals. His car got swept away, and they couldn't get him out.

The water in a flash flood rises so quickly, there's really nothing you can do. I'm definitely sympathetic to your plight, Michael, and I'm glad you were safe.

 

Sorry, MiniDaMoocher, I took so long typing my post I didn't realize you had posted a very similar story.