Yeah, I know, don't drive on flooded streets. Sometimes it's impossible to avoid, though, given the terrific rainshowers and flash floods we experience here in Houston. So, what's the highest water you can drive in without messing up the turbocharger or flooding the engine in general?

 

After a brief heavy Thunder shower I had to drive through some intersections with 10" of standing (running) water When I arrived home the car was parked for several days.

A few weeks later I began having Power steering issues.... Upon inspection I found that the fluid had migrated into the boots on the steering rack.
Corrosion on the shafts had damaged the seals. Since my Mini was just out of warranty, I decided not to pay the dealer $800 to replace it with an identical rack.
An independent shop pulled the rack and sent it off to Chicago where the shaft was hard chromed then remachined and the unit rebuilt. I have had no further problems with P.S. (knock on wood) LOL!

I try to avoid water at all cost now, taking no chance on having expensive repairs.

Cheers, Ann

 

10 inches!!!

 

It

 

My rule of thumb has always been, if I can't see the paint markings on the street; I do not risk it.

 

It was a case of drive thru or be pushed thru by agressive Pick-ups or SUV's!

Ann

 

This is the best solution.

 

[FONT='Times New Roman']Being that I was just under the car this past weekend to change the PS pump and got to closely inspect the mini from below, I would say anything past eight inches could be devastating to a mini. Consider this, The Electrical fan that cools the PS pump is right at the bottom side of the chassis. We all know what damage water can do to electrical parts. I think submerging the fan could be catastrophic. This may be different in the 07' models though. I can only hope Mini altered the location of this fan in the new models! Also, I would think with all the aluminum on the engine, hot engine+cold rain water can't be a good combo. [/FONT]

 

nice job

 

But what about the turbo inlet?