How dry does the engine bay stay in a downpour?

[gman2304]

recall being a kid and my parents drove through a downpour on the Storrow Drive (I remember the Citgo sign). Toyota stalled, as did some other cars around us. My dad said we'll just wait a little and be on our way soon after the plug wires dry out. Back in the days when there was a coil and distributor...

This. I recall in the sixties some flood prone areas seeing cars stalled at intersections. Experienced drivers would slow down and make it through, but those that hit the flooded area full on would stall and be literally dead in the water. Remember dropping a wrench on old cars and it would fall to the ground?

 

[Wrenchturner44]

Early 60's VW Beetles were notorius for getting wet distributors during downpurs. Easy fix was to pup the distributor cap and spay WD40 inside the cap itself, and wipe down the exterior. Thanks once again to BITOG for reviving a memory from my past long ago.....

 

[D60]

The key to deep water crossings is enough speed to create a "wake" to "part the sea". Too slow, water more readily flows into engine bay (and potentially intake). Too fast and other bad things happen.

The other upgrade is electric fans on a switch. Fan blades trying to spin in water is rarely a good thing.

 

[KrisZ]

Modern cars don't like deep water either.

 

[nate379]

Which is why those pesky (and all too often flimsy & poorly designed) shields (no, not the up top vanity covers/advertisements) are actually important. I wish more people would pay attention to & actually handle those with care. Alas, these are some of the first items no longer available as vehicles "age out".

Most trucks don't have those

 

[John105]

Modern cars don't like deep water either.

My office area floods. The bldg is cut off from the road leading to it.

I’ve said to myself if I hydrolocked my car, my employer isn’t going to let me expense the repair.

We have a strict 80% in office policy, up from 60%.

What did I do last time? I saw a late model Camry make it, so I went. I was fine but that was stupid too.

 

[atikovi]

Modern cars don't like deep water either.

Watched those videos. 90% of the drivers are morons.

 

[D60]

While "people" are a definite problem, the automakers are also at fault when it comes to lower splash shield design.

If those pieces are truly important, they should be anchored with quality fasteners and constructed better. Many I've seen are just held in with plastic push pin fasteners or even "Christmas tree" clips. That's absurd-- you don't hang an important component with plastic clips in tension.

These should utilize screws in nutserts or threaded body parts (and NO, NOT clip nuts) and the shield should have grommet-like reinforcement where the fastener heads contact it (kinda like metal grommets in a tarp)

 

[KrisZ]

The various under engine/under body trays are for aerodynamics not for water protection.

 

[benjamming]

Not fully correct. They also serve as a water protection barrier, obviously not waterproof but rather water resistance.

 

[grisby]

My Buick (70-72)GS’s had hood scoops and the passenger side scoop was over distributer, I had to remove the dist cap on heavy rainy days to dry it to start the car the drain holes we’re right over the cap

 

[vavavroom]

I have opened the hood during a pit stop in the middle of a rainstorm and there were no droplets on the upper engine. Whatever droplets make it into the engine bay or on the engine evaporate quickly. The Mini has a hood vent, it's not a scoop that's part of the AI. I get dust onto the engine from the vent. I suspect that raindrops don't get through the grating intact but turn into a fine spay while passing through the little slats.

 

[The motor guy]

I have opened the hood during a pit stop in the middle of a rainstorm and there were no droplets on the upper engine. Whatever droplets make it into the engine bay or on the engine evaporate quickly. The Mini has a hood vent, it's not a scoop that's part of the AI. I get dust onto the engine from the vent. I suspect that raindrops don't get through the grating intact but turn into a fine spay while passing through the little slats.

I took the kubota out in the rain today which I never do.
Maybe 15-20 minutes later I looked at the hood and it was dry as a bone compared to te rest of the tractor which is still dripping wet, and the hood of my tractor doesn't get hot at all. Maybe 100 degrees right now and it's 70 outside, so it clearly doesn't take much heat to evaporate any water underneath the hood and vehicle engine compartments get awfully toasty, so inepuldnt be surprised if it evaporates by the time you get pulled into a gas station. I just didn't realize how it really doesn't take much heat at all to make water evaporate.

 

[dumkid]

I took the kubota out in the rain today which I never do.
Maybe 15-20 minutes later I looked at the hood and it was dry as a bone compared to te rest of the tractor which is still dripping wet, and the hood of my tractor doesn't get hot at all. Maybe 100 degrees right now and it's 70 outside, so it clearly doesn't take much heat to evaporate any water underneath the hood and vehicle engine compartments get awfully toasty, so inepuldnt be surprised if it evaporates by the time you get pulled into a gas station. I just didn't realize how it really doesn't take much heat at all to make water evaporate.

You ever wondered why Arizona is so dry? When it does rain sometimes the water gets burned off by the sun within a few hours and the ground stays dry (you can dig a hole and not find damp soil)

 

[The motor guy]

You ever wondered why Arizona is so dry? When it does rain sometimes the water gets burned off by the sun within a few hours and the ground stays dry (you can dig a hole and not find damp soil)

That happened in Texas last summer. We went so long without rain that even the humidity burned off and it actually felt pretty good for it being 100 outside