Drove in deep water

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Hi all.

So I got off work just now and it's raining cats and dogs. And chow mien and egg rolls. I wanted to pull into a car parking garage or awning type of place to change so I don't get work clothes wet.

As I tried to pull into the drive way of a parking garage, there was like a foot or more or however deep it was of water, right at the entry point only though. A good amount of the car's front was in the water. I put it in reverse and pulled out right away.

I noticed some steam coming out the fender area.

So how much damage could I have done? I'm sitting typing this, and the car still runs, like 15 min later.

It's a 2010 mustangs rag top. The air filter unit should be by the wiper blades if I recall correctly.

I read online that people drive through a foot of water and don't really have problems. A quick nose dive into water and pull out right away shouldn't have issues?

Did I damage anything? Anyone with experience?
 
It's fine. If the engine ingested water it would be sitting in that driveway.
 
The biggest risk is water getting into your transmission through the vent. If that happened, tranny is toast. Also not good for wheel bearings. May take weeks or months for problems to show up though.
 
I remember one time I was stuck in traffic as a storm dumped water on I-880 near Fremont, California. It took me about 90 minutes to move 2 miles to the exit. At one time it was so bad a lot of people just got out of their cars. However, the reason why traffic stopped was because there was this trough where it goes down and back up, with the roadway sunken below the level of the surrounding neighborhood. I think it was probably designed that was to reduce noise reaching the residential area. But the pumps failed and there was about 4 feet of water at the deepest point. A few cars ended up driving straight into the water and their engines obviously stalled. I'm pretty sure they were all total losses if they ingested water into the engine.

Anyone remember the Porsche scene from Risky Business?

[Linked Image]


Who's the U boat commander?
 
Originally Posted by y_p_w
I remember one time I was stuck in traffic as a storm dumped water on I-880 near Fremont, California. It took me about 90 minutes to move 2 miles to the exit. At one time it was so bad a lot of people just got out of their cars. However, the reason why traffic stopped was because there was this trough where it goes down and back up, with the roadway sunken below the level of the surrounding neighborhood. I think it was probably designed that was to reduce noise reaching the residential area. But the pumps failed and there was about 4 feet of water at the deepest point. A few cars ended up driving straight into the water and their engines obviously stalled. I'm pretty sure they were all total losses if they ingested water into the engine.

Anyone remember the Porsche scene from Risky Business?

[Linked Image]


Who's the U boat commander?



LOLOL Risky Business indeed!

If you just dipped your front end in, no worries.
 
Originally Posted by JLTD
Originally Posted by y_p_w
I remember one time I was stuck in traffic as a storm dumped water on I-880 near Fremont, California. It took me about 90 minutes to move 2 miles to the exit. At one time it was so bad a lot of people just got out of their cars. However, the reason why traffic stopped was because there was this trough where it goes down and back up, with the roadway sunken below the level of the surrounding neighborhood. I think it was probably designed that was to reduce noise reaching the residential area. But the pumps failed and there was about 4 feet of water at the deepest point. A few cars ended up driving straight into the water and their engines obviously stalled. I'm pretty sure they were all total losses if they ingested water into the engine.

Anyone remember the Porsche scene from Risky Business?

[Linked Image]


Who's the U boat commander?



LOLOL Risky Business indeed!

If you just dipped your front end in, no worries.

I'm not sure how recoverable a vehicle would be if it were submerged and then pulled out with nothing running. However, I've heard of engines being total losses when they sucked in water. And modern car with all its electronics would probably be toast just from that.
 
Originally Posted by Chris142
We got 2 inches of rain today up here in the desert. Most I have seen since we started keeping track of it about 20 years ago.


Did you get the 80 mph winds they're reporting?
 
Originally Posted by BossMoss
Did I damage anything? Anyone with experience?


Steam was from from water hitting hot exhaust, engine, or brakes. Likely no damage at all. Driving through deep water too quickly such that it builds up and gets to air intake is where you would run into trouble,but you'd know instantly if that happened.
 
As long as you're intake isn't super low to the ground you'll be fine. Drove my Caliber through water that was just past the very bottom of the doors once. Wouldn't make a habit of it though

If your car has an intake like my 300, where it's super low to the ground (no idea if it's ducted to draw lower or if it's drawing air from between the body and wheel well), I'd be very careful.
 
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Speaking in general, I'd be more concerned with the differentials, transfer case, and transmission than the engine. The water would have to be quite deep to impact the engine. The other parts I mentioned, not as deep.
 
A foot? And you just nosed in a bit? Nope. Unless Mustang has some very unorthodox equipment going on, it won't be an issue.

There's an easy way to tell if it got into your transmission vent. If there was a foot of water inside of your car, it's possible it got into the vent. If there wasn't, then it didn't.
 
I drove my Dodge Caravan into a puddle that was a foot or so deep. I slowed down when in the puddle, but I probably should have blasted through instead as it might have saved the car.

The engine seized when I tried to restart it. It was ten years old with 125K miles. The insurance company totaled it.
 
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