[Sumed]

The same thing happened to my friend's Qualis. He had bought the high end version of Qualis 3 years ago. He had parked it on a road near our office in Gurgaon. There was heavy rainfall and when he returned after half an hour, there was a bit over a feet of water around his car. The mistake he made was to start the car and it stalled after moving a few meters. It was less than a month old. Toyota and the insurance company (don't remember which one) refused to cover it either in warrenty or under insurance. The expected bill was around 1 Lac.

He escalated to all levels of Toyota India and then Japan and finally they decided to split the cost of the parts with labour charges reduced (or I think they did not charge for laour). He still ended up paying around INR 25k to 30k.

[Country Road]

It is quite sad when something happens like this. Specially when it is a brand new car. Hope it does not happen to my worst enemy.

But the reality is most car owners do not know about these things. Only by default do they get to know. In a booming economy there are guys who have money but no basic education. They buy big cars but do not know the traffic rules. They consider themselves King on the road. Similarly there are guys who are are not into cars, but have money to buy big cars. Unfortunately they do not know the basics of car maintenance. The basic Do's & Don'ts. When they get into trouble they blame the car company.

By the way I am not from a car co. Its just that the

[ex670c]

Hi Rangaraj,

If your friend is correct about 1.5 feet of water thats 450mm+ of water.
Then my reasoning is he shot of the MPFI system by driving too fast and splashing water all over and/or

The Air Filter ingested some water which was detected by one of the sensors in the throttle body and it refused to restart the engine.

The chances of him actually drowning the engine i.e water being injected into the engine are very slim.

The exhaust expels the gases there by forcing the water out.

Also water entering the engine through the exhaust is very slim, because water will only get sucked up when there is a pressure difference (revving to high RPM and suddenly switching off).

I think they are taking him for a ride because he told them what exactly happened and they want a BILL.

Regards,

PS - What evidence do they have that water actually entered the engine block.

[ex670c]

The following things should be kept in mind.
1) Position of Air-Filter
2) Electrical System.

Before taking a watery route check for depth i.e take reference from marker like lamp-posts, Telephone Junctions, other cars etc.

Decide the route and the total distance to be covered submerged.

Unless its a 4x4 do not try river crossing and the likes.

1)If possible cover the bonnet and radiator grille with a plastic sheet, this pushes the water away while driving thereby decreasing the water level in the Bonnet.
2) Enter the water in 1st Gear (Petrol)2nd Gear (Diesel) Feet off the Clutch & Brakes.
3) Maintain a steady RPM 1500-2000 rpm and mover forward.
4) Do not try to turn.
5) In case you have to reverse out. DO NOT Panic and quickly engage reverse and move, maintaining a steady speed.

If you need to Start a vehicle stalled in water
1) Check the air filter for water
2) Check Electricals.
3) Put the vehicle in First Gear (Petrol & Diesel). Foot off the clutch and brake (Hand brake release) crank the engine (2-3seconds) and tap the accelerator.

The vehicle will lurch forward and start.

This is a stall recovery and can be used when we cannot use the clutch.
1) Steep Uphill
2) Steep Downhill
3) Water logging.

[maheshshanmugam]

Amidst all this talk about 11/2 feet of water and a presumed SUV, I should share my experience with the lowly 800.
Chennai's streets, particularly in T.Nagar can flood rather seriously during monsoons. I was caught up in one such flooding in a 800 that was 5 years old. No turning back after venturing in to the water as there were vehicles everywhere - some with their engines running still, some stopped. Waded through 2 feet of water for 3/4ths of a kilometer with the car in first gear and keeping the revs up all the way. It was 8 in the night with my wife in the car as well. If we had decided to stop, we would have had to park the car in the middle of the road and wade in thigh deep water! None of the cars behind us would have allowed us to stop as well! Couldnt pull over as the road side was already packed with cars that were alive or dead.

The headlights of the 800 were partly under water with water sloshing on to the bonnet; and this particular car had leaky seals. So we had water sloshing around our legs ( not feet, but legs) in the foot well - the squab of the seat was infact drenched!

After all this, I did not expect the car to start the next day - it did in one crank and ran well except for the soggy brakes!

I have been looking at the 800 with new respect ever since!

Cant understand this business of "expensive luxury SUV" stalling though. The fact about starting the car partly submerged in water, I can however agree.

Mahesh

[anandpadhye]

Does 800 have any air intake at all????

[Monster_BHP]

The 800 is a little jem, when i had it i remember she never broke down in any situation.

However the CRV still is confusing all my logic! I wonder what is the use of Snorkels for SUVs when water can gush into the silencer! Even if the engine is not raised too much the water still cant go into the tail pipe.


I feel bad for the person who lost is SUV for an obvious factory flaw. I hope he doesnt take it sitting down.

[anandpadhye]

What's a Snorkel?
Does CR-V have it?

[dadu]

This is a snorkel, the air filter is completely sealed and airintake pipe brought out.





As long as you keep the engine running the water will not go into the exhaust pipe.

[hrag]

In October 2006, I found my Indica LSi in thigh-deep water during a heavy downpour. Opened the door and found water upto the seats (more water entered as I opened the door!). Got in and cranked, the car started at first crank, engaged 1st, full revs and drove it out to dry ground.

I've had no problems after that.

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by ex670c

The following things should be kept in mind.
1) Position of Air-Filter
2) Electrical System.

Before taking a watery route check for depth i.e take reference from marker like lamp-posts, Telephone Junctions, other cars etc.

Decide the route and the total distance to be covered submerged.

Unless its a 4x4 do not try river crossing and the likes.

1)If possible cover the bonnet and radiator grille with a plastic sheet, this pushes the water away while driving thereby decreasing the water level in the Bonnet.
2) Enter the water in 1st Gear (Petrol)2nd Gear (Diesel) Feet off the Clutch & Brakes.
3) Maintain a steady RPM 1500-2000 rpm and mover forward.
4) Do not try to turn.
5) In case you have to reverse out. DO NOT Panic and quickly engage reverse and move, maintaining a steady speed.

If you need to Start a vehicle stalled in water
1) Check the air filter for water
2) Check Electricals.
3) Put the vehicle in First Gear (Petrol & Diesel). Foot off the clutch and brake (Hand brake release) crank the engine (2-3seconds) and tap the accelerator.

The vehicle will lurch forward and start.

This is a stall recovery and can be used when we cannot use the clutch.
1) Steep Uphill
2) Steep Downhill
3) Water logging.

Wow, this is good advice. But for amateurs like me, I don't know how to check the air filter and the electricals.
Any clues? Further, what good does your technique of starting the car without clutch do in a waterlogged situation?

[dadu]

I hope we all consider TATA Safari as a SUV. They quote engine can get damaged.

Driving Through Water

-Never venture to drive through water when it flows over guard stones. Engine may get seriously damaged if attempted to cross over through deep water.
.
.
.
Do not attempt to start the engine if vehicle gets flooded due to water.

I picked this up while navigating TATA safari website, just click on "All Terrain Conquerer" link.

Originally Posted by Samurai

No, it won't happen to any SUV. Here we are assuming CR-V is a SUV, wrong assumption to start with.

Originally Posted by dadu

This can happen to any SUV. All SUV's are vehicles with engines too. They are also prone to failures if not handled properly. It all depends on the driving skills and luck.

[diabloo]

Thats a useful information dadu. It can happen to anything with an engine (unless of course the issue is handled by way of a snorkel). So it doesn't matter if its a pseudo-SUV or a real-SUV

Originally Posted by dadu

I hope we all consider TATA Safari as a SUV. They quote engine can get damaged.



I picked this up while navigating TATA safari website, just click on "All Terrain Conquerer" link.