[guyfrmblr]

I was travelling with my parents from Hassan to Bangalore in NH-48 this noon. Its a 4 lane highway which has been recently laid and is in excellent condition. A few miles after Kunigal (around 50 kms from Bangalore), I was behind a truck maintaining a gap of a bus in between, cruising at around 80 kmph. Suddenly I notice that the truck has passed over a huge stone and is currently right in front of me. The stone was probably left by some truckers for signalling the breakdown and had left it on the road after the repair. If I'd taken right to avoid it, I would have hit the divider. There was a truck on the left lane and an Innova closely tailing me. Before I could do anything, my car passed over the stone. Then comes this loud THUD and a BANG sound. Then I see some kind of liquid getting sprayed on the rear windshield. I parked the car, got down and witnessed the following scene.







Diesel and Engine Oil was flowing on the road like a stream. The fuel tank was almost 3/4th full. Some locals gathered and were willing to offer help for arranging a car for us to travel to Bangalore. Luckily we had strong signals on our mobile and called H.A.S.S. The service manager quickly arranged a tow vehicle which arrived there after an hour and towed the car to H.A.S.S.





At H.A.S.S, I was asked to fill a form for claiming insurance which had queries related to the incident. As it was raining heavily, the service guy could not check the actual damages. He said that he'll do it on Monday and will start the repair work once the inspection is done by insurance guys. He also took a photocopy of my DL, insurance papers and RC card for insurance formalities.

A local mechanic near the accident spot told that they may have to replace the fuel tank and engine oil lid (!?). But the actual damages will be evaluated only by H.A.S.S on Monday.

Do I need to take any additional precautions while handling with insurance guys or H.A.S.S? Can fellow BHPians please throw some light on what should be done by me as a next step. The H.A.S.S guy said he'll call me only after the actual damage evaluation is completed.

The placement of these kind of hazardous objects and vehicles travelling on the wrong side of the road has really become a big menace on Indian Highways.

[Kimified]

Originally Posted by guyfrmblr

Do I need to take any additional precautions while handling with insurance guys or H.A.S.S? Can fellow BHPians please throw some light on what should be done by me as a next step. The H.A.S.S guy said he'll call me only after the actual damage evaluation is completed.

Sad to hear about the incident. Very unfortunate. Can't do much to avoid such things from happening.

Do you have a pic of the stone you went over ? I see that there is no damage to your bumper. Did the stone pass between the front wheels or did one of your wheel went over it ?

There won't be any hassle in claiming Insurance. But, check if its worth claiming an insurance for. You will lose your NCB. If it can be repaired for a small amount, its better off paying for it yourself.

[Vid6639]

engine oil lid is actually your oil sump, where the engine oil is stored. It's usually the lowest most point and is what will get hit in such situations.

Had you driven for long, the oil would have leaked out and your engine would have seized.

Your lucky. I'm guessing diesel leak due to fuel tank getting hit as well and getting punctured.

[.anshuman]

You are lucky to have spotted the busted sump instantly, or your car may have suffered engine seizure. Just hope the damage is limited to just sump and fuel tank. The reason why most European cars adapted for India come with underbody protection, i am puzzled why Japanese and Korean manufacturers skip out such a essential part.

[sdp1975]

You need to wait for the call from the SA on the repair estimate, and how much you need to pay. Do you have any pics of the underbody ? There should not be any problems in claiming insurance - who's your Insurer ?

Let us know once you receive the repair estimate.

[shashank.nk]

Sad to hear of the incident. Hope your car is back in action soon!

A similar thing had happened to our Octavia near BEL circle in bangalore. A stone about 8-9 inches came under my octavia and i heard the same THUD and a KRUK sound and i feared the worst. Immediately got down and checked the underbody and couldn't believe my luck!

The stone which scraped the front bumper on the left side went out from under the toe-rod leaving a scratch on the side skirt in the left hand side. Luckily missing the oil sump and saving me a cool 15k!

In your case since the stone was huge, i don't think having a oil sump guard would've helped. Once when our car was driven over a hump at a highspeed b a driver and the underbody scraped, though the guard wass made out of iron and is strong, upon impact with say a stone the guard pierces through the oil sump (relatively lesser strength steel used) and punctures it and we had to replace the tank.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by guyfrmblr

I was travelling with my parents from Hassan to Bangalore in NH-48 this noon. Its a 4 lane highway which has been recently laid and is in excellent condition. A few miles after Kunigal (around 50 kms from Bangalore), I was behind a truck maintaining a gap of a bus in between, cruising at around 80 kmph. Suddenly I notice that the truck has passed over a huge stone and is currently right in front of me. The stone was probably left by some truckers for signalling the breakdown and had left it on the road after the repair. If I'd taken right to avoid it, I would have hit the divider. There was a truck on the left lane and an Innova closely tailing me. Before I could do anything, my car passed over the stone. Then comes this loud THUD and a BANG sound. Then I see some kind of liquid getting sprayed on the rear windshield. I parked the car, got down and witnessed the following scene.

Sorry to hear about the incident, hope your i20 is back on track soon.

Just curious, I remembered seeing your post yesterday regarding a scratch on the front bumper due to a stone. Is this Kunigal incident the same one that you reported yesterday or was that another one ? Hope it's not 2 different incidents involving stones on the road
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/modifi...ml#post2560675

I had a similar incident about 3 years ago near ulsoor lake but luckily that stone was rolling down to the side of road due to the embankment and I escaped with just the front passenger side tyre's sidewall being damaged - since I managed to slightly veer the car to the right just a bit and in time to avoid major damage.

[deetjohn]

guyfrmblr, that was a bad hit. But you are lucky to have spotted the leak and good that you didn't lose control of the car either.

Do go to HASS on Monday morning and do not let anyone crank the engine before fixing the sump and fill up the oil. You never know what someone might fancy in there. Check the gearbox as well.

Also, get us a pic of the underbody if possible.

[dockap]

This has happened twice with my optra both times over huge speed breakers and at low speed(only the oil sump). luckily i stopped the car and called the local chevy service center. they sent their mechanic who came with some oil and Mseal which he applied to the crack in the oil sump topped up the oil and drove the car to the service center. cost me Rs 10,000/- to replace each time.

[guyfrmblr]

Thanks everyone for the kind and useful suggestions.

Originally Posted by Kimified

Do you have a pic of the stone you went over ? I see that there is no damage to your bumper. Did the stone pass between the front wheels or did one of your wheel went over it ?

There won't be any hassle in claiming Insurance. But, check if its worth claiming an insurance for. You will lose your NCB. If it can be repaired for a small amount, its better off paying for it yourself.

I don't have the pic of the stone as I covered a small distance before stopping so as to not to lose the control of the car by panic braking and causing inconvenience to other road users. The stone is referred to as "size stone" by the local contractors which they use in foundations, etc.

Originally Posted by Vid6639

Your lucky. I'm guessing diesel leak due to fuel tank getting hit as well and getting punctured.

Yes, the diesel tank is punctured. There was a small hole and the diesel flowed out very slowly.

Originally Posted by sdp1975

Do you have any pics of the underbody ? There should not be any problems in claiming insurance - who's your Insurer ?
Let us know once you receive the repair estimate.

Sorry I couldn't take the pics of underbody. Insurer - TATA AIG. I'll sure let you know the repair estimate which I may get on Monday or Tuesday.

Originally Posted by NPV

Just curious, I remembered seeing your post yesterday regarding a scratch on the front bumper due to a stone. Is this Kunigal incident the same one that you reported yesterday or was that another one ?

Its different. I think I have some kind of bad luck with the stones.

Originally Posted by deetjohn

Do go to HASS on Monday morning and do not let anyone crank the engine before fixing the sump and fill up the oil. You never know what someone might fancy in there. Check the gearbox as well.

Also, get us a pic of the underbody if possible.

I have asked the SA to take additional care about anyone cranking the engine. I'll try to get the pic on Monday.

[libranof1987]

Oh man, feel for you! A really unfortunate accident; at least you realized the problem quick and had backup soon.

Hope the repairs are done uneventfully.

The 1st stream seems viscous; the one behind seems like diesel.

Originally Posted by Vid6639

engine oil lid is actually your oil sump, where the engine oil is stored. It's usually the lowest most point and is what will get hit in such situations.

Had you driven for long, the oil would have leaked out and your engine would have seized.

Is the engine oil reservoir so low that a stone can puncture it? I thought it is inaccessible from the bottom.

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by libranof1987

Is the engine oil reservoir so low that a stone can puncture it? I thought it is inaccessible from the bottom.

It's the lowest point in the engine so that's the first thing that gets hit.

That's why cars have a sump guard to protect the oil sump from getting hit.

[HammerHead]

Sorry to hear hear about the incident. That looks bad.
Engine guard could have saved it from the damage? No?

[mayankjha1806]

Its sad to see the accident and fortunately all is well (except the repairs).

Are you sure the black liquid is not just oil and its diesel as well? The reason i ask is because the diesel tank is at the rear end of the car and usually in such scenarios the underbody at the front (under the engine) gets hit first. So usually the oil sump gets damaged and maybe fuel lines (not the fuel tank itself).

[guyfrmblr]

Originally Posted by HammerHead

Engine guard could have saved it from the damage? No?

I think that would have decreased the intensity of the damage and it'll be also very useful as I encounter lots of crazy objects on the roads almost everyday. Do we get any additional guard for the engines? I need to ask with SA whether such guards are available.

Originally Posted by mayankjha1806

Are you sure the black liquid is not just oil and its diesel as well? The reason i ask is because the diesel tank is at the rear end of the car and usually in such scenarios the underbody at the front (under the engine) gets hit first. So usually the oil sump gets damaged and maybe fuel lines (not the fuel tank itself).

The stone first hit the oil sump and then bounced back and hit the fuel tank I guess. I could see the diesel flowing out near the rear end. I have marked the approximate location of the leakage of diesel in the pic. This is the only pic which i clicked underbody which is not clear. I could also see the oil getting leaked separately at the front.