[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by koshy10

The car suddenly jerked and stalled.

From what i have read, big mistake. Never let the revs off the engine when you're crossing water logged places.

Originally Posted by koshy10

I got a total fright when I was informed by the technicians at Tafe that water had entered the engine via the Air Filter and had damaged the connection rods as well as the engine block! The estimate is now 2.5 Lakhs!

A bit confused. When did they give this qoute?

You were using the car after that, or is it standing in the service center?

Originally Posted by koshy10

To make matters more miserable the insurance company is refusing to cover this as they are saying this is a “self inflicted “damage!!

How can rains be “self inflicted “damage!!?

Doesn't insurance cover natural calamities or related damages?

[aaggoswami]

1) Never ever start the car when the car gets stalled in water. Atleast dont try when the car is still in water. Bring the car on road where water lodging is not there and then try.

2) Jerk and stall is equal to water inside the motor. It happened the same with Baleno, but I did manage to start it again. The words Jerk and stall indicate something went wrong.

3) IIRC, during valve overlap period, there is small amount of suction taking place from exhaust side. This is where the water can enter through exhaust also.
But I doubt that the quantity will be enough to damage engine.

If a little water enters, the engine, generally due to heat, the water will soon get evaporated. Its only when more than little amount of water enters the engine, the engine will be damaged.
Now that much amount of water generally will not enter through exhaust. The only source is intake.

4) If one car manages to pass, dont think that you can pass too. The area where you entered might be an inch deeper, and that inch can make a huge difference. Best is to follow a car's exact path, atleast try not to veer away from the path another car too.

[gigy]

water must have entered exhaust but if you could restart and drive such long distance without any problem then there is no issue. is it running smoothly and giving only white smoke after so many months? why are you going now to service center in November when it happened in June?

Few inches of water is fine but if you drive through it faster the water gets thrown to a good height on both sides of the tyre and it can enter exhaust if you dropped accelerator during that time.

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by Ravveendrra

That is a possibility - the Laura might have stalled (it is notorious for stalling if in 2nd when it should have been in 1st) and water may have entered through the exhaust.

On the other hand, TAFE guys have told him that water came through the air filter.

Yes it may have stalled in second if it was a manual transmission. As per koshy10 his car is a DSG AT box so I doubt the car stalled first and then water entered.

This is a clear case of water entering from air intake side. The turbo will suck it very nicely as well.

Also I remember my uncle's fiesta had the same issue and he had a blown turbo as well.

[Rudra Sen]

Originally Posted by koshy10

I came across what I recon was a few inches of water. Observing that cars like Zen's and Santros were crossing through I attempted the same.

Unless those few inches are few feet I've serious problem accepting water gone through exhaust or air intake. Plus..

Originally Posted by GTO

BTW, its November already and you state this incident took place in June. What's been the status of the car for the last 5 months?

Thread starter hasn't replied anything back. And we are all here anticipating and discussing his problem without interaction.

[Ravveendrra]

Originally Posted by vid6639

Yes it may have stalled in second if it was a manual transmission. As per koshy10 his car is a DSG AT box so I doubt the car stalled first and then water entered.

This is a clear case of water entering from air intake side. The turbo will suck it very nicely as well.

Also I remember my uncle's fiesta had the same issue and he had a blown turbo as well.

Yes this thought had struck me too - that an AT could not be in the wrong gear and would not let the engine stall. However I was toying with the possibility that if the clutch gets wet the AT might not have shifted down and the engine could stall. (I am clueless about ATs.)

Cheers,

[koshy10]

Hello All,
Sorry about the late reply. Had no net access for the last two days!
Thanks so much for replying to my post. Much appreciated!

Actually it’s a really really long story and I was a little embarrassed to post all the traumatic details. Yes it did happen in June and it has been a painful 5 months. To cut a long story short it took over 12 day for tafe to schedule an engine dismantling inspection for the insurance company, to which the surveyor didn't turn up! I insisted on being present. It was then determined that the block was chipped. I wrote a long letter to my local Skoda office and received really feeble excuses and no direct answers from what it seems was really inexperienced staff. I was advised to send Skoda a legal notice explaining everything. Even that has not got a reply after 5 months. After 3 months of waiting and paying my EMI's without the use of my car I decided to pay for the damages under protest as I was concerned about the wellbeing of my car in their hands. It’s been 2 months now that I have sent them a letter in this regard. I am still to hear from them as to when my car will be ready. I sent them another legal notice to this effect. I will shortly be taking the matter to consumer court. As I was told at the service station that this happened every time it rained heavily I was hoping to get in touch with fellow Skoda owners who have faced the same situation and get some tech info on the same.Thanks again for all the info!

KK

[jigbarai]

^^
Sad, if true.

Could you please post here some official notes/estimates/reasons by TAFE where they have indicated what they have indicated.
Did you take any pictures when the car stalled ? Do we know how high the water was ?
Did you take any second opinion here since the situation was so 'grave'?

Honestly, don't think that sending legal notices here would be of any help to you since you yourself have admitted to driving the car thru a water logged road.
How much 'deep water' is a purely subjective term unless proved otherwise.

From all that you have mentioned so far, it does not look like a case of a defective product/part. It might have been better to go after the insurance guys here IMO.

[Jaggu]

Oh man the car is still in garage! I didnt realize that part when i went through your posts. The job since its replacement should take 2-3 days max for setting the engine and mounting it in the car.

Why is it taking so long??!

[gigy]

Another sad story from a skoda owner. there is something fundamentally wrong with skoda service centers i think.

[YVES]

Well Water entering a car in floods is quite normal if the road is water logged.
In july 2005 floods in Mumbai affected many cars , I remember Daewoo Cielos ,Ford Ikons and other sedan which were damaged were sold around 1.5 lakhs.

So in this case its Insurance which comes into picture and not the company or brand.

[Ravveendrra]

@ Jaggu & gigy,

I too did not realise that the car was in theworkshop all along. This however does not lay the blame on the A.S.S. as there is quite a bit of confusion as to who is to pay for the repair: Skoda (if it is a manufacturing / design defect), Insurer (if it is accidental damage) or Owner (if damage is due to improper use). There has been a tussle going on and no workshop will start work until someone takes the responsibility and assures them that the bill will be cleared. We can therefore blame the workshop for delay after the go-ahead was given.

I quite agree with YVES.

Cheers,

[gigy]

I feel when someone has bought a car of such cost the company/service center should take some initiative in getting it back to road unless there is a issue with the owner itself. They can sure get the insurance guy working on it for faster disposal of repairs. I am sure the owner didn't purposely dump it in water to claim warranty.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by koshy10

I will shortly be taking the matter to consumer court.

Don't waste your time. You have driven through floods and, at the risk of sounding direct, are the only one at fault here. No offence meant. Just have your car repaired and back on the road. Skoda isn't and should not be liable for this damage.